(Heavy Psychedelic rock) Maximillian - Maximillian - 1969, MP3 (tracks), 256 kbps

MAXIMILLIAN was formed by three New York based musicians who adopted much of the Hendrix style and line-up (bass, guitar, drums) releasing this sole album in 1969. Led by guitarsit Mojack Maximillian and produced by songwriter Teddy Vann, they deliver a soul bluesy infected psych-rock, full of fuzz and wah-wah distorsions and effects. From New York, produced and arranged by Teddy Vann, this is an album which gets a mixed response from collectors. Some like it, claiming that it's Hendrix inspired psych soul rock here, on tracks like "Road Rat" or "Kickin' 9 to 5", and deserves to be heard. Others hate it, citing awful vocals and weak material. Featuring a trio plus anonymous drums and occasional organ and violin, the album came housed in a gatefold sleeve with pictures of the trio being crucified on flower crosses and various religious symbols. The liner notes explained that "Golgotha music was one of the few surviving vestiges of truth. Its prophets of love and truth such as BB King, Bob Dylan, Donovan, Aretha Franklin, Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez sang the psalms of time. The crucifixion of the social heroes of the day, Martin Luther King, John and Robert Kennedy, has made even bigger demands on the importance and value of music, thus creating new prophets of love and truth".

It's the cover art that immediately grabs one's attention, a photograph of a trio of flashy-dressed Afro-Americans crucified on flower-encrusted crosses. But Maximillian's defiant stance on the cover of their 1969 self-titled debut is pretty much the highlight of the album itself. Considering the date, it's no surprise the band was invariably compared to Jimi Hendrix, usually by archivists who hadn't heard this previously impossible-to-find rarity. Unlike Hendrix, frontman Maximillian had all the vocal talent of a third-rate punk singer, making up for his inability to carry a tune by just shouting louder. It's amazing this man inked a deal for anything beyond The Gong Show. The actual talent of the group was bassist Moby Maximillian, who plays a mean standup on the badass R&B "Kickin' 9 to 5," adding some pizzazz to the rollicking "Road Rat," and just about holding "Moby's House" together, an odd number that splices bits of all the other album tracks together. Which leaves guitarist Mojack Maximillian, an almost competent blues musician but a totally inept prog rocker. Unfortunately, he refused to stick with what he knew best, roaming far and wide across pointless, pathetic leads and smudging the set with unappetizing fuzz guitar. His wah-wah playing, in contrast, isn't half bad. Producer Teddy Vann only made matters worse, adding gruesomely irritating strings on "Naked Ape," highlighting all the worst aspects of the band, and burying any sparks of light in sludge. Buy it, if you must, for the artwork or perhaps the comic relief, but certainly for nothing else.