Safe As Milk

I have a mate who loves these guys. Don’t get it personally

Keiuna Hnung was das ist, irgendwelcher Sound der nicht einzuordnen ist

I can hear the influence

Maybe I'm just grumpy today and not in the mood for these shenanigans but this just didn't hit.

Best Song: Abba Zaba. Despite myself, I kind of liked the nonsense lyrics here. Worst Song: Electricity. Who wants to hear this pack-a-day smoker wheeze out "electricity" for three minutes? Overall: The kind of experimentalism that I don't like. "Look how goofy and drug-addled we are". Great. Do something interesting with it. Not just a 70 minute slog of slightly silly dad rock.

Yeah it was alright, it’s VERY 60’s. instrumentals are great but i don’t really care for beefhearts vocals. I’m gonna drop it below the decent ranking of 3 stars because theres very few tracks of this hour long list that i actually care for. Standouts are zigzag wanderer, i’m glad and dirty blue gene.

Meh.

Boy, this album started so promising... but turns out to be an exercise in disappointment. The opening track is a straight ahead blues tune with some cool slide guitar. I thought sure, I'm on board with this. The following tracks were good in a similar manner. The song Electricity is nice, featuring some Moog synthesizer -- I have to imagine this is some of the first use of it in pop music. But in the same song the singer starts using this whooping vocalization that makes the song virtually unlistenable. The rest of the album falls into endless repetition. There are some instrumental jams on the back half that I would normally be down with, but they aren't very imaginative and aren't played with any particular skill. This is such a contrast with Birth of the Cool yesterday in which improvisation is used, but is thoughtful and features impeccable playing skill. The opening third would be a high 3 even pushing 4. But the back end of this really sounds like they were just padding the decent material with filler to complete an album length release. It's really too bad.

pretty rough, prog rubbish

Deeply weird - but I don't hate it.

It’s fine, but I can’t imagine I’ll think to listen to it again.

There were parts of this that were legitimately funny to listen to, but musically it was just alright. It was like listening to early Pink Floyd or the Doors but not good. Also what does safe as milk even mean.

Zzz

More crass imitation of black American blues. Nothing special.

This album started out in the hole because I hate Trout Mask Replica so much. The guy’s stupid Wolfman Jack voice also didn’t do it any favors. Wikipedia says he sings in five octaves or whatever but I don’t know what an octave is and I think his voice sucks. All that being said, this was pretty inoffensive blues rock, so I didn’t hate it too much. But still, fuck Captain Beefheart.

This was weird.

Kinda cool, quite forgettable.

Num curti não, achei cansativo, barulhento. Na primeira música eu até achei que tinha potencial, eu até que curto o estilo, mas aí as músicas foram ficando mais bagunçadas, barulhentas mesmo. Achei paia. PS: Exageraram pra cacete no stereo também, de modo que chegou a me incomodar, tipo tacavam 100% do vocal pra um lado só, por exemplo. Apesar de obviamente esse esquema stereo ser comum, e geralmente deixar a música muito mais rica, acho que normalmente as músicas não jogam tanto assim pra um lado só, porque me gerou uma sensação mó esquisita, de desequilibrio.

This is unabashedly odd, and something I really wish I liked. That being said, I was not into it 4 months ago, and I don't think I've come around on it since then. It is cool though, respect to Captain Beefheart and also his magic band. If you're looking for a litmus test from the album, throw on Electricty.

No. 162 I don't understand what it means to be safe as milk. I don't understand a lot of things about this album.

Is it typical 60s rock band? Is it a folk album? Is it a blues / soul album? Is it country? I'm not too sure. this album is all over the place in its consistency. it's not fun to listen to. The individual songs are decent, but it just feels like 19 songs randomly picked to be put onto an LP.

I genuinely don’t know where to start with this album. It’s kind of a hodge podge of genres and styles; some better, some worse. Clearly talented, but I’d say I enjoyed maybe half the songs and didn’t really engage with the other half.

Maso

it would seem than an avant-garde bluesy rock album should sound interesting but damn it's just boring.

Very gravely, mix between twangy and metal - odd. I didn't hate it but it wasn't great.

Eh

Strong start then lost interest

Listened while in the car, so I was not givingthe music my full attention. What I heard was variable, a strong start which petered out. John Peel was a huge fan while at his most influential. But not really for me.

There were some quite annoying sequences that got repeated over and over for a long period of time. That definitely sullied my opinion some. This isn't my style. When the instrumentals got interesting, the vocals were annoying. So it just kinda missed for me.

Not sure I could think of a worse name for a band

Not super impressed with this one, I started at three stars but became less interested the more I listened to it. It’s fine I guess, 2 stars (barely)

Weird 70’s vibe

1.5

Encore du rock des années 70 un peu granuleux un peu unky... "I'm Glad" est sympathique mais le reste on s'ENNUIE.

I have nothing to say. I listened. It was unremarkable.

Wow this is… not good. Weird =/= good

Idk man it reeeeeally dragged on and it is so all over the place. The songs are short so sometimes by the time I registered that it’s a new song and got the hang of it, the song ends and another song plays.

Love the names, but too long and didn’t care much for the end

This was funky, ranging from unpleasant listening to interesting and cool. Given that it came out in 1967, I can see how it would have been revolutionary and led the way towards how modern music sounds. However, I wouldn’t choose to listen again.

Hmm. Not sure at all

nah

Weird and strange but also fun at points. Won’t be returning to listen again likely but I’m not so off put by this.

Not for me. Bit too experimental for my taste. Dropout Boogie lived up to its name and did like another couple of songs but I can’t see myself returning to this one

The Grateful Dead’s worst album, which is not on this list, is better than this slop. MI6, you win again.

I thought Zig Zag Wanderer and Yellow Brick Road were fun, although not sure they were actually good. Instrumentals at the back-end we're awful.

Too much beef, not enough heart.

Delta blues prison boyfriend vibes. Similar to other rock faves; doors, stones, dire straights… but weird and unhinged

Some of the vocals really pissed me off

Weird, wacky, but doesn’t quite click with me. Possibly the best band name of all time though

I don’t really know what to say… Sounds like typical 60-s band. Good songs… Unfortunately, I never listen to lyrics and I don’t recognize most of it.

This was surprisingly very average. I was expecting a little more.

Low grade 60s British album. Not worth listening to really

Heard worse but it does not really stick and his vocie get pretty annoying at times. "i'm glad" was pretty decent so it's a good addition to "1001 decent albums that you might want to listen to before you die".

Like a fever dream. Favourite track: I'm Glad

It's alright. It's pretty standard 60's psychedelicish music to me. Maybe there is some history I'm missing. I'd never even heard of them until I got to the list. So I'm betting they are someone's favorite band. It's alright. Nothing that made me want to listen to more of them.

Not my cup of tea

I would have said mercifully short if it didn't feel like 3 hours long instead of 33 minutes. Music not bad, but come on. Probably an acquired taste.

get me out of here

Well, a step up from Trout Mask Replica, actually can listen to it

204/1089 Having heard about the reputation of Trout Mask Replica, I was a bit disappointed that this album was so normal. It’s a fine 60s boyband pop album but doesn’t particularly interest or excite memaybe i need to return to this in the future knowing what to expect 24/100

Weird. Very 60’s. Didn’t like the singer’s voice.

I respect the weirdness of this, but I just... didn't like the sound. Bluesy rock doesn't click for me. So this is a 2 for my taste, but they do seem like an interesting band.

Yet to reach its fullest potential

Sometimes okay to listen to, sometimes a little irritating.

A good band that hired the local beggar of the neighborhood to do the vocals.

Trotz einiger interessanter Momente – etwa der eigenwilligen Stimme von Beefheart und der rohen Energie der Band – wirkt das Album insgesamt unausgereift. Die Produktion ist dünn, die Songs schwanken zwischen ambitioniert und unausgegoren, und die Mischung aus Blues-Riffs und psychedelischen Ideen bleibt oft holprig.

Weird. But I listened to the whole thing. I was never into Captain Beefheart - thought he was a Frank Zappa wanna be, and never came close. This did get better near the end of the album, but I'm not going to go back and try to find 'the good stuff'.

This was not my cup of tea. Kind of hard to describe. I didn't really like the old tiney shouty bluesness of it all

na

Just okay not really for me. 4.1/10

Já tinha ouvido falar do captain Beefheart por conta de Frank zappa. O álbum é diferente, bem experimental.

Pleasant and goofy at its best - some funny vocal deliveries are probably the highlight. For as large as the Trout Mask Replica legend looms large (still haven’t had that one yet), this is pretty normative. I don’t know, I think there are better, more impactful listening experiences if you really want a late 60’s psych rock record. Of which there are aplenty on this list

This was a weird listen. Interesting but disjointed. Not for me

Some shit Drew would like

This was a strange album. I might have to come back to it cuz I really didn’t know what I was expecting.

Favorite songs: I'm Glad, Abba Zaba

2.5

Another questionable inclusion. Fave track: Call On Me

Somebody get me a horse and a real cowboy.

Interesting music from the 60's. Some cool riffs. Can see how it was influential. A bit too manic for my taste.

Blues to start. I’m not the biggest fan of this right off the bat. Listening to the mono version just because the panning is obnoxious. The rest of the album feels like this too. Very stones-like and the stones aren’t fantastic. They’re passable with a few good songs.

This only gets a 2 because the instrumental tracks weren't bad. The songs with vocals were just obnoxious.

Certifiably strange, but also kind of … intriguing?

i spose i can see why this was crazy to listen to 60 years ago, but it doesn't do anything for me

No thanks

Good, but not my thing.

went into this with a scowl on my face after troutmask and was pleasantly surprised to discover some actual songs on here instead of noisy dicking around. it's still mostly the kind of 60s rock that drives me up the wall, but it is at least a listenable album.

Second star is for not being Trout Mask Replica

I've heard of Captain Beefheart over the years but never heard any of their music. It's difficult to pin a style on this. Best I could come up with is Blues mixed with some Rolling Stones and The Kinks, but even that's not close. Musically it's not a bad album but I just found lots of the vocals, e.g. Electricity, and lyrics, e.g. Abba Zaba, a bit too weird. There was a lot of weird music in the 60's so perhaps this shouldn't be surprising.

Okay ... so this is either an acquired taste, or something where you had to have been there to get it. I love lots of 60s experimental music, but this I just don't get!

Weird

A little more accessible than Trout Mask Replica but still weird enough to annoy.

I wanted to like it, but it didnt work for me

Not my thing. But funky

I liked I'm Glad, didn't really click with me otherwise

It started off okay but at some point, I actively wanted it all to stop listening. I got to the bonus tracks and didn't even bother with them...

The nicest thing I can say about this one is it’s probably not the worst album on the list so far

Some interesting moments, but some moments that needed to be skipped.

Funky stuff. Its just about ok.

Don't love it. Bluesier than I was expecting and definitely less weird, but not enough to put me over the top and say anything too kind about it.

I agree with the user who mentioned in their review that drugs would have helped while listening to this album lol. I like blues rocks/R&B but this wasn't for me. I found it to be pretty unpleasant to listen to most of the time. I liked the theremin. I just listened to the original 33 minute album, not the bonus tracks that would have made it longer than an hour. Guess I should brace myself for when I get Trout Mask Replica from what I've read so far.

It was different, I found myself less engaged and just enjoyed it in the background

Definitely better than Trout Head Replica but by the 2nd or 3rd song I was already skipping ahead to the next song after hearing the beginning of each successive song. 2.5/5

gad denkt ou naai. aber alles wo de ry cooder druf isch cha nöd soo scheisse sii. erste track premium slide ry intro. ich lieb de dude. he s sind zum teil kohärenti songs?? i'm glad isch en song song so. und finden nice :). aso vlt mess ich wells de captain beefheart isch au chli andersch. electricity meega cooli giti. wie hesch mit 20i scho so en eigene sound. abba zaba isch chli ass gad. de captain mues amel scho chli extra schräg sii. schochli dum. plastic factory tönt wieder bluesig, verzerrt mega geil. aber de captain singt weird und ich find s git etz besseri bluesrock songs. nüt bsunders. ha die letste paar au ehner ustuschbar beefheartig gfunde. weiss nöd ganz wiso dem typ so viel platz geh wird.

I read in the liner notes that Captain Beefheart (aka Don Van Vliet) had difficulty finding a label to release “Safe As Milk” because it was too unconventional. That surprises me, because to me it sounds like a normal blues rock album with great guitar sound (Ry Cooder!) and poorly produced vocals. The experimental elements I expected are few and far between and, for my taste, not well placed. You could probably describe the Captain's singing style as “experimental,” but in my opinion, that would just be a nice way of saying that he doesn't measure up to the Magic Band and their songs. As for the latter, the relatively well-known “Yellow Brick Road” stands out slightly for me.

Not for me, but I'm Glad brought it another star. 2.5/5. Captain Beefheart, eh?

Much better than Trout Mask Replica. Still nothing I would return to. 2.5/5

Didn't enjoy it that much, maybe I will if I relisten. But for now it is below average, 2 stars.

Meh. Old and aged beyond being weird

Honestly no. Terrible.

Psykedeelistä ja blues rokkia, aika räyhäkkää. Vähän ehkä liian sekavaa ja kokeellista ollakseen kauheen hyvää. Vaikka ei nyt toki hirveimmästäkään päästä. Tavallaan kuitenkin sellainen ihan hyvä ajan hengen fiilis. Parhaat: Autumn's Child, I'm Glad

Meh

Well its not Trout mask replica so that is a positive and the first track gave me some hope with it’s bluesy feel. From there it is either boring standard blues rock or the occasional foray into something that points to their more experimental future. Better than the experimental guff, but still not for me

Having still not recovered from the last time I had to listen to Captain Beefheart, I dreaded starting this. The biggest compliment that it can have is that it’s nothing like “that” album - indeed, it sounds completely different, as if it’s by a totally different artist. I still didn’t like it, though. It’s just not for me.

Again another act I must be tone deaf to, and really missing the innovative etc.etc. that is being labelled on this. I just don’t hear the "freak out" experiment that people are saying. Band/person heard a lot about never heard. Gather this is early album and not as weird as led to believe they can be? That trout face thing always comes up. Maybe time has dulled the impact of this or without knowing all the background noise like the early Zappa it just comes over to me as competent white blues and r&b at best, nothing innovative. Dressing it up as eccentric is just covering up the songwriting being a bit, well shit. Well I have now heard them/him and not sure I gained anything, not revisiting 2 Star.

I was listening to this album as I was reading Stoner by John Williams, and an hour went by in a totally 1966 "twee-psych" manner which is serviceable and inoffensive.

2.5 A couple songs I thought were okay, but I really didn’t need to listen to two Captain Beefheart albums in my life.

It was pretty decent. Not something I’d search back out though

On balance, annoying.

5/10

2-/5

2 sterne

could i write poetry to this? n

Okay, fair. ONE Captain Beefheart album and that's it. Here it is and it's just like everyone says...weird and somehow influential. We're talking about it, so it must be art or something, right? I'm just glad to get it over with. But I'd better not see "Trout Mask Replica" on here or I'm gonna be pissed.

ok

Not so magic

Very strange album. Almost felt like an early Frank Zappa impression, but worse in every way. Some decent songs and the shorter runtime helps, but largely forgettable and not noteworthy. Top tracks: I'm Glad, Plastic Factory

I was expecting the worst because Trout Mask Replica was quite possibly the worst album in the entire 1001 list so far. With that expectation, this album actually wasn't *that* bad. It has a kind of traditional blues-rock sound. But towards the end of the album is starts becoming kind of annoying, especially tracks like: On Tomorrow, Trust Us, Korn Ring Finger. So in the end it's still not an album I want to hear again.

Comparing this to Trout Mask Replica puts this at a 3. Comparing it to anything else puts it at a 2. Grading down for today.

Prescindible

Nope, too old for me.

eh

Weird shit, man. Not that that is bad, it's just weird.

Just when I start enjoying a song, some guy starts doing a weird voice. Not good enough to justify the weirdness

can’t tell if i hate it or if i’m neutral towards it

Just ok

Genre defying, and silly to the point of annoying. Still, there are really great guitar riffs buried in here. Not a total waste of time.

"Safe As Milk" was strangely accessible despite Captain Beefheart's, er, ""singular"" sound. I still found the album's polyrhythmic sound and Beefheart's passionate...growls...to be deeply overwhelming though. Maybe I'll give myself another ten-or-so years to train my ears, and then, I'll return to the album.

Pretty weird and playful. Not exactly my jam, but I certainly love how it pushes the envelope.

At the heart of this, there are some good blues tunes. Unfortunately (intentionally) it is if they are mocking music and embracing weirdness. Which wouldn't necessarily a bad thing, IF it was done in a progressive or interesting way. I'm also not a fan of the gravelly vocals used on a good number of the tracks. There is some deranged genius here, but I guess this is the result you get when you let the drugs do the talking.

Self-indulgent

I hate it

THERE WAS ONE GOOD SONG ON THIS. I’m glad IS THE ONLY REASON WHY THIS ISNT A 1/5. 60’s psychedelic rock SUCKS AND I CANT STAND IT. Omg wow how good does drugs make music, hahahaahahahhaha. It’s boring, whilst trying to be pretentious. AND THIS ALBUM GOES ON FOR 70 MINS ???????? ALSO WHATS UP WITH THE PANNING ON THIS ALBUM????? The sound and mixing engineer should never be allowed to be on any other records because this is such a piss poor job of how to treat music. Also the main singer just sounds drunk the whole album, ur not a vibe… Edit. I wrote this 2 songs before the ending. Oh god. How bad are the last 2 songs. How did this even pass production. They approved this?????

You know it was a good sounding road trip album however it became completely unmemorable and a bit dull though it.

I liked the more blues-y stuff but overall this is not for me

Basking in mild lunacy, drugs drawing others into the glow, a youth full of freedom and abandon. Older, sober, amused, slightly embarrassed. Wistful for better days? Can’t go back, please don’t try. Not a good look.

Once upon a time, there was was a guy in my dorm who had the best stereo and the best weed and a penchant for medieval weapons. Sometimes I'd get high with him and he'd play really terrible Captain Beefheart albums. I was afraid this would be like that, but it wasn't quite.

Safe As Milk is the debut album from Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. Captain Beefheart is the stage name for Don Van Vliet. Guitarist Alex St. Clair founded the band, but over time, the band evolved into a backing band for Van Vliet. During the band's original run, Van Vliet was the only consistent member. While they never achieved significant commercial success, they gathered a cult following, and enough support for a reunited version, which toured for a decade without Van Vliet. The band made psychedelic, blues-based rock. It's heavy, and intense at times - weird and intense enough that it may have been a bit-too-much for mainstream success.

Well, it's better than Trout Mask Replica!!

At three tracks in, everything I have heard so far sounds pretty deeply nested within the country/rock/hippie genre that was in fashion at the time. Dropout Boogie is pretty bad, and apparently starts a shift in the album to "weird and not really good" Electricity has a lot of really annoying shit in it Abba Zaba: ridiculous. Couldn't finish Grown So Ugly: bluesy and not bad at all Safe as Milk Take 5: needed at least a 6th take Big Black Baby Shoes: disclaimer: I am not a guitarist. These guitars are out of tune and terrible sounding Flower Pot: WILL IT EVER BE OVER? Trust Us: I almost didn't make through the intro. The song actually wound up to be maybe my favorite on the album so far. Pretty low bar there though. Oops, wrote that before the 3 hour outro. No thanks Korn Ring Finger: Absolutely fucking not. Terrible Final thoughts: Not great, overall. Weird, atonal, and uninspiring. Also, perhaps the squeakiest drum pedal in all of recorded music history

It twangs like '67, but nothing really draws me in to want to listen more. And there's too much to listen to on this already.

This record is okay, until it's not. How much fuck around time does one album need? Here it's half.

i didn’t love this. i do really like psychedelic rock and a lot of the stuff seemingly in the same realm as these guys but this didn’t really do anything for me. i think it might be because of the heavier blues base that they had going on

About halfway through, my sole thought was, gee, this is a lotta beefheart.

4/10 - another strange album but this one was more fun to listen to. The guitar was sometimes interesting

Second album proposé par le générateur après 'Trout Mask Replica' que j'avais noté 1/5. Ce second album est plus abordable. Je n'apprécie toujours pas la voix du chanteur, mais là les morceaux sont plus construits tout en restant originaux (+1). Il évite donc la note minimale, mais le chant me rebute tellement que je ne souhaite pas l'écouter une seconde fois. =>2/5

Didn't grab me at all.

Nichts ist hängegeblieben. Es war einfach da und es ging vorbei.

Very strange band, and music. Figure you can only enjoy it ,unless your high.

I saw the band name and was instantly like, "oh god, another 60s band" Kinda funky. kinda weird, kinda aimless? 2*

bof

A bit weird rock music. Didn't like it much. Stand-out: Yellow Brick Road

I've been down all the roads that run parallel and cross over this one so I am very familiar with the territory and don't feel like I've discovered much by listening to this all the way through. I'm sure in its original context this probably is more noteworthy and I feel like I'm coming into it wrong footed.

started from thats quited good ended with ok it's boring make it stop

Weird and kind of funny-annoying, I'd not visit this again lol

you know, some people just music isn’t their thing and that’s okay

I can understand why my younger self at the age of 14 would not like this record. I was much too immature to appreciate blues music when my head was being turned by the sounds of The Beatles. A few years later thanks to the likes of Clapton the Blues did awaken in me. My record collection therefore has a sizeable amount of Blues associated music but alas no Captain Beefheart (even Trout Mask Replica). So today I listened to this album with the intention of probably righting this wrong. It turns out that in fact there is no wrong to be righted. Not certain if you can pigeon hole this pure Blues and after listening confirmed my suspicions all along that Captain Beefheart was more a product of Southern States drawl if you get my meaning. Turns out my younger self was right all along (as he normally is - the little bastard) 2/5 20/5/25

Listened Before? N These goofy mofos. Musically this album is pretty good. It just feels like a giant joke - much like their other stuff I've heard. Sometimes it borders on serious before going back to it's tongue in cheek humor. I don't really like it overall. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: I'm Glad

This is my first time experiencing Beefheart, so my opinion may change the more I listen to them. This sounds like music for people that don’t enjoy listening to music

Not bad, don't think I'm likely to go back to this one necessarily

Nee joh, een verzameling manieren om kinderachtig te zingen. Volgens het boek is het een 'doorleefde bluesstem'. Kom op... Er is in elk geval voldoende variatie. Saai kan ik het niet noemen. Daarmee kan ik er nog wel 1,5 ster voor over hebben.

Ik ben Kapitein Vleeshart en ik doe met een gek stemmetje Muddy Waters na. Ik ben Kapitein Vleeshart en ik doe met een gek stemmetje Jefferson Airplane na. Ik ben Kapitein Vleeshart en ik doe met een gek stemmetje Ray Charles na. Het lijkt een grote parodie op muziekstijlen als delta blues, folkrock en rhythm n blues. Moet ik deze man serieus nemen? Neemt hij de muziek wel serieus? Neemt hij zijn collega's serieus? Wat wil hij met deze muziek zeggen? Is hij oprecht bezig om mooie of goede muziek te maken of loopt hij expres de boel te verstieren met gekke stemmetjes en rare geluidjes. Het stomme is dat de achtergrondmuziek best prima is. Alleen lijkt het meer een verzameling diss-tracks. Voor de muziek zou ik een 4 kunnen geven, maar ik kan er niet om heen dat ik er ook boos door word. Dit zijn van die gasten die je een klap op hun muil wil geven en tegen ze zeggen dat ze gewoon normaal moeten doen. Ga muziek maken. Het is dat ik bij dit album geen Muldertje hoef te pullen, zoals bij het vorige album wat we van hem kregen. Deze heb ik redelijk eenvoudig af kunnen luisteren. Maar ik twijfel of ik dat album laat meewegen. Dat had zoveel strafpunten, dat ik er nog wel een paar over heb om dit ook mee omlaag te halen.

Albumi #178, 17.03.2025 Safe As Milk on Captain Beefheart & His Magic Bandin debyyttialbumi vuodelta 1967. Ihan kiinnostavaa musisointia, mutta silti aika perusmeininkiä.

When I first started thinking about putting a number rating on this I thought: “Well, a lot of it isn’t that weird and unpleasant so I can give it a three (obviously some of it is a bit weird and unpleasant)” But then what if the bits that are “normal” and “pleasant”? They’re not actually all that good, they’re just surprising like standard music. So if the lows are low and the highs are only OK, I think we have to go with a two.

I had high hopes....there were moments...not enough of 'em tho.

I’m lactose intolerant

An experimental album that just falls on its face with more missteps than success.

No los conocía. Suenan muy bien, pero no es lo que me apetece últimamente. La primera canción es bastante buena: "Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do".

A precursor to their infamous Trout Mask Replica album, though not nearly as experimental. Safe As Milk still displays some of Captain Beefheart's oddball delivery with his interesting vocals and playful lyrics. Is it alright? Sure, but it also comes across as incredibly unpolished an amateurish. This is a rough draft of some pretty middle-of-the-road songs. It's fine.

Whew. This was not easy. Had peaks and valleys. more valleys... Capt Beefheart was ahead of their time, but when their time caught uo with them, that still did not help.

Far from the worst thing I've ever heard (especially considering I know what's coming with another Captain Beefheart album on this list), but overall still a really sloppy and boring album.

Too much going on to enjoy for me. Some cool concepts but not enough space to flesh any of them out. I might come back to explore but this is not a great introduction.

Yeah, no. Sixties fayre that, i think, tried to be at the slightly edgier/alternative end of the spectrum. I just found it lacked the purity of others of this time and none of the hooks.

Not a huge fan. Electricity was a stand out track for me, but overall kind of boring blues with not great instrumentation.

Boy another tough album to rate. I thought the range from blues to rock to weird and even some R&B sounding song (I'm Glad) was pretty interesting. But in the end seem to drag on a bit too long for me. Though the first half the album was the strongest and there were a few songs that stood out for me. The opening 2 songs were solid in Sure Nuff and Zig Zag. I'm Glad sounded remined me of and old R&B song, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Some of the stranger songs I enjoyed include Dropout Boogie and Electricity. This album was good enough to keep my interest for most of the way and there were several parts of the album I thought were pretty good. Not sure if I would ever seek these guys out, but overall it kept me listening. For the older crowd, the one singer sounds like Wolfman Jack. Ha. Another album right down the middle for me. 2.5

In Lieu of a review here are excerpts from Marc Maron's Thinky Pain: "Captain Beefheart has been hanging over me, like this weird, you know, cryptic– you know, I can’t even– I’m not even– I will never be smart enough or large enough of mind to assess and understand Captain Beefheart. Like, it’s just been hanging there, but as soon as I start getting into records, I was like, “I got to fucking understand Beefheart" ... "I just walk into this record store, and it was only open for, like, ten more minutes. I just barge in. I’m like, “Beefheart! Where’s the Beefheart?” And the the guy in there, it was almost as if he was expecting me. He’s like, “Yep.” And he walks me over to this bin, and I’m like, “WHICH one? WHICH one?” “Safe as Milk?” “All right, this is the one? All right, good.” And as I’m walking out, I see there’s a sealed Kraftwerk album, and I’m like, “Well, I’m still kind of gay.” So, like, I get that" ... "then I’m waiting in the line. I got my records, and there’s some big old weird-looking dude behind me, and I approached the cashier kid, and he says, “What’d you get?” I’m like, “You wouldn’t understand.” That’s what I’m doing in my mind. So I go, “I got Captain Beefheart.” He’s like, “Oh, really? Which one?” I’m like, “Safe as Milk.” He’s like, “That’s a good start.” I’m like, “Who the fuck are you?”

2 I don’t really know a ton about Captain Beefheart, though I do know he’s allegedly an avant-garde sort of musician courtesy of Frank Zappa’s circle of cronies and that him and his so-called Magic Band are responsible for Trout Mask Replica - an album I’m admittedly not super well-versed in but that gives off the impression it’s the kind of thing music nerds would refer to as “challenging” when what they really mean is “unlistenable”. I’ll reserve my judgment until I give it a proper listen (and I’m sure I will before this list is through), but I say that all to say I was very, very surprised with how accessible this album ended up being. Though, it’s still not particularly good. While there have been quite a few albums on this list thus far that have grown on me with repeat listenings, this ended up being one I found myself hating more and more each subsequent time through. You definitely hear traces of what’s to come with Beefheart’s later, more experimental work, but it doesn’t result in anything overly remarkable or enjoyable here, and compounded with the lo-fi recording style of the era, some of this stuff is flat-out grating. Like, holy shit, Electricity was borderline painful. If that’s a sign of things to come with Trout Mask Replica, God help us all. Thankfully, most of the stuff here isn’t THAT bad, with the vast majority of it sounding like pretty standard 60s rock fare, though there are two bright spots that elevate this above a 1 for me - one of those being Yellow Brick Road, which is probably the catchiest track to be found (I also admittedly have a bit of a soft spot for the Wizard of Oz), and the other being Plastic Factory, which is just a fun blues number, like the kind you would expect to hear walking into a saloon. I wouldn’t go as far as to say they’re two songs I’m itching to listen to again per se, but they at least stuck out to me. Overall, not great, and it doesn’t make me particularly excited to listen to TMR. Still, considering I am one of said music nerds with more pretentious takes than I’d care to admit, there’s probably a scarily decent chance I end up referring to it as challenging as well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Better then the other Beefy album on this list.

Pretty sick, some cool sounds and unique moments

Not sure how a selection like this makes it too the list?

How did this make the list? it sucked and is not innovative or influential.

- Sure, I see that it was a good album, and yeah, I technically like this style of music - I just got a bit bored listening to it

Better than the last one I listened to by captain beefheart but holy hell that is not hard

Vreemd en psychedelisch, maar niet op een goede manier

Late 60's jazzy/blues idiosyncrasy music. Influential for later punk/rock. Kinda whacky but ok to listen to

This was way more "normal" than the trout album, I will give it that. But then...doesn't that defeat the purpose of it being on the list?

I'm not familiar with Captain Beefheart, but hoping to not hear from him again. Maybe General Porkbrain would've done better.

Eh this was too eccentric and experimental. There were some highlights ("Zig Zag Wanderer") but that difficult tracks ("Dropout Boogie") were too much to get through.

cool blend of genres but it just didn’t click for me (outside of I’m Glad)

The panning messed me up. I am not judging it because it's from 1967 and they didn't know yet very much about mixing. The album itself is ok, it is pretty much like The Rolling Stones.

Weird and interesting. Not overly enjoyable though Standout songs: Zig Zag Wanderer Electricity

I like quirky but this wasn’t fun.

This was not good. I like the blues - this isn’t it

Ok

Ehh

Eh

Nah

Hard one to rate. It almost goes like an “every other song” situation, where one song is good, but the next song is just art for art’s sake. I did enjoy some of it, but I wouldn’t say I liked the album. Reminds me of Zappa, but without the musical talent to back it up.

Aimless, pointless musical meanderings - I hate the avant garde. There's some musicality there somewhere, but it never sticks around long enough.

Did not enjoy. Captain Beefheart sounds like the worst porno name I've ever heard.

Not for me

They're just not very good. At least it was better than the Trout one

..

Pretty out there. Also kind of bluesy. Interesting in a way. Not one I'd repeat play much though.

Safe As Milk is not as bad as Trout Mask Replica, but it's close.

There’s some fun but admittedly generic jamming in this album, and I will admit this sounds very dated compared to other favs of this era I’ve found through this challenge. I think I’ll leave this one to Parish New York.

Good classic rock

It's ok but not sure it's a must listen. TMR better

Psychedellic Blues? - Annoying bordering on the unlistenable. 2/5

Doesn’t have the weirdness of Trout Mask Replica but also doesn’t really have the uniqueness of it. Forgettable album save a few songs.

This ain't no trout mask replica

How does one even describe this music; Swampy prog-rock blues-funk? This is an enjoyable album, but I think it’s the musical equivalent of an impressionist painting. When you ‘zoom in’ on the particular lyrics, or the individual instruments in each arrangement it becomes less enjoyable. But when you focus on how it generally ‘feels,’ it feels very good- and somehow sounds simultaneously familiar and fresh. My favourite is the opening track; “Sure ‘Nuff ’n’ Yes, I Do.”

Had its moments, but not for me.

Hey I call them when I see this, this is just as unnecessary as the British version. We’ve had a bunch of psych rock already, next!

Definitely an interesting band name. On first impression this is going to be a difficult listen. The instruments completely drown out the vocals and this style of singing just grates on me. I like the upbeat instrumentations and attempts at experimentation but it all blends in at some point. Highlights: Call On Me

Different, variated, interesting... but didn't resonate with me. 4/10

No private session used for Spotify. Captain Beefheart is out there musically however this album was a little more straightforward which was a surprise, at least that is how the album started and then it got more into the Captain Beefheart I was used to and can take, but only in small doses.

#63 - Some good songs in here but the overall vibe is quite experimental and unfortunately grating.

Avant garde does not equal good……

Kinda sounds interesting but it's tot for me, middling 2.

I have a visceral memory of hearing Zig Zag Wanderer blasting in my basement waking me up with a terrible hangover, and thats how I felt listening to this whole thing; disoriented and mad. I'm Glad was okay but its the album high point. The lead singers voice gets incredibly grating at time, especially in Electricity (although the spooky sounds were a nice touch I guess). I appreciate the experimental psychadelic stuff for what it is but its mostly terrible.

No thanks. I didn’t enjoy Trout Mask Replica and I didn’t enjoy this

About as safe as old milk

Dudes voice is pretty bad. Not for me

Fine. I just didn't connect to it.

It’s funny. I love Tom Waits, but have never enjoyed some of the artists that I think you can draw direct lines to and from. This is a good example of one that I could take or leave.

It seemed like it had potential at the start but it got worse, not better

I will say this: it's better than "Trout Mask Replica." There's more of a sense of songs here, and not anti-songs, like in "TMR". I wouldn't call the album "Safe" by any means. There's still a sense of experimentation, but the songs still feel like there is a full band going through something here. Definitely the finished product is better than the bonus tracks. The instrumentals there go nowhere. I can see why the record company was so negative on "Electricity," but I would have been more "WTF" on "Abba Zaba". I'm a huge fan of Zappa, but Beefheart is to Dada for me. Still, there were a few tracks I liked: "Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do," "Plastic Boogie" "When There Is Woman." Still, I can't recommend it. It's just too "we're being weird for weird's sake" for me, and not finding the actual song. But I didn't hate it.

This once again proves that my patience for psychedelic music is nil. I won’t deny that the irreverent tone is occasionally fun. But it’s a lot of nonsense underscored by music that I mostly find insufferable. 2/5

Favorite Track: I’m Glad

I don’t know, I found it kind of weird.

not my thing

Ein echtes blues album aber nicht schön für mich

Нечего сказать, простите

i'm really sad that i only liked 'I'm Glad' off of this album. i always loved that song and i thought that the rest of it would be the same, buuutt i was wrong. not for me, but that's fine!

Average at best...

I did not think I would like this, and I was right.

this is not the first band on this list that made me realize that musicians choose to make garbage and pass it off as music. i'm not saying i'm in love with safe as milk, but good lord, we now have solid proof that captain beefheart and his magic band can make music, unlike the monstrosity that is trout mask replica. safe as milk even has a steady presence in the blues genre. i wasn't even aware beefheart could have such a focus! the vocals leave something to be desired, but aside from that, there's solid instrumentation happening. i'm just so glad this album wasn't a chore that i am close to giving this a 5.

For what its worth, this album is somehow much more accessible than the other Beefheart album on this project, Trout Mask Replica. But don't get me wrong, this album is still Captain Beefheart at it's core, in every sense of the word. It's very bluesy and very folky, but is overlayed with a thick layer of garage, acid, and psychedelic weirdness and plenty of weird vocalizations and lyrics. And with these genres, they manage to achieve quite a bit of diversity on the album. I still don't think I liked this quite enough to make it a 3, but was surprised that I was able to tolerate it and even had moments where I kind of liked it.

fine...but also forgettable

Eclectic but not particularly noteworthy.

Decent, but not much there songwriting wise. Strengths in the guitar tone/riffs.

Beefheart is regularly noted as one of the most important influences on new wave, punk, grunge, and post-punk. John Peel, Lester Bangs, and Robert Christgau all love him. The tracks on this album that I liked all feature Ry Cooder going to town, so I don’t know if I like Beefheart like all of those knowledgeable music types do. It’s not that I didn’t like it; it’s that some of the non-Cooder tracks turned into annoying background noise.

Fine OK Nothing to write home about Liked that it was short

Not my cup of tea

# 224 : I don't love it. I don't hate it, it is ok but it's not particularly exciting and doesn't have anything catchy enough to make me want to give it a second listen. Yawn.

Voelt een beetje alsof dit een verzameling is van een hele hoop bekende bands, maar dat de nummers dan net allemaal net iets slechter zijn

Sure nuff - just your average blues with a steel guitar and rockabilly sound. 3/10 Zig Zag - 60s with raspy vocals. 3/10 Call on me - more freeform than the first two. 6/10 Dropout - psychedelic dance with a decent riff. 6/10 I'm glad - slow crap. 1/10 Electricity - 6/10. Decent music, nothing special Yellow Brick Road - crap. 1/10 ...that's enough. 2 star

the yellow brick road one was a big no no

Long and boring and felt very pretentious

Good mostly

Blues rock, garage rock, rhythm & blues, acid rock. Rollo.

Listened to the whole album but wondered why I left it on the whole time by the end. This album was ok but nothing special.

more to be admired than enjoyed

Blues rock, garage rock, rhythm & blues, acid rock. Rollo

Cha tiene su par de bangers pero está muy acido para mí. 4/10. Podría ser 5/10 pero me pasaría de generoso.

Important stuff, but not that fun to listen to. Trout Mask Replica is better.

Some of it was okay, and some of it is just a bit too experimental/weird for me

I could appreciate their musicianship. But I’m never going to listen to this again

I love the guitar

I dunno

Okay well… hmmm… no

Definitely a product of the times. Don't hate, but probably will never listen again.

Not a fan of Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band

I know nothing about this album and it was ok. But I didn't exactly want to know more. Ok listening.

Okay at times

Mostly a tough listen

Safe As Milk would be a sick band name

don't get quite how people see this guy as the godfather of modern rock/punk, actually preferred the madness of the other of his albums on this list

Didn't know milk was safe for Ramadan. Tried the stereo version, regretted it 15 seconds in. Not what I expected. Tbh I was in the mood for whatever mess Trout Mask Replica was so I got disappointed. Safe indeed.

not good but not bothersome

I'd heard of this band but never heard them. They were a bit Beatles, a bit Rolling Stones and started off too shouty and loud. I would be unlikely to listen to this again.

Hm nee, te eentonig en oubollig voor mij sorry

I've listened to Trout Mask Replica before, and this is significantly better. That is too say at least there's a few songs that are halfway decent. Still nothing great.

I was not expecting to think this lesser than the listenable case of Stockholm Syndrome that is Trout Mask Replica, but this album is far more dull than anything that album came up with. Replacing odd time signatures and recognizably talented instrumentation is boring bluesy rock 'n' roll with a singer who doesn't have a great voice, and nothing more. There isn't anything overtly ironic about this record compared to Frank Zappa's band at the time, and even if there us I'm not picking up on it. This record is probably a solid enough time if you follow the garage rock scene from the era, but this feels more like "predictable as milk."

My first exposure to Captain Beefheart. Mixed feelings on this. Although there’s some interesting playing musically on this, there’s also a fair share of noise and the vocal parts can be stupidly annoying at times

Not that safe. Or that decent

After the song Grown So Ugly, the album descended into some really weird stuff. Up until that point, it was a fairly solid blues rock album, similar by times to The Doors style of psychadelic blues rock. I must admit when I first saw the band name this morning, I got nervous of what I was in for because of the notoriety around the strange album Trout Mask Replica, however, the first song on this record: "Sure 'Nuff 'n' Yes, I Do", was a fantastic Delta blues number. Seems like this album was founded in good music, but the psychadelic drug use and experimentation just went too far, and things just kind of descended into a weird mess. It's a Shame, because the album started with so much promise. Favourite songs: "Sure 'Nuff 'n' Yes, I Do", Plastic Factory, Zig Zag Wanderer, Where There's Woman, I'm Glad, Yellow Brick Road Least favourite songs: Electricity, Autumn's Child, Safe As Milk, On Tomorrow, Big Black Baby Shoes, Dirty Blue Gene, Korn Ring Finger 2/5

You know, there's some gritty stuff in here but overall it feels too chaotic, unstructured given its potential. Was Beefheart changing up his band too often?

Only listened to a few tracks. Sad we didn’t get Trout Mask Replica

Not bad, a couple good tracks but all-in-all a little repetitive sounding

I really liked it at points but ultimately a bit too weird for me and not really my taste in music

This was a whole lot less "weird" than I expected it to be, given Beefheart's reputation. It turned out to be fairly run of the mill blues rock. I actually liked the more off-beat tracks best, like Abba Zaba. Maybe I'll love Trout Mask Replica once we get to it.

Tedious!

Maybe it's cuz I got this one right after Jeff Beck, but it seemed pretty generic. Did get me a nice nap, though.

favorites: zig zag wanderer, i'm glad, electricity

Weird, don’t like his vocals at all but some of the jams could be good I just wasn’t in the right headspace for it

Startet erfrischend mit R&B, aber wird dann teilweise zu psychadelisch einzelne Songs gefallen aber das Album weniger

Better than the previous captain Beefheart but I still can’t forgive them for that one.

Not feeling it