A Funk Odyssey

A Funk Odyssey (stylized as A funk odyssey) is the fifth studio album by British funk band Jamiroquai. The album was released on 3 September 2001 in the United Kingdom by Sony Soho Square and 11 September 2001 by Epic Records in the United States.

A Funk Odyssey
Studio album by
Jamiroquai
Released29 August 2001
GenreNu-disco[1]
Length48:17
LabelSony Soho Square
Epic
ProducerRick Pope
Jamiroquai chronology
An Online Odyssey
(2001)		 A Funk Odyssey
(2001)		 Late Night Tales: Jamiroquai
(2003)
Jamiroquai studio album chronology
Synkronized
(1999)		 A Funk Odyssey
(2001)		 Dynamite
(2005)
Singles from A Funk Odyssey
  1. "Little L"
    Released: 13 August 2001
  2. "You Give Me Something"
    Released: 19 November 2001
  3. "Love Foolosophy"
    Released: 25 February 2002
  4. "Corner of the Earth"
    Released: 8 July 2002

Background

Combining elements of funk, disco and electronica, the release of the album represented the peak of international commercial success for Jamiroquai, and in the ensuing world tour the group became a household name in many countries. The sleeve art of A Funk Odyssey features lead vocalist Jay Kay posed in front of a series of lasers that form the famous "Buffalo Man" logo, making it the first Jamiroquai album not to feature the logo prominently on its cover.[2]

In a 2001 interview with Billboard magazine, Kay said he wrote the deliberately simple first single "Little L" in 25 minutes, "It would have been so easy to overthink and overwrite that song, because it's so incredibly simple. But that would've killed it."[3] He described the fourth single, "Corner of the Earth" as a "spiritual song" that "speaks for anyone who's in a place or a moment where they're happy."[3] For the tenth track "Picture of My Life", Kay said, "I cried throughout the process of writing [the song]. It was an act of looking at some major personal issues and understanding their lingering effects."[3]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic58/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Entertainment WeeklyB[6]
New Musical Express[7]
Q[8]
Slant Magazine[1]

Initial critical response to A Funk Odyssey was generally mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 58, based on 13 reviews.[4] Q magazine gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, claiming "A certified thoroughbred. This time, there's a bankable chorus or barbed sentiment for every mirror-ball moment....demonstrating that no-one does sci-fi boogie quite as well as he does sci-fi boogie." They also listed it as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.[9] CMJ described the album as "The perfect mixtape to snap your fingers to on your way to another universe."

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Feel So Good"Jay Kay, Toby Smith5:21
2."Little L"Kay, Smith4:55
3."You Give Me Something"Kay, Rob Harris, Nick Fyffe3:23
4."Corner of the Earth"Kay, Harris5:40
5."Love Foolosophy"Kay, Smith3:45
6."Stop Don't Panic"Kay, Harris, Fyffe4:34
7."Black Crow"Kay, Harris, Fyffe4:02
8."Main Vein"Kay5:05
9."Twenty Zero One"Kay5:15
10."Picture of My Life[lower-alpha 1]"Kay, Harris, Smith6:20
Total length:48:15
  1. The song "Picture of My Life" ends at 3:45. After 30 seconds of silence (3:45 - 4:15), begins the hidden song "So Good to Feel Real".
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Do It Like We Used to Do" 6:49
12."Deeper Underground"Kay, Smith4:44
Australian bonus disc
No.TitleLength
11."Do It Like We Used to Do"6:49
12."Everybody's Going to the Moon"5:22
13."Little L" (Music video) 
Australian tour edition bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Space Cowboy" (Classic Club Mix) 7:52
2."Supersonic" (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Vocal)Kay, Smith7:00
3."Deeper Underground"Kay, Smith4:43
4."Little L" (Bob Sinclair Remix)Kay, Smith7:28
5."You Give Me Something" (Full Intention Remix)Kay, Harris, Fyffe3:03
6."Main Vein" (live)Kay5:14
Asian tour edition bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Everybody's Going to the Moon" 5:22
2."Do It Like We Used to Do" 6:49
3."Deeper Underground"Kay, Smith4:44
4."Little L" (Bob Sinclair Remix)Kay, Smith7:28
5."You Give Me Something" (Full Intention Remix)Kay, Harris, Fyffe3:03
6."Main Vein" (live)Kay5:14
South African tour edition bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Main Vein" (live) 5:14
2."Do It Like We Used to Do" 6:49
4."You Give Me Something" (Full Intention Remix)Kay, Harris, Fyffe3:03
5."Little L" (Blaze Remix)Kay, Smith5:55
6."Love Foolosophy" (Mondo Grosso Love Acoustic Version)Kay, Smith4:44
7."Corner of the Earth" (Milk & Sugar Short Club Mix)Kay, Harris4:13
French tour edition bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Everybody's Going to the Moon" 5:22
2."Do It Like We Used To Do" 6:49
3."Main Vein" (live)Kay5:14
4."Titan" (Live at Telewest Arena) 3:15
5."Feels So Good" (Knee Deep Vocal Dub)Kay, Harris, Fyffe7:34
6."Love Foolosophy" (Mondo Grosso Love Acoustic Version))Kay, Smith4:44
Original test pressing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Feel So Good" (uncut)Kay, Smith6:24
2."Little L" (extra percussion)Kay, Smith4:55
3."You Give Me Something" (uncut)Kay, Harris, Fyffe5:16
4."interlude #1" 0:35
5."Main Vein" (no vocal cut)Kay4:51
6."Corner of the Earth" (vocal variation)Kay, Harris5:40
7."Twenty Zero One" (uncut)Kay8:29
8."Black Crow" (vocal variation)Kay, Harris, Fyffe4:02
9."interlude #2" 1:22
10."Do It Like We Used To Do" (edited) 6:49
11."Stop Don't Panic" (uncut)Kay, Harris, Fyffe5:31
12."interlude #3" 0:20
13."Picture of My Life"Kay, Harris, Smith3:46
14."So Good to Feel Real"Kay, Harris, Smith2:14

Outtakes

"Cannabliss" was a track which was performed live during a pre-album tour in 2001. The track was scrapped from the project after Jay claimed that it wasn't even half complete at the time of going to press. The track's introduction was re-used for "Corner of the Earth". The album's title track, "A Funk Odyssey", was performed by the group while on tour; however, it was not included on the album. It is unknown whether this track is an outtake from the album, or was intended as a live-only track. "Shoot The Moon" was a further outtake from the album, performed live at least twice, once at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2003, and once at a concert in Turkey. A widely circulated recording of the song being played at the festival exists, and can be found on the group's official website for download. One interesting fact about the song is that it was intended to have a horn section. The band did not have a horn section at the time, so the electric guitar had to substitute the horns. A studio version was never recorded. The test pressing of the album also featured three interludes. The first features band frontman Jay in an electronically manipulated monologue, asking himself why he would want to "shut down the funk assembly unit." The second interlude is a beatbox track, which was later sampled in the single "Feels Just Like It Should", while the third features Strauss' "The Blue Danube" being faded in slowly at a low volume. A case of synchronicity occurs when the test pressing is played to Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey.[10]

Personnel

Jamiroquai

Additional personnel
  • Beverley Knight - guest vocals on "Love Foolosophy" and "Main Vein"
  • Dee Lewis - backing vocals
  • Simon Hale - string arrangements
  • Johnny Thirkel - horn arrangements
  • Paul Stoney – programming[11]

Charts

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[42] 4× Platinum 280,000^
Belgium (BEA)[43] Gold 25,000*
France (SNEP)[44] 2× Gold 419,400[45]*
Italy (FIMI)[46] Platinum 100,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[47] Platinum 255,000[48]
Netherlands (NVPI)[49] Gold 40,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[50] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[51] Platinum 40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[52] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[53] N/A 186,000[54]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[55] Platinum 1,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Cinquemani, Sal. "Jamiroquai A Funk Odyssey". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  2. "Albums turning 20 years old in 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  3. Flick, Larry (25 August 2001). Epic's Jamiroquai Steps Into '2001'. Billboard. pp. 1, 82.
  4. "Jamiroquai:A Funk Odyssey (2001): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  5. Wilson, MacKenzie. "Jamiroquai: A Funk Odyssey > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  6. Weingarten, Marc (10 September 2001). "A Funk Odyssey (2001): Jamiroquai". Entertainment Weekly.
  7. "Jamiroquai : A Funk Odyssey". NME. 12 September 2005. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  8. Q (9/01, p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A certified thoroughbred. This time, there's a bankable chorus or barbed sentiment for every mirror-ball moment....demonstrating that no-one does sci-fi boogie quite as well as he does sci-fi boogie..."
  9. "The Best 50 Albums of 2001". Q. December 2001. pp. 60–65.
  10. Milos, Knjaz (8 July 2007). "Synchronicity: 2001: ASO & AFOTP". jamiroquai.com. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  11. "A Funk Odyssey - Jamiroquai". Massive Music Store. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
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