Because, really, can one have too much "Maggot Brain"?
I love Nels Cline. (Pace Mark Kozelek.) I love his sounds, I love his style, I love his...well, okay, I'm not sure I love his guitar face. But given the way he pours his all into his shredding, I'm not sure it's possible to fault him for excessive grimacing. (Also, I'm not sure he even comes close to competing for the title of Most Guitar Face Guitar Face Ever.)
Man. Nels Cline, Mike Watt and Stephen Perkins. That's some talent right there.
Let us be very clear about something: this is not better than the original. Eddie Hazel's original solo is one of the most incendiary yet heartfelt and nakedly emotional pieces of music—not just guitar solos—ever committed to tape. The legend has it that Funkadelic mastermind George Clinton told Hazel—a mere pup at 21 years old—to play as though he'd just learned his mother had died...and then learned she hadn't actually. Whether or not that story's apocryphal is almost beyond the point, because that is exactly what Hazel's solo sounds like.
This cannot surpass Hazel's original, because it's not possible to. But it is an amazing tribute, paying homage to Hazel while very clearly allowing J Mascis's own personality shine through: but in the process making it obvious just how big an influence Hazel had on Mascis's style.
If I owned a business, I would make this the hold music. (This shows pretty definitively why I don't own a business.)
In addition to Watt's admirably restrained bass, it's a neat touch to have Funkadelic's Bernie Worrell on keys.
