As of late, the market has been flooded with tons of funk compilations, most of which boast identical track listings. They generally cover the 20 funk classics everybody's already heard millions of times, from the Commodores' "Brick House" to Kool & The Gang's "Jungle Boogie." Needless to say, those are all great songs, but what about all the great undiscovered funk tracks? Well, Chronicles has got you covered with a collection of 12 funk greats, Funk On Film. Granted, you already know a few of these numbers, but the disc is largely filled with obscure greats from old blaxploitation soundtracks. And let's face it, unless you're an avid funk fan, you probably don't exactly have the "Foxy Brown" soundtrack memorized.

Funk On Film opens with the irresistibly silly Issac Hayes classic "Theme From 'Shaft'", but moves on through amazing tracks like Bobby Womack and Peace's "Across 110th Street", an incredibly moving song about trying to break out of a New York ghetto. "Down And Out In New York City" (from "Black Caesar")-- one of James Brown's lesser- known, more traditional funk numbers-- is included, and it proves itself as one of the best tracks in his entire catalog.

Rose Royce's "Car Wash", Willie Hutch's "Theme of 'Foxy Brown'", the Staple Singers' soulful "Let's Do It Again", and G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" from "Cooley High" are also here, along with songs like the Love Unlimited Orchestra's "Theme From 'Together Brothers'" and the Four Tops' "Are You Man Enough" from "Shaft In Africa."

But sadly, the sequencing on the disc leaves something to be desired; the really great stuff has all been pushed to the front and the record's second half really suffers as a result. If they'd given the disc more of a balance, it may have made for an easier listen. Regardless, Funk On Film does present 45 minutes' worth of terrific music, and is definitely the place to start if you're considering purchasing some older funk classics.

-Ryan Schreiber