The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown


I feel like there was a thing i used to do. You know, like i'd sit down and do a thing, and share it, and then do another thing, but i can't seem to remem- 

I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE, AND I BRING YOU... some albums to review. 

Jeez, no need to shout, dude. Oh, thanks, yeah, reviewing albums was the thing i do. Soon as the ringing in my ears subsides we'll enter The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown. 

Truth in advertising, this thing is top to bottom loony tunes. Calling it Psychedelic is kind of not at all an adequate preparation for the total auditory assault you're about to endure. It is glorious, but i'd suggest being stone-cold sober on the ground floor for your first trip through this tunnel of terror. How you do a more terrifying I Put A Spell On You than the original is a top shelf trick in my book, but that's like the tamest song on the whole album. Most Psych Rock/Soul is like a friendly hug from a human shaped alien in the safety of an actual person's living room (like how Doug Ingle from Iron Butterfly clearly lives in an alternate reality but he seems like a totally friendly guy), but Arthur Brown is like stepping on a rake outside your haunted cabin and having the rake cackle-laugh as it repeatedly smacks you in the forehead and threatens to swallow your soul. Worst. First. Acid Trip. Ever. 

Now, i'm not really a historian, or critic in the traditional sense, i am a phenomenologist. It sounds like Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, and Vincent Price all sitting around the campfire getting rapidly drunk and telling repressed memory stories about the absolute insanity they experienced being anywhere near Arthur Brown. Think back to before Heavy Metal existed and there's Arthur Brown with his literal flaming helmet singing James Brown songs and flailing around like the bikini girls of a Laugh In segue. But seriously, the flames would spread and catch his hair on fire and he'd tear all his clothes off while audience members poured beer on his head to douse the flames, and all he'd get for all that trouble was arrested and deported after the show. 

Look, that's as good as i can do for this holy grail of used records i found today. It loses a lot of its terrifying charm all cleaned up and pretty sounding on youtube, but it is an experience you simply must have in your own safe place without any sharp objects or table corners to crack your skull on as you flail around to the complete insanity happening in Hell's airport adjacent hotel cocktail lounge. You're welcome. 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM7k5L_U7M92b4ZKKyOD3Nk7NsTSMHlsS

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