About

— The Analog Vault // Essential Listening —

Passionate, provocative and politically potent - Eugene McDaniels’ 1971 musical missive was a fire and brimstone navigation of racial injustice in America through the medium of psychedelia, free jazz, soul, rock and funk. From the tragicomic mundanity of bigotry on “Supermarket Blues,” to the righteous Biblical retribution of “The Lord Is Back,” to the social pessimism of ahis protest song "Freedom Death Dance" - Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse confronted thorny issues by juxtaposing relentless waves of conscience with an unstoppable groove.

Although sales faltered because United States Vice President Spiro Agnew asked Atlantic Records to withdraw it from stores, McDaniels’ album has become a coveted classic in later years, and has since been immortalised in samples from hip-hop producers like Pete Rock, Q-Tip, and Beastie Boys. - The Analog Vault

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When Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse was first released in 1971, so the legend goes, Spiro Agnew himself called Atlantic Records to complain about the album's incendiary lyrics. Promotional efforts dried up, and since then, the album has become one of the great rare gems of the funk era. With this first-ever CD release from Label M, it is available again in all its strange, eclectic glory. McDaniels had earned his living as a producer and songwriter for artists like Roberta Flack and Gladys Knight, and was in all honesty not much of a singer, but somehow his clumsy lyrics and dry delivery combined to carry his message across. In an unthreatening manner that hardly warranted a call from the White House, McDaniels warns that man's struggles against each other are pointless, as some dark sinister force controls us all ("Headless Heroes"), and that protest without action is futile ("no amount of dancing is going to make us free," he sings in "Freedom Death Dance").

With a dry wit he recounts an episode of everyday racist brutality in "Supermarket Blues," and finds simple carnal pleasures in the acoustic folk-flavored "Susan Jane." It all gets wrapped up in an appealing stew that draws from rock, funk, folk, soul, and even free jazz. Considering the number of times McDaniels' sinewy beats and chunky guitar riffs have been sampled over the years, it's about time a proper re-release allowed listeners to hear the whole picture. The album is dedicated to Roberta Flack who is credited: "Special thanks to Miss Roberta Flack for not being afraid to help a brother. She, in my opinion, is a lady of quality, grace, humanity and talent of the highest order. I love you, Bert-G." – (via Label / AllMusic)

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Label: Music On Vinyl, Atlantic
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, 180 gram
Reissued: 2018 / Original Release: 1971
Genre: Jazz, Rock, Funk
Style: Fusion

File under: TAV Essential Listening
File under:  Jazz // Soul-Jazz / Jazz-Funk
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