Sly's auspicious debut, A Whole New Thing begat Dance to the Music, and by 1968, things were popping for the Family Stone. The one-two punch of the title track and "Higher" introduces a gleaming exuberance; everyone wants to get higher and dance, so much so that the peripatetic, multiply vocaled and horn-drenched psych-funk of "Dance to the Medley" comes barely six minutes after the title track. "Ride the Rhythm" is a falsetto barn-burner, the wah-wahs creating melismas aplenty while the organ and horns and backing vocals riff crazy-like. "Color Me True" and "Are You Ready" slow to a more deliberate soul pacing, horns blaring and rhythms thumping. Sly was keen to cross over, to play for rock crowds, which he announces openly on the previously unreleased "Soul Clapping," where he calls out to "cats and kitties, hippies and squares." Three other unreleased cuts make this set a must-have document, even without Sly's brief re-emergence on the 2007 Grammy Awards. --Andrew Bartlett