ALBUM REVIEW: Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

    Funkadelic emerged at the beginning of the decade as a mishmash of styles, from the emerging genre of funk to psychedelic soul and rock to elements of the blues. All of these styles and concepts can be heard on the group's rich, spaced out 1970 self-titled debut. The group's third studio album sticks in a similar vein to the psychedelic soundscapes that the group presented on their debut album, but this time it's even more experimental, funky, and "out there" than their debut could possibly ever hope to be. In many ways, the album is a monster, vicious and expansive and angry in all the perfect ways, and it's adventurous style and landscapes easily make it one of their most distinctive projects. Couple in the fact that the entire band is incredibly sharp from start to finish, and you have an excellent experiment that's just as fun to listen to as it is surprising at times. An easy step-up from their debut in every way.

    I would be amiss to talk about this album without immediately singling out guitar player Eddie Hazel as a legend on this album. Undoubtedly one of the most underrated guitarists in the face of people like Hendrix, Paige, or Clapton, Hazel's guitar playing is on full display throughout Maggot Brain, most notably with the expansive, spaced-out 10 minute title track that opens the LP. I won't lie - I wasn't initially huge on the opener as a song, but I could immediately recognize it as pure style. I have since grown a lot kinder to the weird, expansive opening, mostly because of the pure excellence and musicianship of Hazel's placing. Of course, there's plenty of other moments on the album where he shines, with one my personal favorites being his own "Super Stupid," which has both some excellent vocals from Hazel himself as well as some killer guitar riffing - it's so punchy and impactful. Love it. Similar to the opener is the weird soundscape of "Wars of Armageddon," which plays more like a tight jamming session that any fully composed song, but I never said that I was complaining.

    Of course, not the entire album is experimental funk-rock, although I think that it could be used to define a lot of the album's spirit - the funk comes in after the opening track, and boy does it know how to funk. "Can You Get to That" is an excellent song - probably one of my favorites from the group with it's clean group vocals, upbeat rhythm, and acoustic lead. After the opening track, a good amount of the album is played far more straight, actually - "Hit It and Quit It" is another primary example of the group's funk rock stylings, and the building sound and chorus of the song is easily one of my favorite little moments on the entire album. "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" sticks to a very similar sonic territory as the previously mentioned "Hit It and Quit It," but with a more prominent focus on Eddie's lead guitar in my opinion - yes, this is for the better, seeing that Eddie Hazel knows what the fuck he's doing. Realistically the only moment I can single out as not having the same oomph as the rest of the album is the weird "Back in Our Minds," which I frankly found to be leaning more into annoying territory than enjoyable - the group vocals are weird, and that percussion is fun for about 10 seconds.

    While I think some parts of it are too out-there for its own good, it's not nearly enough to bog the entire record down - Maggot Brain feels like a real culmination of the group's funk-rock days. It's expansive, adventurous, spacey, and funky all at once, and that's largely the kind of thing I want to get out of a Funkadelic album. It's an album that as bold and striking as the woman yelling on the front cover, and it simply stands as one of my personal favorite funk albums of its time. I don't think it can beat There's a Riot personally, but for every person that has this as one of their favorites, I say godspeed! Great choice; it's certainly one hell of a record.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Maggot Brain.