Music review by Hildemollerknag

An extremely ambitious project from Bootsy, decidedly ignoring pop industry standards. Utilizing some deeeep fuzz bass, funked up guitar sounds from Buckethead, vocal samples from the film Naked Lunch, and other weirdness, Bootsy creates a coherent (if chaotic) landscape of funk fused with almost industrial music.

A Fuzzface was an early distortion device for guitars, that created a "fuzzy" tune for the instrument. The little box looked like it had a face on it, hence the name. Bootsy cleverly adopts this as a personality. The intro, "CBI Files" consists of noise, garbled voices and sirens. It's the wake up call for the album. "Bugg-Lite" has some ultra-funky bass playing from Bootsy and thunderous guitar rumblings from Buckethead. This song is a true groove, with Bootsy spouting some great lyrics like 'How you gonna feel some pain, with the absence of a brain'. "Fuzz Face" is fast, funky, furious and features fat beats. Mind-boggling bass-playing here. "Exterminate" is a hardcore-type jam, cut in with assorted spoken word samples from the film Naked Lunch. ('Exterminate all rational thought.') "Smell The Secrets" is another hardcore song that delves into paranoia and conspiracies, mentioning UFO's, 'political partying' and the like. "Count Zero" is another chatter-filled song that has some chilling keyboards from Bernie Worrell and more hard-hitting bass leads. "Bootsy And The Beast" has an interesting lead-in: an interview with a guy who claims that he introduced Bootsy to freebasing cocaine. The songs takes on interesting meanings--could 'the beast' mean cocaine? "No Fly Zone" is another hard rocker, with heavy fuzz bass, including a great solo. "The Passion Continues" is a superb ballad that consciously revisits old ones, with lines like 'They used to call me the sugar crook...but I went to jail for that.'

A great concept for Bootsy, perhaps a little heavy in the hardcore Buckethead department, but has him playing like he hasn't in years. The theme of paranoia, both from within and without, is excellent. Fans of Bootsy's work with Praxis will eat this up with a spoon; Rubber Band fans will still find plenty to like
Tracks
01. C.B.I. Files {Bootsy Collins} 6:19
02. Buggg Lite {Bootsy Collins} 7:568
03. Fuzz Face {Bootsy Collins} 2:38
04. Exterminate {Bill Laswell} 3:02
05. Smell the Secrets {Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Buckethead} 5:57
06. Count Zero {Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins} 5:12
07. Bootsy and The Beast {Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Buckethead} 6:57
08. No Fly Zone (The Devil's Playground) [Bootsy Collins} 5:04
09. The Passion Continues {Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Buckethead}
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