OK But Not Great
Tom | London | 12/16/2002
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Any live tape of Funkadelic at the peak of their reign as the greatest black rock 'n' roll band ever (the Jimi Hendrix Experience was only one-third black, while the Band of Gypsies didn't hang round long enough) is bound to be worth a listen. The problem with this album, as explained in the excellent sleevenotes, is that rhythm guitarist Tawl Ross had just gone on one acid trip too many and was (permanently it seems) out of commission while the brilliant Tiki Fulwood had just vacated the drum stool - and this was probably the first gig for their respective replacements, Harold Beane and Tyrone Lampkin. Nonetheless, Beane (from the Isaac Hayes band) acquits himself well enough, but as bassist Billy Nelson takes great pains to point out, Lampkin is all over the place. Maybe he was trying too hard to impress his new employers but Lampkin overplays to an alarming degree, he seems to forget he's playing for Funkadelic not the Mahavishnu Orchestra!Nonetheless, the version of "Maggot Brain" is pretty good, even if Bernie Worrell debunks the seriousness of the track somewhat by tootling away in an entirely different key at the end of the track (deliberately of course). Talking of Worrell, he runs the late great guitar-god Eddie Hazel pretty close on this album, his playing is amazing: funky as hell one minute, coming on like Mike Ratledge of Soft Machine. And suddenly breaking into Johann Sebastian Bach in the midst of the mantra-like "I Got A Thing" is sheer genius. The vocal performances are a little on the ragged side but given that the most of the band were high as kites that's maybe not surprising. In the end I have to dock a point because the sound quality isn't quite up to par. But, having said all that, if you loved Funkadelic when they were more of a rock band than a funk band - buy this."
Mother earth is pregnant for the what?
Sherance M. Brothers | Jasper, Alabama United States | 09/13/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"this should have came out years ago, not a bad cd, truly this should be the best black rock live cd, next to the band of gypsie's classic, well anyway this performance has really one weakness, and that was trhe abscence of tiki fulwood, his replacement tyrone lampkin-filled in for him, and if you can hear tyrone's out of his league but he tries, other than tyrone's inexperience this is still a bad performance, if you love the first 3 funkadelic cd,s this is for you, if you wanna hear maggot brain live done by eddie hazel you should definetly get this, cause this is really funk fans best chance to hear eddie perform his classic heavy hitter, the singing done mostly by george, and fuzzy was done nicely, reminds me of some motown tripping on acid, p-funk could sing when they wanted to,but that made them unique-a group full of surprises who is still unpredictable to this day, but the real stars are eddie hazel, bernie worrell, and billy bass they funked it for what's it's worth for true funkadelic fans especially those who love maggot brain get this."
Buy this because you love Eddie'maggot brain'Hazel
Daddy-o | Beatsville, USA | 10/12/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First stop listening to reviews!! I almost did and I would of missed out on this HEAVY-ASS CHUNK OF FUNKADELIC- Now go out and buy this because you love the SUPER FAT FUZZED OUT SOUNDS OF MR. EDDIE HAZEL and the BOTTOM DROPPED OUT OF THE FLOOR FUNKY THUNDERING BASS OF BILLY "BASS" NELSON. Enough said!"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1