4. Gloryhallastoopid - Parliament
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL6uPibeVYA I think I was one of the few people in my Pennsylvania hometown to fall in love with Parliament. I even organized a Parliament cover band for my high schools battle of the bands (which we lost by an incredible margin). Parliamentfamously led by George Clintonwas a funk pioneer, combining complex dance music with jazzy fusion-rock jams. And while some of their songs dealt with serious sociopolitical issues, Parliament spent most of the 1970s discussing the wonders of funk. The most famous element of this corpus is 1975s Mothership Connection. But I think the most grandiosein a definitely good waywas Gloryhallastoopid. This album included excellent extended jamsone of which my aforementioned high school band covered (to much confusion on the audiences part)suggestive themes (part of the reason my band chose the song) and even a mini-comic. And the grandiose subject matter of this and other albums translatedlike other entries in this listinto equally grandiose live shows. This concept album tells the story of the struggle between Starchild and his nemesis, Sir Nose DVoidoffunk. In this entry, Sir Nose defeats Starchild, turning him into a mule; thankfully, though, Starchild is later saved and we learn that funk actually created the universe. It cant get much grander than that.