Maggot Brain

Funkadelic | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 20, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Westbound Records Us
• ASIN: B000001TVD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,456 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #26 in Music > Indie Music > R&B > Funk

Track Listings

1. Maggot Brain

2. Can You Get to That

3. Hit It and Quit It

4. You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks

5. Super Stupid

6. Back in Our Minds

7. Wars of Armageddon

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Funkadelic was George Clinton's chance to get serious. Unlike Parliament, Funkadelic exhibited topical lyrics and an almost heavy-metal edge, one that included screeching, distorted guitar and unsettling musical turns. This 1971 album, Funkadelic's second release, catches the ensemble in its early prime. The Hendrix-inspired dramatics come courtesy of Eddie Hazel, while Bernie Worrell admirably handles the keyboard chores. Clinton's humorous, sober lyrics address poverty, race relations, and drug use. Musically, the band covers lots of ground: Everything from smooth soul and heavy rock to abstract psychedelia and straight-on funky grooves has a place, and these jarring shifts are what make the album a revolutionary work. --Marc Greilsamer

Product Description

Originally issued in 1971, this is a great album, carefree & trippy. Seven tracks produced by George Clinton. Westbound.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funkadelic Innovates Yet Again., March 21, 2003

By 

David Bederman (Potomac, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maggot Brain (Audio CD)

"Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time, cause y'all have knocked her up. I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe...I was not offended, for I knew I had to rise above it all, or drown in my own s**t."

Though this DEFINITELY makes no sense at all, it sets the scene for some more experimental, revolutionary music from George Clinton and Funkadelic. Perhaps one of the darker albums of the early 1970s, Maggot Brain is a successful experiment and a tremendous success for Funkadelic's 3rd album.

Moving beyond the very freaky acid psychadelia of their first two albums, Funkadelic moved into a newer and eclectic sound; a mixture of harsh rock 'n' roll, psychadelic music, soul music, gospel choirs, and even more. Maggot Brain effectively managed to fuse all of these together.

The first song is worth the entire album, earning it the 5 star award: considered by many to be the greatest guitar solo ever, the late Eddie Hazel's "Maggot Brain" is a depressing, bluesy, acid trip that was recorded in one take. All it took was George Clinton telling Eddie to "play like your mother just died," and Maggot Brain thus was born. The song opens with a dreary guitar backdrop and "echoing" drums that mysteriously fade out once Hazel gets into the solo; reportedly, this is because Clinton found that they "sucked" in comparison to Hazel's improvization. The song progressively gets more and more intense, until it peaks at the middle; but at the end it gets as intense as before. Unlike many other solos out there, Maggot Brain succeeds at having both an immsensely skillful player and the perfect instrumentation. Rarely, if not never, does P-Funk play a concert without Maggot Brain; it is one of their hallmark songs. If I haven't convinced you yet, the ten minutes of Maggot Brain are not worth missing AT ALL.

The next song, the happier and gospel "Can You Get to That," is another great one. It serves almost as an "upper" from the depressing Maggot Brain, but is a fine song on its own.

Bernie Worrell's "Hit It and Quit It" features his expert keyboard skills, and---surprise surprise---another sublime guitar solo from Eddie Hazel in the middle.

"You and Your Folks" gave birth to the popular "yeah, yeah, yeah!" chant at Funkadelic concerts. While the song on the album itself is a little flat, the lyrics are wonderful. The song itself is a wonderful experience when played live.

"Super Stupid", a hardcore precursor of much heavy metal (in 1971!) is fun and ear-busting. Even if the lyrics aren't much, the instrumentation alone is worth the price of admission.

"Back in Our Minds" isn't much worth writing home about.

"Wars of Armageddon" closes the album, another masterpiece; but this one is designed to freak people out. Apparently Funkadelic got ahold of a sound effects tape, and went crazy with it; this song features a destructive guitar riff, and with the added sound effects you'd swear this song was the end of the world. Farts, laugh tracks, men and women screaming, etc...it sounds like the nation's fallen apart. And in 1971, still the race riot era, this did hold somewhat true.

Buy "Maggot Brain" immediately. Case closed.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Just Isn't the Same Without This Disc!!!, October 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Maggot Brain (Audio CD)

Let's cut straight to the chase. Eddie Hazel (God rest his amazing soul) is quite possibly one of the greatest guitar players to ever walk the earth. The only problem with Eddie's work is that he was a part of something that consummated way before its time. The first three Funkadelic albums (S/t, Maggot Brain, and Free Your Mind...) are three of the greatest collections of music ever released for public consumption. However, Maggot Brain itself is the standout CD. The title track is a legendary Eddie Hazel emotional guitar ride that carries the listener to musical heights that only Jimi Hendrix was able to reach before him. The 10 minute epic track, all recorded in one take, is quite possibly the standard by which the statement "Who says a funk band can't rock" can be measured. However, the LP doesn't fall off there, with "Hit It and Quit It" and "Super Stupid" following up on the headlining track with grooving, yet forceful sounds that transcend multiple musical genres. "Can You Get to That?" and "You and Your Folks" are prime examples of gospel, rock, and soul influenced funk (what a combination!), and "Back In Our Minds" is a perfect piece of psychedelic sound that Funkadelic made famous. "Wars of Armageddon" is a total clusterbomb of a sound picture, complete with amazing Eddie Hazel guitarwork, classic George Clinton gibberish lyrics, and some extraordinary soundbites that showcase only a small portion of what was to come in the future of the Funk. This album is a must for anyone who considers themselves a fan of (deep breath): funk, pop, guitar rock, heavy metal, groove, and soul. In other words ... BUY THIS DISC!!!!!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Utter Groovicissitude, March 21, 2002

By 

Steev Proteus "Mr. Steev" (nowhere in particular) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maggot Brain (Audio CD)

What is there to say about MAGGOT BRAIN? Listen to it. Funkadelic's third album is to rock what BITCHES BREW was to jazz music in the late '60s, in that both fairly drip with evil. From the cryptic introductory poem that leads into the title track, a masterpiece of quietly devastating beauty as Eddie Hazel makes his guitar weep (literally), to the nuclear explosion ending the final track, and presumably, existence itself, MAGGOT BRAIN, after I'm sure about a hundred fifty listenings, has not for me lost one iota of its initial impact. It is still beautiful, funny, incredibly conceived, arranged, and produced, and ultimately creepy, if not horrifying. Aside from the title track and the last song ("Wars of Armageddon"), there are five songs: "Can You Get to That", a groovy piece of soul, with crisp acoustic guitar, scintillating grand piano, rumbling bass, yummy percussion, and unbelievably sweet harmonies bordering on gospel harmonies. "Hit It and Quit It", "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks", and "Super Stupid" are quintessential early '70's funk-rockers, harder than most Black Sabbath (or even Led Zeppelin) rockers of the same period. These three are followed by "Back in Our Minds Again", an unusual arrangement to say the least, and probably the weirdest song on the album until of course "Wars...", the final tune. And that'll be my final tune. I hope you found my silly little review helpful. Ta ta.