Trout Mask Replica

Shame this isn't on spotify, also the ratings on this thing make me mad because people on the site can't handle anything that's barely experimental

#295/1001 🇺🇸 Where to start with this album. I bought a cheap copy on CD back in the late 90s when you could get 3 for £20. Beefheart was revered by many of the artists that I loved like Polly Harvey, Black Francis and Mark E Smith. I don't think that i quite understood it at the time and 30 years on whilst i can now appreciate some elements of the record, its still quite challenging to listen too. The bits that appeal most are his "spoken word" dialogues and the low fi bluesy elements. Best Tracks: Pachuco Cadaver, Ella Guru, Orange Claw Hammer, Hobo Chang Ba.

Apparently they rehearsed for twelve hours a day for eight months straight, to make it sound exactly as terrible as they intended. While their dedication is impressive, did they not realise they could just hire non-musicians and get the same result instantly? And why do we trust that the final 8 hour session is actually what they intended? They could have practiced all that time, fucked it up a bunch of times in the actual session, and then released it. Who would know? They need an external auditor to verify it sounds exactly as shit as they intended. The only people who like this are people who think they're in on some big joke on the listener. You can't like this sonically. Not because it's impossible for someone to enjoy, though I wager it is indeed difficult, but because, if you do actually enjoy it, you've not understood the album as the artist intended. So, that being said, the album is kinda genius, but it's still bad music. The sad part is I still found it a more pleasant experience than some other albums I've heard on this list.

Oh it’s finally happened, I’m gonna write a song by song commentary: Frownland: Oh yeaaa, I can see this will be difficult. Sounds like a younger child that’s finding their footing in music. The Dust Blows Forward n The Dust Blows Back: Ok poetry breakdown… interesting Dachau Blues: Bringing awareness to the holocaust I suppose. Just sounds like a drunk man doing karaoke but good message is being put out (I think??) Ella Guru: This sounds like a relatively normal 60s rock song, but with a Capt Beefheart twist to it Hair Pie- Bake One: 🤠 this is the emoji I use when faced with adversity. This was difficult to get through, but the guitar kinda brought it together. Moonlight on Vermont: Had to look up the lyrics because I have no clue wtf he's saying. Even while looking at the lyrics, I have no clue of wtf he's talking bout. Very bluesy sound tho Pachuco Cadaver: Kinda a vibe Bill's Corpse: When I hear his voice, I imagine a man with the most jaundice-riddled eyes and stankest breath singing all up in my face Sweet Sweet Bulbs: Honestly, great transition from the last song. I didn't even notice the last song had ended. Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish: "In jest, incest, in jest, in just, in feast, incest" 🤠 wtf are we talking bout rn??? I'll give Capt this tho, that's an original sentence frfr. This album is an original experience tbh China Pig: With the current economy, this hits different 😔 My Human Gets Me Blues: Believe it or not, I'm a fan of this. This may be the most coherent song on the album so far. Was he discussing gender dysphoria towards the end of the song??? Bro was really talking bout some difficult subjects in 1969... ahead of his time Dali's Car: Short n sweet. Like it Hair Pie - Bake Two: Another instrumental... I like. The sound on this Hot Pie is much more cohesive this time. I love to see upwards progression. Pena: Damn Pena. Sounds like it's a frantic time, get better soon girly. Well: well well. When Big Joan Sets Up: Poor Joan. I hope she finds some comfort in her own skin one day. Aside from the story, the sound of this song sounds God awful to me. Fallin' Ditch: Uhh ok. Not the worst sounding song. Sugar n Spikes: This has a kinda theatrical feel to it. I could see this being sung in a musical, and I like that. Ant Man Bee: I’m ready for this to be over. Orange Claw Hammer: 🤠. Wild Life: Either I don’t have the musical intelligence to be able to appreciate this or it’s truly ass. I get overwhelmed listening to such an abstract, abrasive song. She’s Too Much For My Mirror: The yelling, I can’t do it. Hobo Chang Ba: Patrick Star’s attempt at making a song. This is difficult. The Blimp (mousetrapreplica): This is my favorite from the album thus far. Steal Softly Through Snow: That guitar tho. Kinda fw this one as well. Old Fart at Play: uhh.. ok. Veteran’s Day Poppy: I MADE ITTT. Also, I’m grateful we ended on a high note. Overall: This was FAR from my type of music and as long as I have free will I definitely won’t be listening to a single one of the songs. I would give this a 1, but it was kinda entertaining so it’ll get a 2

The first time I listened to this, it was a 1. Then I watched an entire program on Captain Beefheart and the making of this album. I listened to a podcast discussing the possibility of its genius and the truth of its insanity. I was assured that something more would come through with repeated listening. And it did. I definitely hear the influence this had on later musicians that were actually…. Musical. And some of the tracks began to almost be… enjoyable. The whole is undoubtedly interesting. But far too long. And it still isn’t musical. And the poetry sucks. So this time it’s a 2. 2 Boolean: True

Mad as a box of crickets and entertaining the whole way through. Albums like this are exactly why I wanted to do this list and I'd rather have stuff like this on here than a lot of the standard dross

on one hand Beefheart is a colossal piece of shit and the background behind this album is horrifying; on the other hand, he correctly hated The Beatles. it's not as bad as its reputation. it's also not as interesting.

Giving this a 3 feels unfair to all the boring ass artists that I have ranked mediocre already. This album is terrible in all the best ways. No one should listen to this. Everyone should listen to this. Its soo bad I love it

I can’t make you like this with my review but I can tell you I’m the weirdo that this was made for. Once I was at a brewery (Anti-brewery, a short lived spot here in town) and they put on this album and I exclaimed oh shit it’s trout mask replica. I think I was the only person interested. I felt bad for everyone else but I was excited for myself.

After seeing the reviews, after hearing about how bad this is, I'm starting to think people on here just don't like anything different. I won't lie, it's not going to be a regular listen by any stretch, but you are definitely in for a new experience if you're willing to go in with an open mind. Plus, you can definitely hear every album that would be influenced by these guys - this leads to Tom Waits, leads to Prumus, leads to industrial music... if we don't have albums that push the envelope, how would we ever find something new? The point that really turned the album for me was about halfway through, when during a Dadaist dialogue between two bands members they have to stop and retake the conversation because I've missed his cue. There's a little chuckle and an aside comment of "oh Christ", then we continue - these guys knew exactly what they were doing, they're in on the joke that we are, and honestly it made me appreciate the whole album a bit more know there was intention through the whole thing. A hell of a listen, thank you to the List for giving me something i would never have sought out myself.

I’m sure it’s good but I am not able to comprehend it

5 stars with hallucinogens, 3 stars sober

Can't listen on any streaming service. Rating this a 1, not the album, but the cover.

I give this a shot ever few years and I'm not sure I will ever fully understand it but I can't help but appreciate the creativity and brilliance. Still one of the more exciting albums ever.

Words fail me!

wow. out there. WAY out there. different. original.

Guess you had to be there. Terrible

Ahaha this was absolutely ridiculous, I loved it. Can't wait to read the reviews. Once only though - I won't put myself through it again in this lifetime.

I've read more about this album than any other album I've listened to in recent memory (said derogatorily). It defies any explanation or label (also said derogatorily). It sounds like every musician and their instruments were falling down an up escalator. Though, maybe that was just where old Cap't Beefheart was at in his life because, in a real case of life imitating art, apparently he threw the drummer down a flight of stairs not long after recording this and stripped him of all credits on the album. I couldn't finish it, but laughed hysterically at what I made it through. 1/5 feels generous.

Boy that was a tough one. I can understand and respect they’re trying to do something different but it’s just not for me. Love the album art tho

2 only one song on spooterfy, intrigued by the cover art

Wonderfully weird

I have listened to an album previously on this list that wasn't on Spotify and I really liked it, so hopefully this one won't disappoint. I'm one song in so far and holy shit it's so bad it's good. I was reading the reviews and was confused why everyone was simultaneously hating it but thanking the artist for making it. Now I understand... You have to listen to it to understand and join the collective mindscape. I really like the album cover.

Almost unlistenable in places.

Grows on you over time and even in the noise and aimless shuffling, moments of absolute coolness appear and stick with you. Moonlight on Vermont? Ella Guru? Hobo Chang Ba? Real good. Sometimes a little too "oopity zoopity the bang bang dude smokes grass in Papago Park" 60s uncool guy making jokes to seem young (see also; frank zappa, sonny bono) but generally pretty sick

Yup

Just a reminder to folk, the book that inspired this site is "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die." And Trout Mask Replica needs to be heard, it's an amazing reimagining of the same basic elements of folk, jazz, blues and ethnic music which made up modern COULD have been combines differently to create something unique. You do not have to like it, and even I am not going to pretend that it's everyday listening....but it's an important album. It almost defies conventional scoring, but if forced it's a 5 for invention, and a 2 for easy listening.

Pfffff, la couverture de l'album m'angoisse deja. 28 musiques !!! Mais ptn c'est pas possible pour un album. J’ai pas finis l’album … Ca part dans tous les sens. Ca me stress, je sais pas pourquoi.

Inecoutable, mais j'entends que ça soit dans la liste.

Silly and chaotic, this playful album pushes the envelope on what can be considered music. It even challenges deeper discussions on beauty and perception. A wild and unforgettable ride.

1.5

Craziness, Zappaesque lunacy....

Thank you Spotify for not having this record on your list. I heard the first song and fortunately only song. That was enough to tell me I would not be interested at all in this record. I recall captain Beefhart being played by my brother growing up. And when I got this one I thought, oh no.

This dude literally tortured his bandmates for a month and this is what they got out of it? I'm glad other bands listened to this shit - it's hard to imagine folks like Primus, Modest Mouse, Jack White, etc turning out the way they did without weirdos like Beefheart and Zappa - but I'm never going to listen to this again if I have any say in it. I don't do this often but I'm tagging out about 2/3 of the way through the album. I've heard enough.

It's weird. I don't hate it. Also had trouble finding a place to stream it due to copyrights. Would give it another chance. I do not agree that it should be on a greatest of all time list anywhere.

Sounds like a bunch of saxophones trying to tune. It would only let me play that one song.

No. When I saw the album cover my first inclination was “no”. When I heard the first 30 seconds of the album my first thought was “no”. When I saw it would be about 1hr18min of total listening, again “no”. I pushed through, but “no”. There have been several albums throughout this journey I was not initially excited for but ended up being pleasantly surprised about, but this was not one of them. If anything it piqued my curiously on who would record and release these deranged noises and ramblings. May be the worst album I’ve encountered on this journey thus far.

It starts off kind of how I'd expect it to start. A dude singing some blues-like lyrics over a track that has no driving rhythm other than just random banging of instruments. Then, in the second track, the album gets weird. If Safe as Milk, their debut album, got a little weird, this album barely ever gets conventional. Like if you threw Tom Waits in a blender with some spatulas and your car keys. There are occasional moments when all the noise coalesces into something approaching rhythm, but it's the exception to the rule. Also, this album is incredibly long and hard to get through. This stuff makes Frank Zappa, who produced it, sound like a run of the mill, ordinary musician. 1/5

I have no reason to listen to this one

The granddaddy of experimental music, the boogie man of every classic rock loving teenager, the bane of radio rock fans' existences... TMR is largely indescribable and just as largely controversial. It's a batshit kind of record, one so soaked in its madness that it revels in it. Discomforting, disorienting and alarming but still a rather enjoyable listen. It's a mess. But wow is it a lovable mess. No spite 5-stars here as much as I'd like to give one.

Yeah, everyone should listen to this. I'm going to force some of my friends to do so next time I see them. The story behind the creation of this album is every part as insane as the music itself is. This album is utterly unique and strange. Every now and again, there's a track that is almost like conventional music, which reminds me of when you see early paintings by Pablo Picasso in a traditional style: these guys chose to make art like this. This is a very fitting album to listen to as I cross the 1000-album milestone! Favorite track(s): "Moonlight on Vermont," "Well"

This is too hard to find and the descriptions deeply repulse me. As does the cover. Reviews aren’t giving me the faith that this is worth the time, sooooo nah.

I checked at 14 minutes in how much time was left... still over an hour :(

I originally wrote a very tough review but it turns out Spotify only has 1 track for this album and its like 8 minutes long. I found the album elsewhere. And its not...terrible. I wouldnt say I enjoyed it but there are things on here that are worse.

Sounds more like an experiment than music. The singer sounds like a drunk person doing a Tom Waits impression.

Weird and abrasive and brilliant

Truly one of the albums of all time. At least I got through listening to the whole thing pretty easily. I didn't find it repulsive at all and knew what to expect with this kind of experimental music with screaming and noises. It was messy yet still a little fun and I wouldn't rate this thing that low.

Simply awful.

Every time it sounded like we were going in one direction the album e-brake turned somewhere else. It was a little bit interesting but I'm not curious to hear more.

Any sort of historical significance aside, I didn't enjoy much of anything and have no desire to listen to it again. I can do weird but this was just mostly random noise. It had it's occasional moment but couldn't escape my "1" metric that I had to keep checking how much longer until it was over.

Good ol' white rhythm n blues album 👌👌

Frownland - 61 The Dust Blows Forward 'N The Dust Blows Back - 46 Dachau Blues - 60 Ella Guru - 54 Hair Pie: Bake 1 - 64 Moonlight On Vermont - 72 Pachuco Cadaver - 58 Bill's Corpse - 56 Sweet Sweet Bulbs - 68 Neon Meate Dream Of A Octafish - 58 China Pig - 42 My Human Gets Me Blues - 3 Dali's Car - 53 Hair Pie: Bake 2 - 54 Pena - 35 Well - 50 When Big Joan Sits Up - 64 Fallin' Ditch - 56 Sugar 'N Spikes - 53 Ant Man Bee - 57 Orange Claw Hammer - 45 Wild Life - 62 She's Too Much For My Mirror - 60 Hobo Chang Ba 32 The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica) - 48 Steal Softly Thru Snow - 56 Old Fart At Play - 45 Veteran's Day Poppy - 70 Trout Mask Replica - 52

Typiskt oljud.

INTE bra.

i wholeheartedly love that music like this exists and is being consumed, i want it to be successful. i wholeheartedly despise listening to it. it's like a drug tripped poet experiencing a car crash over and over again in purgatory. love it!

I was hoping I would like this one. But too Zappa.

I feel like if Beef didn’t have such a unique voice, this music would be trash. Like put Nick Cave’s voice over this music? Even more terrible. This album kept me engaged as a background noise factor in my doings yesterday. Good but not great

Look, I just didn't really enjoy it, ok?

Fuck it all, I'm gonna be that asshole. Never in my life has an album given me this much trouble and forced me to think and question myself like this one. This thing is fucking horrendous, objectively. But goddamn it, it just keeps growing on me. Sir Beefheart was a bona fide dickhead who treated his band like shit and wasn't that good at singing and couldn't play any instruments and couldn't read sheet music and was dyslexic and who refused to just wear a pair of fucking headphones in the studio so as to not completely fuck up all of the vocal overdubs. And yet, this big fucking Godzilla statue made of shit is so, so, so interesting. Endlessly so. Almost unfathomably complex. And, 57 years later, there is STILL nothing else like it. To which I might say, no shit there's nothing else like it, because who on planet earth would want to make crap like this again? To which I might say, or is it just because no one else can? No one else is crazy, stupid, creative, and maybe brilliant enough to? Anyway. The fact that I'm writing all of this, and that it took me damn near a month to organize my thoughts about this thing, says a lot. As repulsive as this album is, you just cannot write it off as being stupid or empty. You cannot. And because I'm that douchebag who likes to be contrarian and I guess is drawn to challenging "art," I'm dropping the 5 bomb. No matter what, this thing is one-of-a-kind, and utterly transcends time. What an experience.

3.5

Spotify is missing every song but one from this album I believe…

I gave it a fair shot and I'm proud of myself for that. I didn't necessarily enjoy it, but it was definitely some form of music.

No va

Soy demasiado tonto para entenderlo (?)

Intentionally unpleasant, as if daring the listener to even remotely engage. Not even clever or challenging, just immaturely chatotic. Seemingly designed to be disliked

1/10

It's experimental.

turns out microtonal music is not as hard al polytonal music couldn't listen to it hard pass

When this work comes up online, the audience generally splits into two camps: "It’s genius" and "It’s a cacophony." Matters are complicated by the fact that it’s a double album; many say it’s impossible to get through the whole thing. It might well have been impossible to get through in 1969 (even though free jazz already existed), but not today — not with bands like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Viagra Boys, and so many others around. Listening to this jagged, unhinged "schizo-blues," you might initially think the musicians don't know how to play. But once you learn the backstory — the fact that they rehearsed for twelve hours a day, eight months straight, just to achieve that specific sound — you start to view it as an art project: a slap in the face of public taste and a giant middle finger to the rock, folk, and psychedelia that dominated the era. I certainly won’t be listening to it again, though.

I'm pretty sure I've listened to this before but I didn't remember it so I can't have, because there's no way I'd have forgotten this. Wow this was so cool. Similar to Tom Waits in how janky it was. A huge hit for me.

I totally understand the importance and the art behind it. It is still a hard one to listen to, probably because I don't have the ear to fully appreciate it. I do love how wacky it is and how the late 60s allowed for something like this to happen.

Kind of impressive to be this willfully obtuse. I have very little time for Don Van Vliet though, especially after hearing Andrew Hickey's deep dive into the background and abusive directorial methods that led to creation of this record. A lot of this is near unlistenable, atonal nurdling; however it's not without interest and quite frequently punches-through into moments of lucidity (clear spots if you will (turbo-groan)). It also goes on and on and on. For me, an interminable and mostly-diabolical chore to listen to, which I'll try to avoid revisiting, possibly forever.

Horrible!!!

/me slaps CaptainBeefheart with a large trout

Honestly, so annoying.

I have never heard an album that is quite so aggressive in getting you not to like it. Mission accomplished, Captain.

Music's something intended to please the listener, while this appears to be made with intent to make their ears bleed or troll them. The album's as bad as it can only be compared with Einstürzende Neugebauten's Kollaps (as far as my previously rated records on the 1001 list are concerned). With the latter, we had a radical industrial record really potent in hurting one's ears. As for Trout Mask Replica, I can only say that the only way in which it is outstanding is being a manifestation of how degenerate our culture may get. Nothing in it helps, neither the pretentious avant-garde form, nor the apperent attempt to break the fourth wall, make a metacommentary or something. This music is awful. There are moments of silence or spoken word which in turn is awful with that disturbing voice. So part of the record is not even music. Almost all of the rest material is utterly bad. I can only name a couple of tracks I thought were worth listening to—China Pig and Sugar 'n Spikes. Now, I can imagine how various music critics called this a masterpiece because of some backround lore of the band or a "novel" concept behind the album. Another proof why you should think for yourself. This is one of the worst albums of all time, only deserving of zero out of five.

I was expecting more. As a lover of weird music I was expecting a masterpiece of the bizarre but this one didn't really do much for me.

I couldn't finish it.

Within thirty seconds I decided I couldn't handle listening to this album and turned it off

Weird album. Some of the tracks were awesome. The album just went on for way too long and got a little boring.

The opening song is probably the most jarring thing I've experienced on this list so far. I thought I had two tracks on at the same time. Of course this is the intention, but just "wow". I don't know what the intent of this record is. Is it to provoke? Is it to prove a point, or just try to see what happens if you create an album as messy and unorthodox as possible? To me there is some merit in trying things out and seeing whether it sticks or not. But just because things are possible, doesn't mean they are good ideas. The album is probably super technical and difficult to perform, but it sucks a$$ big-time to listen to. Did I mention it's also very juvenile and contains loads of toilet humour? Yay. It was an interesting experience, but I don't want to listen to it again. Other than perhaps if I want to prank or crash someone's party. There is some interesting reads online as well on how they practiced for this album forever, with bare minimum funds and barely any food. And how Mr. Beefheart abused and terrorized his band, like some cult leader. Doesn't seem like a particularly nice guy. Even the more reason to reject this.

Stolen from a comment on social media: “the only album that is simultaneously a 1/10 and a 10/10.” I can’t improve on that. I’m going to rate it a 1 bc while I admire the artistry and originality, and absolutely love how it challenges me, I gotta be honest and say I’m pretty unlikely to listen to it again.

This isn't as bad as I expected after seeing so many people complain about this album. However, that doesn't mean I enjoyed it. I can understand why people consider it important, but I have absolutely no desire to ever listen to this again. There are albums I don't enjoy that I can at least understand the appeal of. This just sounds like two hours of musical nonsense that I'm glad I can check off the list.

ug

I appreciate this but too avant-garde

What. // This is the first album I feel unable to listen to in full. I typically wouldn’t rate it, but this feels like an exception. I understand there are reasons this is groundbreaking and excellent that feel frankly none of my business. Maybe I’ll revisit, knowing me I will, and until that day…

Second Captain Beefheart in a row. Hilarious youtube comments

I was worried bc this album is kind of infamous but I didn’t hate it. I don’t know that I would listen to the whole thing again but I think there are songs I would revisit.

That first song was rough - the drummer sounding like he's playing an entirely different song made me think this would be another one like The Shaggs (IYKYK). After that, though, I got into it. Certainly not an easy listen, but I liked it.

For those who hated Mothers of Invention are going to love this one!

Listened before?: i think i tried to listen to this many years ago. i doubt i ever even finished listening, due to both the sheer length of the album and how weird it is overall. i really don't remember anything about it though, maybe because my brain blocked it out. guess i'll try again Frownland - 1/5 The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back - 1/5 Dachau Blues - 1/5 Ella Guru - 3/5 Hair Pie: Bake 1 - 1/5 Moonlight on Vermont - 5/5 Pachuco Cadaver - 3/5 Bills Corpse - 1/5 Sweet Sweet Bulbs - 2/5 Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish - 1/5 China Pig - 1/5 My Human Gets Me Blues - 4/5 Dali's Car - 1/5 Hair Pie: Bake 2 - 1/5 Pena - 1/5 (fast & bulbous) Well - 1/5 When Big Joan Sets Up - 1/5 Fallin' Ditch - 1/5 Sugar 'n Spikes - 4/5 Ant Man Bee - 2/5 Orange Claw Hammer - 1/5 Wild Life - 1/5 She's Too Much for My Mirror - 2/5 Hobo Chang Ba - 1/5 The Blimp - 3/5 Steal Softly Thru Snow - 3/5 Old Fart at Play - 2/5 Veteran's Day Poppy - 5/5 Average score: 1.9/5 ⭐️ i suppose there's a couple interesting tracks sprinkled within this album. however, 9 times out of 10 it sounds like the equivalent of a bunch of middle schoolers screwing around with their instruments during band class it may be technically brilliant to some, but i can't find it in me to lie and say i liked what i heard. it's a weird fucking album. i've seen a lot of people say it takes multiple listens to "recognize the pure genius" of Captain Beefheart or whatever, but would i honestly come back to this multiple times in the hopes it'll click for me? i highly doubt it on account of my ears hurting, i'm not even gonna round up my score. just glad to be done listening

Dziwne jazz-rock

I know about captain beefheart from reading I'm with the band! So fun to encounter him here under these circumstances

You can stream this album as it's meant to be heard on Captain Beefheart's bandcamp. That playlist on Spotify is not good. I enjoyed this album and can see myself returning to it. Sometimes expressions of conviction and character are worth your time more than boring old composition (though I'm sure a lot of thought went into that, here, too).

I get that it's meant to sound strange. Still a bit too all over the place for me.

The infamous album. Whether you like it or not, this is in fact an album you have to listen before you die. Chaos with occasional genius.

I’ve tried so many times to like this but it just doesn’t click. It’s like a less talented Ornette Coleman.

I'd always been a bit reluctant to give this one much of a go. It's talked about as this super-weird masterpiece. I fine with weird but for some reason took against being told it's great without hearing it myself. As it turns out, it's excellent. Can definitely hear stuff that must have influenced Tom Waits at least a bit. And for once I think editing it down, removing some of the spoken word stuff, would take away from it.

Honestly not sure what to make of this. If I hadn't had to search hard to find it (it's not on streaming at time of writing) I'd probably have marked it higher