Critic's Review
Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide
Not will only will Mandrill's music make you dizzy, the price tag of this limited-edition four-CD box set will too. Be prepared to shell out more than $50 for this 38-track collection, featuring their first four Polydor albums (Mandrill, Mandrill Is, Composite Truth, and Just Outside of Town). Mandrill's music is practically unpeggable, much like the U.K.-based Osibisa; they never gave the impression they were working from any semblance of a format. The multi-racial septet led by the talented Wilson Brothers -- Carlos, Lou, and Dr. Ric Wilson (a practicing cardiologist) -- were classified by many as a funk band, but that's misleading: their style included funk, soul, Latin, and fusion, all presented in convoluted arrangements. The 14-minute "Peace and Love (Amani Na Mapenzi)" suite is therapeutic, as are many of these joints. This is as good as it gets, but if you're looking for chartbusters, look elsewhere; also, each of the discs in this package are available separately at the same price.
