Stand! is the pinnacle of Sly & the Family Stone's early work, a record that represents a culmination of the group's musical vision and accomplishment. Life hinted at this record's boundless enthusiasm and blurred stylistic boundaries, yet everything simply gels here, resulting in no separation between the astounding funk, effervescent irresistible melodies, psychedelicized guitars, and deep rhythms. Add to this a sharpened sense of pop songcraft, elastic band interplay, and a flowering of Sly's social conscious, and the result is utterly stunning. Yes, the jams ("Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey," "Sex Machine") wind up meandering ever so slightly, but they're surrounded by utter brilliance, from the rousing call to arms of "Stand" to the unification anthem "Everyday People" to the unstoppable "I Want to Take You Higher." All of it sounds like the Family Stone, thanks not just to the communal lead vocals but to the brilliant interplay, but each track is distinct, emphasizing a different side of their musical personality. As a result, Stand! winds up infectious and informative, invigorating and thought-provoking -- stimulating in every sense of the word. Few records of its time touched it, and Sly topped it only by offering its opposite the next time out.(by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

A greatest-hits album in all but name, Stand! is party politics at its most inclusive and exciting -- singer-leader Sly Stone at the top of his ecumenical-funk game. A DJ and producer in San Francisco during the Dawn of Hippie, Stone fortifies that utopian energy with the bonfire momentum of the civil-rights movement in motivational-soul sermons such as "Stand!" and "You Can Make It if You Try" without denying the divisions that threatened civil war ("Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey"). And let's give due respect to the biracial, bi-gender Family Stone, whose rainbow thump here was a big influence on P-Funk and the electric Miles Davis. (Rolling Stone)

Total album sales: 1 million

Peak chart position: 13