Our album of the month is the suitably spooky Maggot Brain by Funkadelic. An album that stands as a landmark achievement in psychedelic rock, soul, and funk, and captures the creative explosion of George Clinton and his Parliament-Funkadelic collective. Under the vision of Clinton, the band’s third studio album showcases the evolution of Funkadelic from an unnamed backing band for Clinton’s doo-wop group The Parliaments into a genre-defying powerhouse that pushed the boundaries of both funk and rock.

The album opens with an unforgettable, haunting spoken word introduction from Clinton, who sets a surreal, almost spiritual tone. We are then immediately immersed in Maggot Brain, the album’s title track, a near 10-minute, mostly improvised instrumental from lead guitarist Eddie Hazel that is rightfully heralded as one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. Clinton, famously pushing Hazel to play “as if his mother had just died,” sparked a raw emotional intensity in his guitarist, who delivered a performance that channels both despair and transcendence, with Hendrix-esque wah and fuzz effects intensified by Clinton’s post-production echoing. This solo is not just a technical marvel but a brutal, emotional journey to some of the darker depths of the human experience.

Fortunately for us, the following five tracks return to something resembling earth, though Funkadelic’s mix of psychedelic rock and funk is anything but ordinary. Can you Get to That, Hit It and Quit It and You And Your Folks, Me And My Folks effortlessly meld funk, folk blues, gospel and psychedelic rock into thumping, toe-tapping beats. While Super Stupid especially showcases the band’s rock chops, with guitar and bass riffs that tread into heavy rock territory, while somehow remaining grounded in deep funk grooves.

This normality lasts only a few subjective moments however, before the final track Wars Of Armageddon appears, nine minutes long, thoroughly impatient and littered with psychedelic sound effects, to blast us off again into a suitably spooky meditation on the end of the world.

Maggot Brain is bittersweet, not just for its musical content, but as it marks the last album featuring the original Funkadelic lineup, with guitarist Tawl Ross, bassist Billy Nelson, and drummer Tiki Fulwood departing soon afterward. But what they left behind is an album that remains a high-water mark, not only for Funkadelic but for rock and funk as a whole. One which would go on to influence and inspire a whole range of modern artists, from The Mars Volta, to Childish Gambino, Outkast & Audioslave.

We have been after this album for a while, so we were thrilled to see it back in stock in our supplier’s latest catalogue.

The album is presented on 1 LP of black vinyl with liner notes. Click here to buy it now!

Jamie, November 2024