Fresh

Fresh was written and produced by Sly over two years and released in June 1973. It was described as a lighter, more accessible take on the dense sound of Riot. It uses drum machine rhythms and groove-based writing, and Sly's vocals are often sped up with Varispeed. As with Riot, he kept the master tapes long past the official release date, remixing and rerecording. It reached number 7 on the Billboard pop albums chart and number one on the soul albums chart, the last of three consecutive number-one R&B albums for the band and their final US Top 10 entry.

Singles included "If You Want Me to Stay", the biggest hit, "Frisky", and "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)", sung by Rose Stone, the only cover song on an original Family Stone album. The cover photograph is by Richard Avedon. In 1991 Sony accidentally issued a sequencing with alternate takes of every song except "In Time", which sparked debate among fans over which release was better.

Stephen Davis called it Sly's "masterpiece" in Rolling Stone. Robert Christgau ranked it sixth among the best albums of 1973 in Newsday, and later called it "Riot-lite". Brian Eno cited Fresh as heralding a shift in recording, with the rhythm instruments, particularly bass drum and bass, becoming the important instruments in the mix. George Clinton, who listed it among his favorite albums, got the Red Hot Chili Peppers to cover "If You Want Me to Stay" on Freaky Styley (1985).