Reviews (page 2 of 7)
I get the idea. Surrealistic. Polyrhythmic. Polytonal. Fractured. Chaotic. In Captain Beefheart's words, "fast and bulbous". I'm sure the album has had a major impact on rock, punk, and especially 80s new wave, with its bent toward surrealism. I just didn't think it necessary for Captain Beefheart and company to record over 78 minutes of sonic disruption and verbal incongruity. With its point already clear by the time the fifth track rolled around, the album dragged on and all the avant-garde pretensions became gratuitous.
uhhh i don't get it. i think it's funny when he says "a squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous got me" though. 2.5/5
I can’t pretend that I enjoy the music (*yet*… maybe it’ll all click one day) but I still feel somewhat enriched for having heard this mythical piece of tomfoolery before I die. What I can say with certainty is that I enjoy the album art and title very much. Very much indeed.
I wasn't jiving with this one. It was interesting, but not something I'd listen to regularly.
I used to hate this for how "quirky" it was. It's like a hipsters staple album to brag about cause it's so "unconventional". Honestly, it's not that bad, it's just not really my thing.
I had to go through several of the 5 reviews to see what I was missing. No one really explained it. Someone said "I truly believe this is Captain Beefheart’s greatest work." Oh god.... not that I was planning to listen to anything else they might have produced, but it's difficult to imagine worse. In any case, not the lowest low of this list, but it doesn't reach 2 stars.
struggling to imagine a worse album to listen to while studying. no continuity of sound between songs. felt like anything could happen at any moment. at a certain point i think you have to be impressed that you're ENTIRELY on your toes? anyways no i did not like this album at ALL. in fact i think it worsened my acetaminophen induced nausea and also gave me a headache. can't say i've ever had such a reaction to an album before! and get this i DID listen all the way through!
There are no words to describe how bad this album is. Without any doubt the worst thing I've ever listened to, and the first time I've really struggled to get through an album on this list. Complete and utter shit. I wish there was an option to give 0 stars. Wow.
There is no way that anyone actually.. truthfully enjoys this.. wtf
A record for contrarians. And reader, I'm not one of them. I can find beauty in noise, distortion, some dissonance... but not this.
I don't know what to say about this album. I am sort of interpreting it as a parody of everything that you'd usually think of as music. It's deliberately awful in a way that must have taken quite a significant amount of skill. I got to a point while listening where I was actually preferring the more chaotic nonsense to the more traditionally musical bits. Bits made me literally snort with laughter. Bits made me wince. I spent quite a lot of time with my head in my hands. I regularly checked how much of the album I still had to get through. Highlights: - "Ella Guru" - somehow this one went hard. I don't know how or why. - "Hair Pie: Bake 1" - HONK. - "Pena" - I just don't even. - "When Big Joan Sets Up" - this just cracked me up for some reason I can't comprehend. This is without a doubt a 1, but part of me wants to give it a 5. But it's definitely a 1. Like, I literally cannot in good conscience rate it higher than that... but I want to.
I've seen many people more knowledgeable about music say this was an important and influential album, but I just don't get it. If someone decides to leave the beaten path then they should have an idea of where they are going, not just wander around saying "Look at me, I'm off the beaten path". Overall the album left me feeling that as a listener I was not being taken seriously. Like I said - people wiser than me have disagreed...
I can't in good conscience give this more than 1 star. I know it's in some people's top 100, etc., but this is not enjoyable and although there's some art to it, it pretty much sucks in my opinion.
if only i could vote 0
I wish the Spotify link was the actual length of the album.
Ok i waited tile the 3rd song to type this but nobody can enjoy listening to this right? I'm all for off beat/weird stuff but I'm talking MF doom, J Dilla type beats not uncomfortable out of rhythm saxophone and guitar strums. what do i know? i hate this
Een dubbelalbum vol met Zappaesque flauwekul, ik heb hier al zo geen zin in. Ik ga een Muldertje pullen: van een paar nrs snel een halve minuut van luisteren of het wat is en daarna op 1 ster drukken. Meer woorden wil ik er ook niet aan vuil maken. Dit is simpelweg verschrikkelijk.
good lord
So bad it wasn't even on Spotify
Dit was gewoon raar
That’s not even music is it?
This... this is torture. I listened to many bad records here on this list, but I couldn't continue after the 4th track or so. Couldn't find it on Apple Music, so I had to use YouTube. The commercials were a welcome break. -5 stars if it would be possible.
I genuinely wanted to give this a second try, but it's not on Spotify! And I'll be damned if I'm both listening to this and also dealing with YouTube Music's horrible user experience, so the initial ranking stands
Couldn’t find it on Spotify. Apparently doesn’t exist.
Still don’t get it after 60+ years of trying
I've heard the name many times before, and may have even dabbled in the past, but Captain Beefheart continues to elude my brain and scrambles my very thoughts.
???????????
Someone was clearly joking when this made the list. Utter tripe…
Sounds terrible and is not enjoyable but I feel like thats the point.
Suffered through this. I know the point was to “break the rules and conventions of music” but the conventions won this fight smh I suffered
Yeah, I ain’t feeling it. 1.3
Mom Im gonna be a rock star. Lets form a garage band No one will sign us It dont matter they dont understand our music Lets record our own record and produce it cause no producer will understand our sound. Bring his guitar hero band mates and records and puts this out. You know when you see sonething really sloppy and crappy and say my 6 year old can do that better well he probabaly can. This to me qualifies as performance art more than actual music. I understand that in the late 60s the hippie craze was huge and they were looking for new fresh sounds and some crazy 💩 was recorded and released. This is one of them.
Eww, no, gross.
Total Goldblum. Captain Beefheart must have been so preoccupied with whether or not he could create such difficult and complex arrangements that he didn't stop to think whether he should make something so catastrophically unlistenable. Rating: 1/5 Playlist track: Hair Pie: Bake 1 Date listened: 04/06/24
Could not listen until the end. Horrible
First of all if you are listening with spotify it's not on there anymore. Well after some searching I found it. All I can say is this was a waste of time i absolutely hated this. It was just too strange for me trust me I know quite some "weird" stuff looking at you:"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict" but this was on a different level
personal rating: 1/10
I genuinely feel for anyone who has invested significant time in the mental gymnastics needed to convince themselves that this dreck holds artistic value, conditioning themselves through constant repetitive trauma to find artificial enjoyment in it. Life is short. Embrace it. Hug your wife and kids. Call your mum. Cuddle your cat.
This is definitely one of the albums that has ever existed. It has tracks I think identify as songs? Man straight up, this album was absolute trash. Maybe if you were in the middle of a coke-fueled binge this would be passable? No idea, but man this was a bad album.
Upon listening to this album, one observes an involuntary physiological response, akin to the visceral reactions humans exhibit towards certain auditory stimuli which, from an evolutionary standpoint, are deemed hazardous and thus avoided for survival. The experience elicited by each note and melody transcends mere aesthetic preference, invoking a profound and almost primal reaction. This suggests that, to some extent, the auditory experience of this album activates a survival mechanism, serving as a reminder of the intrinsic human imperative to safeguard oneself against elements that fundamentally clash with one's natural inclinations.
Literally what the fish
To quote Mic the Snare: "Music theory: don't do it, kids." I can understand, conceptually, why this album is on this list. It's considered a "classic," an example of what free-jazz can do for *your* rock and roll, a willful bucking of pop structure and defiance towards the listener; the can-you-believe-it-sounds-like-this-on-purpose of it all. That's all fine and great, and I didn't dislike absolutely everything about this album. I suppose it's impressive that this music was carefully written and arranged to sound like this on purpose, and that the band was able to execute Mr. Beefheart's vision, but that knowledge doesn't automatically make this listenable for me. I've heard that if you listen to this album enough, the brilliance shines through. I'll have to live on in ignorance. Highlights (?): Ella Guru, Moonlight On Vermont, China Pig, Well
Не доступен в Спотифай
This is the soundtrack in hell. It was the worst thing I’ve ever heard. Some critics put it as high as top 60 of all time. Absolutely terrible. It wasn’t even on Spotify.
Spotify doesn't play this one for some reason? Found it on YouTube. Disappointing and confusing. I wanted to like it, just didn't get it and definitely could not get thru much of any it.
I got about halfway through. This was truly terrible.
listened to the milk album. weird sound.
Yeaa I have a hard time even calling this music. This was hard to listen to and I don't think I will ever revisit it or even tell anyone about it. I don't like the instrumentation, or Beefheart's voice, or lyrics. It's rough throughout. I will admit there are moments that caught my ear, but it's buried under such chaotic dissonance that it killed any momentary enjoyment.
Unlistenable. I guess having everyone listen is important in the same way as having everyone view a car wreck. “Hey look over there. Don’t do that”
One song was all I needed to know I would hate this record. Simply filled with noise and meaningless ideas. This is absolutely not for me.
What the fuck did I just listen to?
I’ve had one Captain Beefheart album so far. I can’t say that I liked that album, but I’ll remain hopeful that today’s album will be better. With an album cover like this, it has to be good, right? I hope so anyway. Let’s listen. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: none What an absolute earache this was. It’s being added to the very short list of albums that I couldn’t bear to finish. I got five minutes in and it just seemed to be a messy noise comparable to being in the same room as different musicians playing different songs at the same time. I then skipped a few songs in and it still sounded the same. Didn’t want to waste my time on this mess.
Rubbish.
1.5 I can’t believe I listened to that whole thing. I like his voice and I can tell everyone on here is good at their instrument. It was painful, but I think that’s the point. Not all of the tracks were tough (Ella Guru, Sweet Sweet Bulbs, and Sugar N’ Spikes were legitimately enjoyable) but I can’t get above 1.5 considering the remaining hour.
I don’t understand this record.
Un album tout ce qu'il y a de plus atroce, mais c'est pas au bout du 1068ème généré par Robert qu'on va se rendre compte que son livre est une escroquerie à plus de 20€.
Stratosphérique, le capitaine Beefheart est mon personnage préféré du générateur. Les instants live de ses performances sont de précieux gemmes, où le capitaine peut pleinement exprimer son handicap, face à une foule conquise. Un beau message d'espoir.
Apparently it's one of the greats but you have to listen to it 7+ times to "get it". Until then, it's atonal, stream-of-consciousness, free-association junk.
our god is not a just god
Chaotic in a way that made my head spin. The album and artist names represent how odd this album is perfectly.
Listened to a playlist. I just don't get it. Sounded like bull going crazy in a music instrument shop.
Well the best part of this album were the intermittent YouTube ads offering short relief from the chaos lmao. I might have thrown an extra star out for experimentation/originality if it were short, but damn this is way too long to be so messy. Tbf I didn't really hate anything but I also didn't enjoy absolutely any song so
Okay so uh. There’s interesting stuff happening here. It’s not unlistenably bad. I kinda want to give this a 2 just for the fascination factor of it, but I’m rating it in the middle because I’ve heard enough. It’s not good. What the captain is doing is not for me. But I support him.
not on spotify aikt listening
If Frankenstein gave life to the drawings of banned cartoon characters from the cutting room floor, they would start this band.
And I thought the first Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band album I got here was bad
Känns som jag skulle kunna lyssna mig till bättre betyg på den här plattan men jag vill inte.
Sometimes I think albums make the cut on perceived significance, without actually being listened to. The first Capt Beefheart was insufferable and this was almost the same.
Misery. A cacophonous wall of torturous sound and I don't hate myself enough to endure it all. Did not finish and listed to rain dogs instead which is a great album 5/5. I especially like tango till they're sore, rain dogs and anywhere I lay my head. I would recommend that anyone who is thinking of listening to this album listen to that one instead.
- …… - …… - ähhhm… -…… - well… - ich verstehe, dass das Album absichtlich ist, wie es ist. - ABER WER HÖRT SICH DAS FREIWILLIG AN?!? - es gibt aber doch noch Teilpunkte, weil es irgendwas komisches mit mir gemacht hat Rating 0,75/5
- nicht mehr auf Spotify, habe es über YouTube gehört - ich habe es bis zum 7. Song geschafft, aber ich kann einfach nicht mehr - Man kann es Kunst nennen, oder kreativ, oder experimentell, oder wegweisend anders.. keine Ahnung. Für mich ist es Abfall. Muss man ja auch mal sagen und anerkennen, reiner Abfall -1 / 5
Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should. No.
Nope
I made it through three songs before giving up to save my sanity
Why is there no zero star option? This was terrible.
The insipid experiments with no more substance than the goal to impress the listener already happened in 1969. A colleague of Zappa's but without his artistic savoir faire, Captain Beefheart gives light here to a sonorous experiment that sometimes comes close to music. It's laughable where it pretends to be imaginative; it's absurd where it pretends to be innovative; it's interminable where it pretends to be incomprehensible
Wild. Not for me.
Absolute fucking nonsense.
What having a fit probably sounds like.
WTF is this??????
Couldn’t make it through this. Was so stressful.
i have a theory about records like this. i feel that this record was reviewed favourably by a well respected music critic (from rolling stone, for example), and because he/she is so well respected, other music critics will not admit that he is wrong. here we go… the best thing about this album is the cover. unique and surreal. fun. the music within is a chaotic mess. the instruments sound like a random scattering of noise, often with no discernible rhythm or tune. the singer can’t really sing and the lyrics are like the ramblings of a crazy person on the street corner. i have few regrets, but one of them is that i will never get that seventy eight minutes and fifty one seconds of my life back. complete and utter shite.
Yeah, didn't make it far into this. That's terrible.
No, just no. I get that this was maybe experimental, but it was not enjoyable to listen to at all.
There’s Chinese water torture and then there’s Captain Beefheart…
Unlistenable garbage. This being some creative genius album is definitely the biggest inside joke of the musical industry. Sadly like most inside jokes, outsiders are baffled by it.
Your opinion is not to be taken seriously if you rate this anything else than 1. Massive steaming pile of hot garbage this was. Absolutely no clue how it made it to this list. John Zorn level of musical criminal activity right here, absolutely disgusting. Truly a displeasure to listen to.
Yes but is it art?
This was such a slog to get through. Far too experimental for my taste and the "art" of it was lost on me due to grating vocals and out of tune instruments. Those with refined musicianship seem like they "get it" but not me.
this is fucking awesome big and bulbous
In what world did someone give these no talent hacks an hour and eighteen minutes to just make noise?! This is a literal waste of my time. As someone who has made music for years and can play multiple instruments, this does not take talent. Despite what people say, there is nothing complicated going on here. It just sucks. It actually makes me angry listening to this. GOD DAMMIT why do I have to listen to this fucking album?!?
Bloody racket
Hair Pie: Bake 1 made me feel like I was being attacked by geese. I had hope during the intro to Moonlight on Vermont but that hope was promptly smashed when the vocals started. It never got better!
One of the worst albums that I have ever listened heard. I don't have a clue how people on Youtube were saying that it's a masterpiece. So far, I've tried to listen it to four times. I can't finish it.
I did not like this album
Ugh
This album is the musical equivalent of that modern art piece where the banana is taped to the wall. Critics will Ooh and Aah, and discuss the statement the banana makes and the commentary of some such or other they've pulled out of their arse. While the rest of us stare and say "It's a fucking banana". Granted, this album is probably for aspiring musicians and music producers who push forward the craft, rather than the typical music listener. I can't rate an album highly when critics' note "After I listened to the album for the 6th time, it made sense" as it's 80 minutes of experimental and a-rhythmic jargon. Not a fan, I will never listen to it again as it's not something I would actively choose to listen to. I'm sure it's a vital piece of music creation and influenced many, but one of those many isn't me.
They made this...on purpose? "Avant garde" will always sound like a cover for making noise that's indistinguishable from someone with no talent discovering an instrument. And why must these albums be so long? Scary that I can see where some other albums got inspiration from this like Tom Waits and the Minutemen. So a star because I'm learning and piecing together some music history. Otherwise, yikes.
It was always beyond me, back in the day, how on earth this cacophonous discord was ever a rated album & it still is. The only difference is that I can no longer be bothered to wonder why.
There's not a single moment on this bloated mess that's enjoyable in any way. Weird for the sake of being weird. At last Zappa's shit jams. Also, that's a catfish. Best track: N/A
250 records in and only Pet Sounds has topped this so far. They’re very similar albums in that the depth sonic ideas is overwhelming. You need to lose yourself in it. In fact I think new listeners probably do get overwhelmed by the length, the number of songs and the density of the instrumentation and dismiss it as weird. I was lucky in that my introduction was song by song. In the 90’s John Peel would play a song a week on his radio show. I used to edit his shows into mixtapes and songs from Trout Mask Replica became strange interludes from another world amongst the indie and electronica of the era. When I bought the Capt’s work on cd I preferred his other albums at first. It’s been a slow process over the years to spot the intricacies and now sometimes I’ll be in the mood for Beefheart but not in the right head place for Trout Mask Replica. So give it thirty years and it’ll grow. If you don’t have time for that listen in chunks (say the four sides of the lp) with breaks in between.
Trout Mask Replica es una de las mayores anomalías de la música del siglo XX; una obra de arte atemporal de la vanguardia que ha envejecido bien como un monumento a la deconstrucción formal. Desde la perspectiva del diseño de ensamble, enfrentarse a este disco es experimentar un asalto sonoro que al principio era indescifrable; sin embargo, cuando la escucha se profundiza y se logran notar las coincidencias, pasos comunes y el diálogo entre instrumentos, se nota la genialidad matemática y la claridad arquitectónica de una propuesta donde, en contra de toda lógica convencional, las piezas se entretejen muy bien. El álbum se edifica como un collage auténtico de la vida real y cruda, conectando de forma directa con los principios de la música concreta y el surrealismo al integrar grabaciones accidentadas y texturas ásperas que le aportan una fuerza y calidez que transmiten autenticidad. La voz telúrica y errática de Captain Beefheart comanda este laberinto sónico con una fuerza y autoridad superior, rompiendo con cualquier noción tradicional de belleza para ofrecer un documento conmovedor, crudo y real. Aunque carece de una sensación de paz y fluidez comercial, su naturaleza disruptiva le otorga una versatilidad única para múltiples usos, funcionando como un detonador excepcional para el trabajo creativo de alta exigencia o como el objeto perfecto para una reflexión solitaria y analítica.
At first I really didn't like this one, and by the end of it I ended up listening to the whole thing twice. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about i either. The background of the production is kind of horrible. It feels pretentious and avantgarde just for the sake of it at times. But there's something oddly compelling about it. I think I'm giving this a 5, but at the same time I'm not sure if it's earned it.
Haters gonna hate. Appreciate this and I love its risk taking and eccentric sound.
Hat alles, was ein richtig gutes Album braucht. Nur untypischer Weise zeitgleich.
Favorite track(s): Frownland, Dachau Blues, Ella Guru, Moonlight on Vermont, Pachuco Cadaver, China Pig, Sugar 'n Spikes, Veteran's Day Poppy Heard before Previous rating: 9/10 Yes, I'm one of those people. Sue me.
This was INTERESTING and challenging and scratches that itch in your ears.
choices
Challenging and endlessly stimulating. Certainly feel that there is plenty going on that is beyond my ken but also very intriguing. Lots of amazing musicianship
I partially listened to this last month but stopped. Tried again while sitting down for a long read of ma book... and loved it!! Sooooo crazy + strange, but I enjoyed the weirdness of the lyrics and the creativity. I also loved the last song, thought it was a fab way to end the album and brought it emotionally to a close. Had a thought while listening that it would be a fun and intriguing shroomy album! Will def listen again to see how my views change and what I can learn. 5 stars (9/10). Surely people rate this either a 1 or a 5 cos it's proper marmite hahaha and have to be in a very specific seeking newness mood
Fucking Mood
When I was 19 and in film school, I was pissed off at the- what I called- “cookie-cutter” artists my cohort championed, which was basically anything 2000s indie-hipster chic. I was also quite a contrarian, a combination which pushed me into absurd niches of music in search of the “real” art that wasn’t getting representation. That included Captain Beefheart. Nowadays I get that my contrarianism was dumb and made me miss out on some great music, but I’m also grateful to have discovered Captain Beefheart, because he taught me that you can just slice yourself open and let your weird out, and fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke. Or, in brief, Captain Beefheart taught me about artistic integrity.
Yes, this is Beefheart's masterpiece, it's one of the greatest experimental expressions of the sixties, & a touchstone for any & all of us who opt for a history of blues music vis-a-vis a turning-inside-out of that genre. I love Led Zeppelin, I really do, but this puts to shame the notion that they were 'blues historians,' that they took the blues & put their own spin on it. THIS is the blues so finely tuned that it's got no choice but to be different, to be a big slice of strangeness, to be 'avant-garde.' It's also a free jazz record, w/ all the energy, electricity & humor of Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, or Joe Harriott. 'A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast & bulbous. Got me?' You goddamn right I listen to this unironically. It's fucking great.
5.0 (78:51, 28 tracks some are interludes and instrumentals, 3rd album, 1969) Experimental rock (1968) Trout Mask Replica (1969) Lick My Decals Off, Baby ****Facts about TMR (Trout Mask Replica)**** - They meticulously rehearsed this album 14 hours a day for eight months and recorded it in 6 hours. This is amazing as I assumed it was recorded in 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 51 seconds. - I’ve never wanted to punch Robert Dimery in the face more than right now - I completely and totally unfairly prejudged this album by the cover and assume it would sound terrible – I was shocked and amazed that it sounded exactly like I assumed it would - This album saved my dad’s life, when he was in a deep coma and the medical staff was trying to convince us to pull the plug I played this album on Spotify, my dad got up and smashed my phone - Captain Beefheart wrote all the songs on the piano, he didn’t know how to play piano - When I crank this album my neighbors bang on my walls – I assume they are playing along - If you don’t think this is one of the greatest albums ever recorded, there is something wrong with you. If you do think this is one of the greatest albums ever recorded, there is something wrong with you. - When I cover this album flawlessly at Guitar Center, they ask me to leave - This is what classical musicians hear when you play jazz - If you ask Alexa to play Trout Mask Replica, she will tell you to go fuck yourself - The only album Chuck Noris bought twice - For people that love to play in 6.197/ 291 time signature, this is your album - I used to use drugs when I listened to this album, I still do, but I used to too - This album makes me feel emotions that don’t exist - If you don’t get this album, you’re like a squid, fast and bulbous and eating dough in a polyethylene bag - “My favorite album,” Abraham Lincoln - If a gang of dangerous looking kids are in my path, I make sure I turn this up really loud as I walk through them - Matt Groening (of the Simpsons) says you must listen to this album at least seven times to get it - When my kids ask me what the hell this is, I tell them it’s The Beatles - The only band to ever cover this album meticulously was all under the age of 7 - I was laughing so hard listening to this album the first time, I vomited on the trail in Peck Park Trout Mask Replica is the third studio album by the American band Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, released as a double album on June 16, 1969, by Straight Records. The music was composed by Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) and arranged by drummer John "Drumbo" French. Combining elements of R&B, garage rock, and blues with free jazz and avant-garde composition, the album is regarded as an important work of experimental rock. Its unconventional musical style, which includes polyrhythm and polytonality, has given the album a reputation as one of the most challenging recordings in the 20th century musical canon. Produced by Frank Zappa, Whitney Studios in Glendale, California, following eight months of intense rehearsals at a small rented communal house in Los Angeles. The lineup of the Magic Band at this time consisted of Bill "Zoot Horn Rollo" Harkleroad and Jeff "Antennae Jimmy Semens" Cotton on guitar, Mark "Rockette Morton" Boston on bass guitar, Victor "The Mascara Snake" Hayden on bass clarinet, and John "Drumbo" French on drums and percussion. Beefheart played several brass and woodwind instruments, including saxophone, musette, and natural horn, and contributed most of the vocal parts, while Zappa and members of the band provided occasional vocals and narration. The well-rehearsed Magic Band recorded all instrumental tracks for the album in a single six-hour recording session; Beefheart's vocal and horn tracks were laid down over the next few days. Trout Mask Replica sold poorly upon its initial release in the United States, where it failed to appear in any charts. It was more successful in the United Kingdom, where it spent a week at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart. Trout Mask Replica has been widely regarded as the masterpiece of Beefheart's musical career, as well as an important influence on many subsequent artists. It was ranked number 60 on Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and has appeared on the "best of" lists of many other publications. In 2010, the album was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band had a history of difficult relationships with record labels. A&M Records released the band's first single, a cover of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy", but dropped the contract after their first two singles failed to produce hits. Buddah Records released the band's (and the label's) first album, Safe as Milk, in 1967. However, the label began specializing in bubblegum pop, a style in which Captain Beefheart had no place, and the band again found themselves without a record label. In late 1967 and the spring of 1968, they had several sets of re-recording sessions for what became the albums Strictly Personal and Mirror Man. However, due to contractual uncertainties, they were unsure if the material would ever be released. Around this time, Van Vliet's high school friend Frank Zappa started his own record labels Bizarre and Straight, and offered Captain Beefheart, a name Zappa had given him, the opportunity to record an album with complete artistic freedom. Victor Hayden (aka The Mascara Snake) playing bass clarinet. In preparation, the band rehearsed Van Vliet's difficult compositions for eight months, living communally in a small rented house in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Van Vliet implemented his vision by asserting complete artistic and emotional domination of his musicians. At various times, one or another of the band members were put "in the barrel", with Van Vliet berating him continually, sometimes for days, until the musician collapsed in tears or in total submission to Van Vliet. According to John French and Bill Harkleroad, these sessions often included physical violence. French described the situation as "cultlike", and a visiting friend said that "the environment in that house was positively Manson-esque". Their material circumstances also were dire. With no income other than welfare and contributions from relatives, the band survived on a bare subsistence diet. French recounted living on no more than a small cup of soybeans a day for a month, and at one point, band members were arrested for shoplifting food (whereupon Zappa bailed them out). A visitor described their appearance as "cadaverous" and said that "they all looked in poor health". Band members were restricted from leaving the house and practiced for fourteen or more hours a day. Van Vliet once told drummer John French that he himself had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and he would see nonexistent conspiracies that explained this behavior. Zappa originally proposed to record the album as an "ethnic field recording" in the house where the band lived. Working with Zappa and engineer Dick Kunc, the band recorded some provisional backing tracks at the Woodland Hills house, with sound separation obtained simply by having different instruments in different rooms. Zappa thought these provisional recordings turned out well, but Van Vliet became suspicious that Zappa was trying to record the album on the cheap and insisted on using a professional studio. Zappa would say of Van Vliet's approach that it was "impossible to tell him why things should be such and such a way. It seemed to me that if he was going to create a unique object, that the best thing for me to do was to keep my mouth shut as much as possible and just let him do whatever he wanted to do whether I thought it was wrong or not." "Hair Pie: Bake 1", one of the tracks recorded by Zappa and Kunc at the house, appeared on the finished album. Three other tracks on the album were recorded on a cassette recorder at the house, the a cappella poems "The Dust Blows Forward 'n The Dust Blows Back" and "Orange Claw Hammer", and the improvised blues "China Pig" with former Magic Band member Doug Moon accompanying Van Vliet on guitar. "The Blimp" was recorded by Zappa in his studio while on the phone with Van Vliet prior to the album's sessions; Jeff Cotton was put on the phone to recite Van Vliet's latest poem, which Zappa recorded and put over a Mothers of Invention backing track (which had been known to the Mothers, uncredited on Trout Mask's credits, as "Charles Ives"). When they entered the studio, the band completed twenty instrumental tracks in a single six-hour recording session. Van Vliet spent the next few days overdubbing the vocals. Instead of singing while monitoring the instrumental tracks over headphones, he heard only the slight sound leakage through the studio window. As a result, the vocals are only vaguely in sync with the instrumental backing; when asked later about synchronization, he remarked, "That's what they do before a commando raid, isn't it?" Van Vliet used the ensuing publicity, particularly with a 1970 Rolling Stone interview with Langdon Winner, to promulgate a number of myths which were subsequently quoted as fact. Winner's article stated, for instance, that neither Van Vliet nor the members of the Magic Band ever took drugs, but Harkleroad and French later discredited this. Van Vliet also claimed to have taught both Harkleroad and Mark Boston from scratch; in fact, the pair were already accomplished musicians before joining the band. Van Vliet also took complete credit for composition and arranging, a claim that band members strongly disputed in later years. According to Van Vliet, all of the songs on the album were written in a single eight-hour session. Band members have stated that two of the songs ("Moonlight on Vermont" and "Sugar 'n Spikes") were written around December 1967, while "Veteran's Day Poppy" was written around late May or early June 1968. Most of the rest were composed over a period of several months in the summer and fall of 1968 in an unprecedented process of experimentation. One influence on the compositional process was a tape that Van Vliet's friend Gary Marker had played for him. Marker, an aspiring recording engineer, was learning how to splice audio tape. He practiced by combining sections of various recordings so that they would join smoothly and maintain a consistent beat despite being from different sources. When Van Vliet heard the tape, he said excitedly, "That's what I want!" Van Vliet used a piano, an instrument he had never played before, as his main compositional tool. Since he had no experience with the piano and no conventional musical knowledge at all, he was able to experiment with few preconceived ideas of musical form or structure. Van Vliet sat at the piano until he found a rhythmic or melodic pattern that he liked. John French then transcribed this pattern, typically only a measure or two long, into musical notation. After Van Vliet was finished, French would piece these fragments together into compositions, reminiscent of the splicing together of disparate source material on Marker's tape. French decided which part would be played on which instrument and taught each player his part, although Van Vliet had the final say over the ultimate shape of the product. Band member Bill Harkleroad has remarked on "how haphazardly the individual parts were done, worked on very surgically, stuck together, and then sculpted afterwards". Once completed, each song was played in exactly the same way every time, eschewing improvisation. French has stated that about three-quarters of the songs were composed at the piano. The rest mostly consisted of parts that were whistled by Van Vliet. In a few cases, part of the song was composed at the piano while others were whistled. Three of the pieces were unaccompanied vocal solos ("Well", "The Dust Blows Forward and the Dust Blows Back", and "Orange Claw Hammer") while one was a spontaneous improvisation ("China Pig"). "Bills Corpse" was titled for the emaciated condition that Bill Harkleroad suffered before leaving an LSD cult to join the band, and possibly to similar conditions Van Vliet created within the band's house. Van Vliet called the song "Dali's Car" a "study in dissonance". "Hobo Chang Ba" was based on Van Vliet's stories "as a young teenager in Mojave of going down and hanging with the hobos. He said they were really nice people and he got to know the regulars." French states that "Old Fart at Play" "was never intended to have these lyrics. This is the only other time I saw Zappa aggressively put on his 'producer's hat' and assert his will on Don. The original title to this song was 'My Business Is the Truth, Your Business Is a Lie'." The album's title was adapted from some lines in "Old Fart at Play": ". . . the nose of the wooden mask / Where the holes had just been uh moment ago / Was now smooth amazingly blended camouflaged in / With the very intricate rainbow trout replica." Several of the compositions include brief passages from other songs. Some were childhood reminiscences, such as Gene Autry's recording "El Rancho Grande", from which one of the guitar lines in "Veteran's Day Poppy" was adapted, or the "Shortnin' Bread" melody used in "Pachuco Cadaver". Others were more contemporary, such as the quote "come out to show dem [them]" from Steve Reich's "Come Out" used in "Moonlight on Vermont", or a melodic fragment from the Miles Davis recording of Concierto de Aranjuez used as the basis for the bridge of "Sugar 'n Spikes". The ending of "Moonlight on Vermont" also includes the refrain from the spiritual "Old-Time Religion". A nonmusical influence was the art of Salvador Dalí; the instrumental "Dali's Car" was inspired by the band's viewing of an installation of Dalí's Rainy Taxi. Trout Mask Replica is considered to be Captain Beefheart's magnum opus, and has appeared on lists of the greatest albums of all time. BBC disc jockey John Peel said of the album, "If there has been anything in the history of popular music which could be described as a work of art in a way that people who are involved in other areas of art would understand, then Trout Mask Replica is probably that work." Peel later ranked the record as the best pop album ever made. Lester Bangs, in his original review for Rolling Stone in 1969, hailed the album as "a total success, a brilliant, stunning enlargement and clarification of [Captain Beefheart's] art", and said that, on "a purely verbal level", it is "an explosion of maniacal free-association incantations". Years later, he wrote that "it was not even 'ahead' of its time in 1969. Then and now, it stands outside time, trends, fads, hypes, the rise and fall of whole genres eclectic as walking Christmas trees, constituting a genre unto itself: truly, a musical Monolith if ever there was one." Steve Huey of AllMusic lauded the album as "stunningly imaginative", and wrote that its influence "was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point. However, its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless experiments in rock surrealism to follow, especially during the punk/new wave era." Artists such as Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh and the B-52s cited the album as an influence. The Guardian called the album "the standard by which almost all experimental rock music is judged, its reputation as a fearsomely difficult listen undimmed by the passing of time or its influence." The album's unconventional nature often alienates new listeners. Cartoonist and writer Matt Groening tells of listening to Trout Mask Replica at the age of fifteen: "I thought it was the worst thing I'd ever heard. I said to myself, they're not even trying! It was just a sloppy cacophony. Then I listened to it a couple more times, because I couldn't believe Frank Zappa could do this to me – and because a double album cost a lot of money. About the third time, I realized they were doing it on purpose; they meant it to sound exactly this way. About the sixth or seventh time, it clicked in, and I thought it was the greatest album I'd ever heard". The Signal's John Henry wrote in 1969 that the listeners will either love or hate it, "with no middle ground", while journalist Will Smith, writing in the Omaha World-Herald in the same year, found that the album "becomes quite listenable after the initial shock" but was "not for the weak listener". John Harris of The Guardian later discussed the idea that the album requires several listens to "get it", concluding it still sounded "awful" after six listens. Critic Robert Christgau, in his 1969 "Consumer Guide" for The Village Voice, said that its "weirdness" prevented him from granting it a higher grade, but called it "very great played at high volume when you're feeling shitty, because you'll never feel as shitty as this record". In 2003, Rolling Stone stated that "On first listen, Trout Mask Replica sounds like raw Delta blues", with Beefheart "singing and ranting and reciting poetry over fractured guitar licks. But the seeming sonic chaos is an illusion ... Tracks such as 'Ella Guru' and 'My Human Gets Me Blues' are the direct predecessors of modern musical primitives such as Tom Waits and PJ Harvey". In 2000, it was voted number 50 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. He stated "This record is living proof of his bizarre genius." In 2003, the album was ranked at number 59 by Rolling Stone in their list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and it was ranked number 60 on the 2012 revision of the list: In his 1995 book The Alternative Music Almanac, Alan Cross placed the album at number two on his list of "10 Classic Alternative Albums". In 1995, Mojo put the album at number 28 on their "The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made" list and at number 51 on their list of "The 100 Records That Changed the World". Writer Al Spicer called it "in many ways the ultimate blues album, conveying intense experiences under intense pressure". The A.V. Club called it an "avant-garde masterpiece." Entertainment Weekly called it "an astonishing, influential onslaught of avant-garde blues that still reveals fresh lunatic nuances on the umpteenth listen." Academic Langdon Winner referred to it as "the most astounding and important work of art ever to appear on a phonograph record". On April 6, 2011, the album was added to the United States National Recording Registry for the year 2010 by the Library of Congress. On January 13, 2012, as part of its "Inside the National Recording Registry" series, the public radio program Studio 360 broadcast a tribute to the album featuring drummer John French, biographer Mike Barnes, and Beefheart devotee Waits. Filmmaker David Lynch called Trout Mask Replica his favorite album of all time, and John Lydon has also listed it as one of the albums that shaped him, arguing: "It was anti-music in the most interesting and insane way ... all the bum notes I was being told off for by the teachers were finally being released by well-known artists. That was my confirmation. From then on, there was room for everything."[58] Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai also praised the album and admitted that the first time he heard it, he was appalled by how out of tune the album was and by Van Vliet's vocals, but after meeting him, he gave the album another chance and compared it to "a liberation". In an October 1991 interview with Guitar Player magazine, when asked about his influences, guitarist John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers said, "the most important inspiration is undoubtedly Zoot Horn Rollo's playing on Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica. If I listen to it first thing in the morning, I'm assured of a day of unbridled creativity." Track listing All tracks are written by Don Van Vliet and arranged by John French. 1. "Frownland" 1:41 2. "The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back" 1:53 3. "Dachau Blues" 2:21 4. "Ella Guru" 2:26 5. "Hair Pie: Bake 1" (instrumental) 4:58 6. "Moonlight on Vermont" 3:59 7. "Pachuco Cadaver" 4:40 8. "Bill's Corpse" 1:48 9. "Sweet Sweet Bulbs" 2:21 10. "Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish" 2:25 11. "China Pig" 4:02 12. "My Human Gets Me Blues" 2:46 13. "Dali's Car" (instrumental) 1:26 14. "Hair Pie: Bake 2" (instrumental) 2:23 15. "Pena" 2:33 16. "Well" 2:07 17. "When Big Joan Sets Up" 5:18 18. "Fallin' Ditch" 2:08 19. "Sugar'n Spikes" 2:30 20. "Ant Man Bee" 3:57 21. "Orange Claw Hammer" 3:34 22. "Wild Life" 3:09 23. "She's Too Much for My Mirror" 1:40 24. "Hobo Chang Ba" 2:02 25. "The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica)" 2:04 26. "Steal Softly thru Snow" 2:18 27. "Old Fart at Play" 1:51 28. "Veteran's Day Poppy" 4:31 Personnel Musicians Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) – lead and backing vocals, spoken word, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, musette, simran horn, hunting horn, jingle bells, producer (uncredited), engineer (uncredited) Drumbo (John French) – drums, percussion, engineer (uncredited on the original release), arrangement (uncredited) Antennae Jimmy Semens (Jeff Cotton) – guitar, "steel appendage guitar" (slide guitar using a metal slide), lead vocals on "Pena" and "The Blimp", "flesh horn" (voice with hand cupped over mouth) on "Ella Guru", speaking voice on "Old Fart at Play" Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad) – guitar, "glass finger guitar" (slide guitar using a glass slide), flute on "Hobo Chang Ba" Rockette Morton (Mark Boston) – bass guitar, narration on "Dachau Blues" and "Fallin' Ditch" The Mascara Snake (Victor Hayden) – bass clarinet, backing vocals on "Ella Guru", speaking voice on "Pena" Additional personnel Doug Moon – acoustic guitar on "China Pig" Gary "Magic" Marker – bass guitar on "Moonlight on Vermont" and "Veteran's Day Poppy" (uncredited) Roy Estrada – bass guitar on "The Blimp" (uncredited) Arthur Tripp III – drums and percussion on "The Blimp" (uncredited) Don Preston – piano on "The Blimp" (uncredited) Ian Underwood – alto saxophone on "The Blimp" (uncredited/inaudible) Bunk Gardner – tenor saxophone on "The Blimp" (uncredited/inaudible) Buzz Gardner – trumpet on "The Blimp" (uncredited/inaudible) Frank Zappa – speaking voice on "Pena" and "The Blimp" (uncredited); engineer (uncredited); producer Richard "Dick" Kunc – speaking voice on "She's Too Much for My Mirror" (uncredited); engineer Cal Schenkel – album design
This one feels like visiting an old friend. A weird, reclusive, bizarre old friend who speaks like they heard the actual voice of god during an acid trip but also has a decent sense of humor about it. What's amazing now is catching the patterns and the rhythms more now - this isn't a totally free experiment, it's carefully concocted, and when you sit with it a bit you find you're not so much getting blasted with noise as being compelled to groove to the weirdest rhythm section ever. It is a beast and probably better not consumed all at once. This is rich decadent music and dada wrapped into one, but damned if it isn't brilliant and beautiful.
Captain Beefheart Trout Mask Replica. I've listened to this numerous times over the years and find that it really depends on my mood and mindset how I feel about it. Some days it's a 1, some it's a 5.
really hard to score this as, conceptually I adore this album and the story behind it. I can't just sit with a cup of tea on a Sunday morning and listen to it though. Going to give it a 5 in that it pushes more people to learn about this album and the musicians behind it more
Fast & bulbous! Tight also! Trout Mask Replica er en helt unik størrelse. Free jazz gibberish? Schizophrenic rock? Pretentious atonal plink plonk? Det kan høres sånn ut, men historien sier alle låtene var så godt innøvd at de spilte inn instrumentalen til 20 spor på 6 timer. De 8 månedene før var tilbrakt sammen i et hus som fungerte som et slags institutionalized øvingslokale. Det mytiske rundt skiva er vel så interessant som musikken. Jeg skal innrømme at det er lenge siden jeg har hørt TMR nå. Likvel har jeg hørt den nok til at jeg kan sitere flere av partiene. Frownland spiller i hjernen min minst én gang i måneden. Dachau Blues kan jeg begynne å synge til de mest upassende tider. Oppfant Cpt. Beefheart Tom Waits med den låta? Jeg sier ja. Det er ikke til å komme unna at det er et litt slitsomt album som krever noe av lytteren. Tålmodighet & et åpent sinn er bare toppen av isfjellet. Sliter man, er det ikke verre enn å hekte seg på gitarspillet, så har man en tråd å følge. Jeg vet ikke om det er Antennae Jimmy Semens eller Zoot Horn Rollo som skal ha den største æren, men klimpringa på TMR er GOAT-kaliber. Setter man seg ned og virkelig lytter, er det ingen ting som høres ut som TMR. Skiva er som en fractal hvor man kan zoome lenger & lenger inn i et sonisk landskap som fortsetter å by på variasjoner av seg selv og bringer oppmerksomheten til nye detaljer. Om den er for lang? Det måtte være en dobbel-LP. Galskapen trenger rom til å gro. Give me that ol' time religion.
Wow, this album is fantastic! It's very experimental, and there are so many layers to explore in here as well as a great feeling of freedom that make it feel a very immersive and new experience. I bet there is nothing like that. This is the kind of music to listen to carefully, with attention, that is not easy at first but that, when you get (into) to it and understand it, it is a great listening experience to dive in. There are more accesible songs in here, other much more avant-garde, also acapella ones... All conforming such a masterpiece of an album.
I figured the reviews for this would all be either 1* or 5*, with mostly the former, because god, it's not forgiving to a quick listen. I mean, I love Captain Beefheart - (came in via the much more accessible The Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot) and it still took me years to go from admiring this by proxy, without actually wanting to listen to it much, to thinking it's one of the high points of 20th Century American art, an avant garde, situationist, jazz and blues masterpiece.
Where to start. Wow . I a have no idea. I was planning to listen to this album for a very long time. And here I unexpectedly did. It's a long thing. But in a way I feel like it's the only way it could work. You have to sink deep into this for it to make some kind of sence. And although it's obviously a very experimental and out there album, it make some fucking sence. You can't deny the groove. The energy of the music here is electric. Above all, it's a tour de force of an incredible vocalist and lyricist. Captain Beefheart, who knew... What a voice, what delivery. Just listen to what he does in Moonlight in Vermont. He sounds crazed but wise, and absolutely amazing. Pachuco Cadaver is just as cool as can be. Awesome guitar bass and especially guitar Sugar n spike is an example of how it works so well. What an incredible Track. Sounds like something from an early Richard Dawson album. Wild Life is hilarious and wild as it can be. The closing track, with the transition towards the end, is the perfect way to finish. An incredible vamp. I really don't know how to renk this thing. I Truly don't. I'm listening to this now for the second time and enjoying even more. Crazy. Is it a five? Yeh, sorry...
Anyone who gives this less than a 5 shouldn’t be using this site 😾
Art
Welp, this is the first album that has me rethinking this whole thing. 5 stars for being completely unlistenable
As a mentally taxing exercise, this album is unlike any other. Not easily accessible, this plays like a musical scavenger hunt for items you didn't know existed. No matter how big and crazy a roller coaster is, the cart follows mostly visable tracks. This album apparently has tracks but they are entirely invisible to the listener. Once you find a groove to attach to, the bottom drops out and leaves a perplexing feeling of "where's my parachute, I want to jump off this thing!" When you start thinking this album is pure crap, keep in mind that it has influenced such musicians as the B-52s, John Frusciante, and Jack white. Since this album exists in a parallel universe, it can be considered a 5 out of 5 bulbous octafish(es).
I’ve had this CD since college and I’m not certain I ever listened to the whole thing more than once before. It’s certainly not background music. You have to actively listen. So that’s what I did while driving yesterday and dammit if that isn’t some crazy creative stuff. It’s nuts that something like this has stayed around and in the zeitgeist for so long. It gets a 5 just for audacity.
Disco esencial, tremendamente influyente (desde Nick Cave o Tom Waits hasta cualquier grupo punk o los RHCP). Eso sí, es duro de escuchar. Blues cavernario, ruido, disonancias, dolor, locura, vanguardia, jazz... Ya la portada es bastante elocuente. Produce otro genio loco como Zappa. Dachau Blues mete un saxo irritante. Ella Guru es lo más agradable de escuchar de todo el disco, junto con Pachuco Cadaver... El disco se hace largo y pesado a veces, no vale para cualquier momento ni día. pero es lo que es.
An experimental classic. Weird as hell but perfectly suited for a list like this. 5/5
(100/100)
It’s been said that you need to listen to this album at least 7 times before you really start to get it. I think I’m on my 5th or 6th listen since I first heard it a couple years ago and I am definitely still peeling back layers. There’s something new to take away every time you hear it. Do I enjoy listening to this album? Maybe not in the way that I enjoy other albums. This is a dense, difficult listen that demands your attention. The guitar playing is jagged, fractured, and frequently following a different rhythm than the drums and bass. The lyrics are almost completely nonsensical for large parts of the album and aren't always in sync with the music because Van Vliet recorded them while barely being able to hear the instrumental tracks from one of the studio windows. It is most assuredly “fast and bulbous”. The story of the rehearsals and recording of the album are just as bizarre as the album itself. The band lived communally in a house in which they were restricted from leaving for months where Van Vliet “asserted complete artistic and emotional domination of his musicians”, including verbal abuse and physical violence that frequently reduced members to tears. They practiced for upwards of 14 hours a day and barely had any money or food to eat. The scene was described as cult-like and Manson-esque. I genuinely cannot fathom why the band stuck around for as long as they did, but I am happy they did as this album has gone on to influence countless artist that I love (Tom Waits, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, David Lynch to name a few) and is the gold standard of experimental and avant-garde music.
One of the best ever.
Very intense, difficult to do in one sitting. Also great.
I wouldn’t call it conventionally good, but it is just so special that I can’t help but give it 5 stars
I wasn't sure what to make of this, so I just asked the guy on the album cover how.many stars I should give it.
One of the greatest ever
probably the most well known record from captain beefheart and his pals. i want to say that this is the abbey road of avant garde recorded music. it's produced by frank zappa, so you already know how weird it's going to get right off the bad. i guess there's a bit of rock, blues, jazz, some hints of genres throughout the record, but this album is really a test of how willing you are to subject yourself to strange, outsider music. the band rehearsed in a house for almost a year. what you're hearing isn't just weird, messy and surreal songs. all this stuff is planned out. you won't get it the first listen. or second. or twentieth. hell, many listeners won't probably get it for as long as they live. i still don't fully get it! but this album is iconic in its own right. nonsense. nonsense. everything is nonsense. hubba bubba dooble plooble baba yaya boom bang brap! it's the best worst album up there, up with the shaggs. a glorified, complex and fascinating shitpost from the late 60s. fast and bulbous! a tin teardrop, bulbous also tapered!
This reminds me of Miles' 70s period of shifting patterns and grooves developing organically. I loved it!
It's getting a 5 for the absurdity, I think I can get down with this Will I listen to again: 100%
So strange, but it grows on you like a fungus. 5/5
assustador que os manos realmente compuseram essa porra toda na base do piano (que ngm sabia tocar) e do assobio. bizarríssimo. no início parecia que todos os instrumentos tavam saindo na porrada. aí meu ouvido acostumou e percebi só que eles tavam """"dançando"""" no próprio ritmo, se encontrando em alguns momentos com o vozerão do captain beefheart balbuciando abobrinha pós-modernista é por conta de albuns assim que eu quis participar desse site aqui. é um absurdo, maluco, doido, quase o equivalente musical a dar moral pra um viciado em crack que te pediu um cigarro sexta-feira 22h na praça rio branco depois que vc pegou o 4034, parou na rua curitiba c/ afonso pena e tá tendo que andar até a rodoviária. ele só queria um cigarro e um isqueiro, mas acaba dialogando sobre os 300 mil pensamentos que tão passando na mente dele no auge da droga. muitas vezes, nada faz sentido e vc fica assustado. mas, as vezes, ele faz um pouco de sentido sim e isso alivia um pouco a tensão de estar ali. esse album é bem assim. (assustador como isso foi feito 1969 e nada parece que chegou perto da sonoridade desse aqui. doideira demais, curti muito)
Kinda crap (or should that be ‘carp’). Also complete madcap genius. A mad mixture of Howlin Wolf, acid jazz, Dadaist poetry and mid-20th century YouTube poop. A lot of ugly, squawking, ear-grinding songs but also cool slamming tracks like Frownland, Moonlight In Vermont and Ella Guru and fast lots of bulbously quotable lyrics. I like American Graffiti anyway but it would be even better if the radio DJ was Beefheart instead of Wolfman Jack.
klinkt alsof de plaat vierkant was ipv rond... geweldig!
Вот это экспириенс! Ради вот такого и стоит слушать все эти тыщу альбомов. Редкий случай, когда музыка не просто погружает тебя в атмосферу, но вызывает чувства сама по себе, причем очень разнообразные, в данном случае в основном дикий смех. Это реально гениальная запись, я даже не хочу рассказывать вам что это, чтобы вы сами это послушали. Но это стоит того чтобы прожить, от начала и до конца (и, возможно, поехать кукухой)
KINO
Fire
Well this brightened my day, one of my top ten albums of all time. Did I love it the first time I heard it? Hell no! I think, like most people, I gravitated to the "simpler" tracks like Moonlight on Vermont, and tried my best to endure some of the more "complex" tracks in between. After maybe six playthroughs (not the eight I was expecting), everything had clicked for me. There's humour, there's hooks, there's an unrelenting number of hooks, often two or more being played at once. Never a dull moment, with some tracks pivoting multiple times with little repetition. For me, there's many high points, the way the Cap'n says "Dig it", stumbles over "lipstick", instructions on how to do a "Fast and Bulbous" skit properly, "That's right!", "Tra La, tra la, tra la!", "Sitting with my girl called Bimbo", too many to list. One of the easiest five stars I've ever given.
Peak
One of the most unique albums of all time. And probably one of the weirdest. Love it.
Fish man play music good.
A definite experience. I can't tell if the reviews and claims of influence are part of the joke or not. Is Andy Kaufman really Captain Beefheart? I feel like I've joined a cult by finishing this album. I don't think I have the strength left to rate it anything other than 5.
On first listen, I couldn't even finish a single song. This was 10 years ago. Now, I am loving it and hailing it as absolute pinnacle genius. The playing is quite possibly the most impressive of any album to ever come out. The lyrics are on the surface sounding like absolute nonsense, but more often than not an actual look into what's being said shows Captain Beefheart knows what he's talking about. "Dachau Blues" being the most prominent example. Usually I would get rid of a star for this albums length, which makes it seem way more bloated and impossible to listen to than it already should, but I think with this listen the entire thing has finally clicked for me. This is incredible. Even if you hate it, I doubt you could name even one song that sounds even halfway like this album. That alone should be worth 2 stars
A reputação deste disco o precede. Se você já visitou qualquer lugar no mundo que discute música, você já viu discussões a respeito deste álbum e você curiosamente foi lá o ouvir. Aí existem duas casas bem diferentes e separadas, a das pessoas que tiraram o disco ainda na primeira faixa, e os insanos que decidiram perseverar até o final dessa jornada homérica. Felizmente, eu me encontro na segunda casa. Mas mesmo assim, devo ter ouvido esse álbum apenas uma vez na vida, antes de agora. Hoje em dia, ao ouvir este disco, acredito que a maioria das pessoas acham que existe algum aspecto misterioso, um fantasma, um espírito, que está passando despercebido por seus sensos. E que assim que ele finalmente for sentido, o disco ‘clicará’ e você passará a gostar dele. Assim como pessoas famosas como Matt Groening vão dizer. Mas não é bem assim. Não tem nada aqui a ser entendido. Esse disco é o que é, e ou ele te agrada ou não. É algo genético, parece estar no DNA da pessoa… Eu brinco, mas provavelmente tem a ver com a sua relação com a criatividade como um todo. Se essa relação é positiva, neutra, ou negativa. Isso e com o “status-quo” do que se é esperado de um álbum musical de Rock. E o que ele é? Uma coleção inacreditável de músicos infinitamente talentosos sendo forçados a memorizar e tocar composições infinitamente complexas. Evidentemente, a energia vital psicodélica do fim da década de 1960 teve um dedo verde na produção do que ouvimos aqui, mesmo que as mentes por trás da obra neguem isso. Com todo esse talento exposto, você talvez coce a cabeça pensando em como eles chegaram a ISSO. Não é música para todos. E infelizmente temos esta percepção acerca de arte, onde se é esperado que pra algo ser verdadeiramente bom, precise ser totalmente acessível e agradável a todos os ouvidos, ou olhos… mentes. É tudo subjetivo… It's all in the mind. Eu tiro daqui um proveito imenso. A instrumentalização polirrítmica viaja e vai muito longe, criam-se muralhas de som impenetráveis, este disco está verdadeiramente vivo. Gosto quando os instrumentos de sopro parecem gritar, suplicando socorro. Os vocais são embriagados e as letras vão longe. Algumas das faixas deste álbum são gravadas em campo, algo que eu não particularmente gosto. Novamente, a instrumentalização do álbum é fantástica e o contraste com os vocais dessincronizados é alarmante demais. Captura sua atenção e te faz de refém, assim como os músicos foram feitos de refém para gravarem tudo isso. Algumas canções conseguem se transvestir de música popular, como em Ella Guru ou Moonlight On Vermont, ou talvez em My Human Gets Me Blues. Se você verdadeiramente odeia as faixas mais experimentais, pode experimentar só essas. Mas você estaria perdendo a jornada de ouvir este disco de capa a capa. Poucos LPs possuem essa capacidade de te fazer esquecer como música popular soa. E este é um daqueles discos que é, de fato, bem longo, mas sua duração é um de seus pontos fortes, ao meu ver, pois você verdadeiramente se perde dentro dele. Acho importante mencionar a influência que este disco teve nas diferentes vertentes do Rock experimental. Claro, esta obra específica é bem avant-garde, mas ainda assim inspirou gêneros mais concretos, como o Punk e Metal. Enfim, definitivamente é um disco que você DEVE ouvir antes de morrer. Disso não há dúvidas. Se você vai o amar ou o odiar depende de uma infinidade de fatores incompreensíveis. Então apenas ouça e tire sua conclusão. 5/5
Love it or hate it, TMR grabs your attention. I got this cd when XTC did a cover of Ella Guru and put it on the BSide of the Mayor of Simpleton 12”. It was wild, so I bought the cd without knowing anything about it except that song. Which, turns out, is a fairly accurate cover of the song. I tried listening to the album a few times and rarely made it through the whole thing. Recently I’ve put it on and actually like it. Whether it’s my own Stockholm Syndrome of eventually liking the thing that’s torturing me or what, I don’t know. I do know that it still grabs my attention but now it doesn’t just sound like cacophony anymore and actually sounds like innovative music.
Listening to this makes me feel a little braver about putting my art out into the world.
This is the most horribly chaotic and genuinely entertaining album I've listened to in a really long time. It's awful, but in the best way possible. It's fun, it's goofy, and by every religious being on earth is it a delight to sit through in one go. It takes as much stamina to listen through this album as it probably did to create it, but it's insanely worth it.
Have been listening to this on and off since I bought the vinyl double album 56 years ago for £1 19s 6d. Cacophony turned to interesting turned to astonishing. One of the finest albums of all time.
I now see where the early Residents got their ideas.
Fuck it. 5 stars. Will I ever listen to it again? Probably not. Did I think it was good musically? As someone who isn't trained no but I know there was stuff there. Did I laugh my ass off? Yes. I had fun and got a lot of enjoyment out of this record, and at the end of the day, isn't that kinda the point of music? To, y'know... enjoy it? 9/10
i dont have to explain myself to you
I don't know when it happened, but I love this album with an intensity that is reserved for very few records. I grew up with a well-worn copy of this in my parents' collection, and I used to stare at the cover with a mix of disgust and fascination. The music was more disgust - drums that made no rhythmic sense, weird poems and "fast and bulbous" haunting my dreams. Don Van Vliet sounded like my loud uncle when he drank too much and decided to show off in our apartment. The uncle we weren't allowed to spend time with alone. As a teen, I would mostly use this album as a joke - a way to piss people off that weren't familiar with it. It lived with Yoko Ono and The Shaggs as albums that made the uninitiated exclaim "what the FUCK is this?!?" and those of us in the know would giggle maniacally and put it on repeat in our shitty cars. Now I'm 44, and this album speaks to me like almost nothing else. I find new things in it with every listen, and a new song becomes my favorite each time. It's the perfect album, and I would fight anyone who disagrees. Come at me, and see how serious I am.
one of the most misunderstood albums
ive heard this album more times than ive heard Most things, and it never fails to Cleanse My Palate more completely than just about anything else, it takes away almost as much as it Gives...hyperrythmic, hypertonal, the things ur ear latches onto are not thrown out but overclocked so far into the red they just burst into flames. theres kind of a lush quality to it as a result, which i think is part of what makes this so involving even to people who dont quite understand Why. most other mathy weirdo stuff that would maybe cite this as an influence is even more interested in pushing Further And Further, but theres a sort of underlying logic to the ideas here that keeps this one as totally singular and slightly impossible to replicate. i mean come on man its trout mask replica. its the king of musical worldbuilding.
Borderline unlistenable Just as Captain Beefheart should be
Bizarre album throughout. It goes from semi-normal songs like Ella Guru to really wacky songs like Pena and Hair Pie Bake. The quote about listening to this multiple times is right, I've come back to this album for years now and it only makes me want to listen to this album more and more. It's one of the most fun albums to listen to and it's innovative to boot. Easy 5 stars.
Never has my opinion on an album changed so much, half a lifetime ago when I first listened I thought it was the worst thing on earth, now I think it's far away one of the best albums ever made. Find me an album more fun than this, it doesn't exist. Everything is flying all over the place, hilarious lyrics, wild vocal lines, instruments jumping all over each other. Once you stop taking it too seriously like it's some deep art, it becomes incredible.
Surreal
Multitudes better than Safe as Milk. It’s weird. It’s discordant. It’s dissonant. Its blues dipped in psilocybin. It’s psychotic and psychedelic, but most all it’s amazingly creative and experimental. 4.7/5
I can definitely see why this album isn’t for everyone, especially if you don’t know what you’re walking into. The opening track doesn’t ease you in, instead it throws you straight into the chaos with no introduction or buildup. Don Van Vliet’s freeform storytelling blends spoken word with eccentric singing, while the music at first sounds completely unstructured with jagged guitar lines, polyrhythmic drumming, and unpredictable shifts. But beneath all that apparent disorder is a carefully constructed composition process, with every seemingly improvised piece played with exact precision. If you’re not into experimental or avant-garde music, this probably won’t be worth the time investment. Even as someone who loves this kind of music, I had to listen a few times to really process it. It’s rough, raw, and unapologetically difficult.
Magnificent. Challenging. Singular. A behemoth of a record, a menhir, a standing stone of sound. If you only listen to one record from the list, this is the one. Five Hundred and Fifty-Five Stars.
Oh boy, this makes for an aggressive start to a day of you listen to it on a morning walk. Mellows out pretty quickly once you settle into it, you’ve just got to let this one take you for a ride. Like instrumental slam poetry. There’s so much in here that I’m certain there’s at least one ‘I love this’ and ‘I hate this’ moment for everyone listening to it, like the musical equivalent of one of those game boy games with 100 different NES games on it. Absolutely love this, an insane album for one group to be able to come up with, made even more insane for being able to apparently record it all in one 6 hour sitting. 2 songs added to my playlist, 5 added to the 1001 playlist
Dachau Blues Moonlight Vermont Neon Meate Dream of a Octofish
bebabowwow
One of the most intense, incredible deconstructions of popular music. Almost sounds like it's happening in real time. John French's book is very illuminating about this era.
Those who only graze the surface of the record will be almost offended. The guitars are all over the place, the lyrics are nonsenical poetry and "in-jokes", it is clearly the product of LSD and too much free time. A mean joke played on the honest listener. Those who stick around, or listen deeply, will hear math rock, blues ("China Pig"), angular jazz, world building, and yes, those same silly in-jokes, but now you're in on the joke ("fast and bulbous" lol). There are reference to dark subjects (Dachau concentration camp), political commentary ("Veteran's Day Poppy"). There is so much to chew on over multiple listens. The good Captain presents his situation as a person seeking happiness/fulfillment/freedom ("MY SMILE IS STUCK I CANNOT GO BACK TO YOUR FROWNLAND"). Beefheart and his friends make up characters with personalities and identities (The Mascara Snake, Rocket Morton). Once you are able to see the record as an attempt at fun, as joy-seeking practice ("Pena"), then you're good. I will agree that it is a DARING album. The choices regarding the music were experimental then and are a blueprint for avant-guarde today. Admittedly, Beefheart's voice may be a bit more gruff than the typical pop starlet, so that's another proposition that might perturb the casual listener, but what everyone needs to remember is this is art, not a product. Trout Mask Replica is Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band's invitation to not take life too seriously (ironic given the making of the album): "Take my hand and come with me It's not too late for you It is not too late for me" An absolute masterpiece. A portrait of a (mad) artist at his most free and fanciful. A true Jester of the music world. One thing is certain: On the Mt. Rushmore of music, one of the faces wears a Trout Mask.
Wanted to say a few words about this record. I HONESTLY think this is a masterpiece of modern art, full of Cap's unique poetics. The musicianship on "TMR" is on a very high level, and though the songwriting is edgy and rust-like, you can always appreciate the gritty guitar-playing or the ragged rhythmic webs, created by John French. The lyrics are abstract and all-wordplay, that annoys some, but an another point of appreciation for me. To truly come to 'digging' this album, you must cope with your negative emotions and listen to it more than one time. Free your mind and your ears will follow!
I don’t get it, but I’m only halfway through my third listen and I don’t hate it like I did the first time I listened. It took me five listens to enjoy Public Image Ltd and Johnny Rotten adores this album. I’m pretty sure I’ll take a chance on a five star rating for this magic trick. A lot of my favourite musicians (i.e. Lydon, Tom Waits, Mark Mothersbaugh) call this one of their favourite albums ever.
I've been waiting for this to show up. I bought this on CD in 2008, because it was John Peels favourite album and I was fascinated by the rumours of the insanity being rewarding after repeated listens. I listened twice, hated it. In summer 2023 I was going to sell some CDs, found it again, and put it on in the car. I left it on repeat during a work commute. I soon noticed I was looking forward to hearing it again, had become obsessed with it, and then couldn't stop listening. I'd listen to a few tracks before bed every night. Walking the dog. It's now my favourite album. It's genius, it's funny, it's stimulating, it's a whole world unto itself. For reference, I'm 45, love 90s grunge, Tool, NIN, electronica. Here's the thing that might help understand why this clocks after 7 or so listens. Typically in a song you hear a riff or hook a fair few times, enough to sink in and know what you're dealing with. Trout Mask has HUNDREDS of hooks, riffs and catchy moments, often just heard once. When they all start clicking, the experience is so fun. Also, Frownland is an insane opener (although I love that too and have probably heard it 100 times by now), but don't be put off by that. Once you get used to TMR, the follow up Lick My Decals Off Baby is just as fun and eventually rewarding (but you'll never think so on first listen). Don Van Vliet (the Captain) was a highly intelligent, interesting guy, with a tremendous spirit for music and humanity. Once you get into his music, it's like a genre unto itself, that you'll never leave.
This album was the most major turning point of my youth. My eyes and ears were opened to the most profound realms of possibility for being a person that thinks and acts as differently as they care to. I listen to this album several times a year, never gets old. This album is the anchor that set my soul free to explore all options and potentials for free expression, but in my own life and in the types of music I'd grow to search for and enjoy.
an album ive owned since just out of high school (2006) yet had only listened to straight through in its entirety this year. dense, weird, under and over produced. the stuff legendary albums are made from, and this is one of em
absolutely mind blowing
When I first heard this album I listened through it once and was like "huh. well. ok." It seemed meticulously prepared and completely chaotic. I thought maybe listening once to appreciate the deranged conviction would be enough. I was 22 and thought I 'got' some weird experimental stuff but this was an alien world. Then without having listened again, weeks or months later I got pieces of it stuck in my head and had to come back to them. My Human Gets Me Blues was the first and is still my favourite. Incredible guitar on this whole thing. I don't think I've had anything else in my adult life start by sounding near unlistenable and then seem incredibly catchy. I would guess that it's that I hadn't heard that wide a range of music yet, except that Trout Mask Replica is described exactly that way by so many people. I don't think anything is worth starting a cult over, but it's easier to compartmentalize this one as A Long Time Ago. It's not like you can't hear the cult dynamic on the album either - it's uncomfortable. But like Don Van Vliet is dead already and - well - A Long Time Ago.. right? so you don't have to think about it. not like those guys in Led Zeppelin who deserve to have stars removed or whatever. right. glad we've got a completely consistent & reasonable worldview here. music: hated. (⌐■_■)
Rules.
How do you even begin to review this? I truly didn't like most of this in the way you would enjoy a pop or rock album, but that isn't the point. This is challenging, but at the same time wildly entertaining. Once you get over the immediate shock, the pieces seem to fall into place, and a 2nd listen is much smoother than the first.
Absolutely wonderful crafted chaos of magic and justice. I will accept no less than 5 stars. The goal is weird, and they crushed it.
Audacious, fiery, unrelenting, calls to mind the works of the dadaist period, the musical equivalent of drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa.
I honestly, Genuinely, have no way to describe this album in an actually rational way. It feels like the most random stream of conciousness in the form of sound. It's peak. 5 stars.
Fast and bulbous! That's right, The Mascara Snake, fast and bulbous! Also, a tin teardrop! Bulbous, also tapered? That's right! - I initially gave this a 3 but 4 months later I can't stop thinking about it... 5
Experimental, mad and audacious. All of this with Zappa production. Love it.
I understand why people don’t get this album. It sounds strange and a lot of normal structures seem to be absent. If you take the time and have an open mind, you will find out it is just a simple blues album. One with a lot of pseudo avantgarde blues guitar licks that appear more difficult than they are. It is like listening to a verse and chorus only once. Just run each song on repeat a few times and it becomes clear. Great guitar play and fantastic vocals. The lyrics are gibberish poems of tonal association.
I wanted to get around this album already and finally I listened to it for the first time. I didn't find it too challenging to listen to, perhaps because I like all kinds of experimental music. In fact, it is a highly interesting album. Definitely the most unconventional and one of the strangest (in a good sense) albums on this list so far. It's chaotic but if someone listens to it carefully every note is well thought out. The story how this album was made is also fascinating. Many say it takes 7-8 times to get into this album, so I'm still far away from it but I've already liked it a lot. I can't wait to discover all those layers more and more if I listen to it a couple of more times. It already deserves a 5.
Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons, has the best review of this album. He said that the first time through he thought it was the worst album he'd ever heard and with each listen he warmed up to it a little more. By the 7th time around, he decided it was one of the best albums he'd ever heard. Unsurprisingly, many people's first reactions are pretty negative, as reflected by the fact that this is one of this lowest rated albums on this site. It's definitely a challenging one and it requires some effort on the part of the listener. Those willing to try it are in for an experience though. Personally, I love 'Trout Mask Replica' in all it's bizarre glory. It's a different view of the 60s, more chaotic than the typical flower power, summer of love vibes. This album is part bad trip, part confusion. It's blues, it's psychedelic, it's avant garde. The background of the recording reminds one more of the Stanford Prison Experiment than Woodstock, with the band effectively locked in the house, converted into a giant recording studio, under the watchful eyes of Frank Zappa. Officially, Zappa is the producer here, but his involvement is debated. More than likely, he created the space and opportunity for Captain Beefheart to fully explore and experiment, with both music and people. It's a challenging album but it is brilliant if you give it enough time.
Is it hard to listen to? Yes. Is it a relief after days of landfill indie? Also yes.
Got this album as a teenager in the 70s. Been in love with it ever since. It sounds like Don Van Vliet wrote down all the rules of music and then purposefully avoided every single one.
it's bad, it's good, it's aggressively not music as well as very musical. comes closer to 'art' than many many albums on the list. really there's nothing i can say that hasn't been said already, but i gotta slap a 5 on it just for the novelty, influence and vision (if you can call untreated schizophrenia vision). there really are many snatches of genuinely catchy and enjoyable music here, but i think only someone interested in developing some schizophrenia of their own would want to listen to this front to back on anything approaching a regular basis. as they say, fast and bulbous
If you don’t like this album, you probably don’t truly like every kind of music or play a musical instrument. It is chaotic yet a marvel of precision. Beefheart’s other work is excellent too but this is a perfectly timeless time capsule of an exploration of what was/is musically possible. He outdoes Zappa because he is not elitist, he loves sound and poetry and this has an innocent humor that I love.
The only album that sounds normal.
The moment we started this project, I've been wondering how our little group is going to react to this famously challenging album. Me? I dig it, though it's certainly not an album I turn to very often. I really have to be in the mood for Beefheart, and even then, I usually reach for Doc at the Radar Station. Still, this one is pretty groovy and wild and I do genuinely love it. Also, it's surprisingly catchy.
Its caotic and so interesting, loved it. 9/10
Esta vaina es una locura. 10/10
An album that defies most all types of categorization, including whether it’s “good” or “bad.” It’s chaotic but was deliberately planned to be that way, it’s secretly an homage to several genres, it’ll turn your brain to soup.
Fast and bulbous. Tight also.
Music is time and time means nothing and there Captain Beefheart leaves us. It's been a while since my inaugural listen, long enough for the album to enter and leave streaming at least once. Record player's half-broken and un-hooked-up, so YouTube it is, doubling the eighty minutes of dread invoked by this glorious cover. Still totally unique, Trout Mask Replica has more hooks this round. It also, exhaustingly, clicks together further and further. Like a wonderful comedy routine, bits are funny, the assemblage something more.
It's supposed to suck and be off-putting. Beefheart can sound like Tom Waitts at points and at others like he's having a psychotic break. The album can have really great moments too, kind of like Grindcore music, it sounds like total chaos for the most part, then all of a sudden it comes together beautifully for a second before breaking apart again.
I love how Captain Beefheart was basically Zappa’s answer to D-12 or G-Unit, but with more of a legacy. This is probably perfect if you want a less politically aggressive We’re Only in it for the Money, which probably means that it matters less, but I’d recommend it for any serious music lover’s collection. A-
I hated this to start with, and then it suddenly just clicked into place. Insane and brilliant in equal measure; I can't think of any other album that keeps you on your toes so much. FAST AND BULBOUS
The mascara snake is right. It is fast and bulbous. Tight also. And annoyingly not available on streaming!
My music taste is broken beyond repair
A glorious mess of an album. Blues album taken to the experimental avant-garde extreme. So many gems... Some of them are even melodic! Among my faves: Dachau blues Hair Pie - Bake One Moonlight on Vermont Pachuco Cadaver China Pig My Human Gets Me Blues Pena When Big Joan Sets Up Wild Life This one's a keeper...
It takes a lot of smarts to sound this stupid.
That old time religion... Trout Mask Replica is much more known for its myth and legend than its compositional fuckery and, quite frankly, it is both warranted and a shame. Warranted because, it had been the usual standard paint by-the-numbers clock-in and clock-out studio session, there wouldn't be as much of a shadow handing over and it is a shame because lain within it is some of the most daring, whiplash inducing mish-mash of blues, jazz, hard rock and poetry ever committed to tape by anyone. It is the blues at its dead end; any poaching of the blues afterwards should have been considered necrophilac. It is jazz at its most disjointed; it is rather fortunate that the genre kept its gaze towards the present before its placement as past tense. Hard rock was never as surrealistic as it was here and it hasn't been since and the debauched poetry of Don Van Vilet on showings such as The Dust Blows Forward 'n' the Dust Blows Back, China Pig and Orange Claw Hammer ranks as amongst the most Dadaist that's ever Dadaed. There is a time and place for a dalliance with this album and what is required is years and years of burrowing down varying tunnels of sound and becoming acquainted with the idea of off-kilter melodies and experimental tastes. Upon first glance, this is not for the ones who are ill-prepared for what's to come and they shouldn't come back until they've gained that experience. When that time comes, and when all is understood, then the light shall be shone. It's good enough for me. https://youtu.be/aF0g-2SeoMM?si=bhlbMIcHjnvcSn-r
I am someone who appreciates experimentation in music but will not herald it unless the experimentation creates something that is satisfying to listen to. In all honesty, I was a little worried coming into the album due to the cover and the fact that I had never heard a Captain Beefheart song before listening to this album. This can be described as nothing short of an experience. If you go into this album knowing nothing about Captain Beefheart, I genuinely believe there is no possible way you could expect all the weird pockets this album goes into and I think that it consistently works. It reminds me a lot of Tom Waits (I looked into it and Tom was heavily inspired by Captain Beefheart in his 80's work). There are obviously some misses which can be expected in such an experimental work but they are surrounded by some incredible songs so it evens out. I think the standout characteristic of this album, besides the general weirdness, is the instrumentation. The guitars and drums throughout the album are amazing and are a massive highlight of the album. Despite that being a highlight I also like some of the acapella tracks ("The Dust Blows Forward 'N the Dust Blows Back" and "Orange Claw Hammer"). I think on of my favorite aspects on the album was the different vocal styles that are tried throughout the album from the more wailing type of vocals to the raspier vocals at times that remind me of New Orleans singers like Dr. John and then you have tracks that are essentially spoken word. Also the level of complexity to some of the arrangements on the songs is amazing. You could listen to some of these songs dozens of times and still not understand every moving part. This is not an album that I could imagine picking a couple songs and putting them on a playlist. It is like a full-length feature film more than any album I have listened to. This sort of reminds me at times of experimental jazz more than it does experimental rock. I do have to qualms towards this album though is the treatment of band members while it was being made because that is truly some horrible stuff and at times the level of syncopation is a little to much for me and I find it occasionally makes my head hurt. Despite this, overall this is the best experimental rock/avant-garde album I have heard. 9.5-10/10
ЭТО АБСОЛЮТНАЯ ЛЕГЕНДА Но надо все воспринимать постиронично, тогда зайдет. Как музыка полный шлак Но ебанный рот, как же я ору с этой музыки
это точно "очень". я пока на стадии очень невыносимо, но прекрасно понимаю, что это шедевр
One of my favorites. It just packs so much music to enjoy in one album… Also it can be a lot if you’re not in the headspace to listen to this kind of stuff
Sure, I get it. 5 stars for that?!?! Am I saying that out of some sense that this is the “correct” answer? Is this a case of the emperor’s new clothes? Am I on drugs? Am I mentally well? A 5 for an album that I wouldn’t want to listen to more often than not? It just doesn’t make sense. I promise you, it is sincere. Many years ago I heard Frank Zappa for the first time and my musical world grew quickly. I found that I was drawn to things that stood in stark contrast to the kinds of music that was familiar. I wouldn’t always enjoy it, but I didn’t need to. My fascination with its uniqueness was enough. Of course, the less I enjoyed it, the less likely I was to return for another listen. Zappa’s album Hot Rats was my introduction to Captain Beefheart, and I loved his vocals on that album. When I found out that Trout Mask Replica existed, I immediately sought it out, and was truly fascinated by what I found. It was awful, and a strange musical mess, but damned interesting. I walked away thinking it was something I never needed to hear again, and thought I was done. A short time later, I tried to describe the experience of listening to the album to a friend, and decided to short cut things by just playing some of it for him. Some time later I repeated this with another friend. Over and over again, I’d find myself coming back to the album and playing it again, and before long the curiosity had been replaced by appreciation. More and more of it had started to click, until one day I realized that I actually enjoyed the thing. It’s still not an album that I can throw on any old time. It’s an experience that can only happen under the uncommon ideal circumstances, But when those elements come together, it’s electric.
What I find most fascinating about this record is that the instrumentals were recorded in a single eight hour sessions. How well rehearsed and disciplined did the Magic Band have to be in order to achieve that and be able to play these extremely complicated songs like that every time? What an achievement! Captain Beefheart delivers one of the most challenging records of the 20th century with Trout Mask Replica. It’s polyrhythmic, polytonal and at times almost incomprehensible. Spoken words, free jazz, dirty blues, progressive rock and avant-garde is thrown together in a seemingly random order. The product on the other hand is not random at all. The sheer discipline of the band points toward that. There is a great amount of humor but the album is not a joke at all. “Moonlight In Vermont”, “My Human Gets Me Blues”, “Ant Man Bee” and the closing “Veteran’s Day Poppy” (a song that almost displays a certain beauty) are what this album is all about. Horribly demanding but nevertheless extremely well thought out. Nothing tops the legendary opening that is “Frownland”. It’s not rare that I find myself singing parts of the song alone at home. Despite all its complexity. Despite the weirdness. Despite of the fact that it seems that the song itself wants me not to like it. This is genius in its purest form. Or maybe it’s madness? That’s not for me to decide. And I don’t care.
RATING: 9.5/10 HIGHLIGHT: Ella Guru LOWLIGHT: Wild Life
Mon avis résumé : ??? Mon avis réel : Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, j'en entends parler depuis longtemps, mais je n'ai jamais trop pris le temps de me pencher sérieusement dessus et il y a bien longtemps que cet album en particulier me fait de l’œil. J'ai donc commencé en l'écoutant, en sachant bien que ça serait sûrement une de ces bizarreries dont seules les années 60 ont le secret. Même comme ça, j'étais pas prêt. Se pencher sur Trout Mask Replica, c'est se plonger dans un terrier de lapin où chaque découverte est plus déglinguée que l'autre. Le contexte de création de l'album vaut la peine qu'on l'évoque. Captain, Beefheart, pour préparer cet album, il a essentiellement fondé une secte. Bon, c'est un peu exagéré, mais le fait est qu'il s'est enfermé dans une maison pendant des mois avec ses musiciens et ils ont répété 14 heures par jour chaque jour. Difficile de distinguer la réalité de la fiction en parlant de cette étape de la création, on lit tout et n'importe quoi, mais il semblerait que Captain Beefheart ait été odieux, voire abusif avec ses musiciens, qui étaient sous-nourris et devaient respecter une discipline de fer, alors que l'argent se faisait rare. Chacun peut lire les histoires à ce sujet, c'est assez terrifiant. Et une fois ces mois passés à répéter, l'album a donc été produit par Frank Zappa (rien que ça !) qui était impliqué dans le projet depuis le début. Alors, l'enregistrement avait l'air d'être quelque chose aussi, mais passons plutôt au cœur du sujet : la musique. Je sais que les utilisateurs du site sont très frileux face aux albums très expérimentaux, donc je m'attends à ce qu'il ait une très mauvaise note. Et pour une fois, j'aurais du mal à leur donner tort. Pas parce que je pense que l'album est mauvais, au contraire, mais plutôt parce que c'est un foutoir incompréhensible. La musique est totalement déconstruite, y'a des influences free jazz très marquées et qui expliquent le bordel ambiant. D'ailleurs, la cacophonie est renforcée par le fait qu'il y a plein d'instruments. En plus des classiques du rock, on a aussi de la flûte, de la clarinette, du saxophone... et Captain Beefheart par-dessus tout ça qui se la joue chanteur de blues, par moment on dirait Howlin' Wolf. C'est bien simple, en l'écoutant, j'ai vu un commentaire qui disait que c'était comme si un groupe tombait dans les escaliers, mais continuait quand même à jour. Et c'est long ! Et pendant toute la longueur, il s'en passe, des choses. Parfois, on a des passages étonnamment conventionnels et d'autres sont un gros bordel indescriptible. Et à d'autres moments, on a juste des gens qui parlent. Et en plus, les titres sont très courts, donc un passe rapidement du coq à l'âne, ce qui ne fait qu'augmenter la confusion On croirait pas à l'entendre que tout ça a été répété pendant des mois. On dirait plutôt que le groupe improvise tout, mais non. Chaque élément dissonant, chaque intervention de chaque instrument est calculé et voulu par Captain Beefheart qui compte bien garder la maîtrise sur tout ce qui se passe. Alors oui, cet album n'est pas facile d'accès et pour beaucoup, ça ne sera guère plus que de la branlette et du bordel sans aucun fonds. Et si je trouve cette idée un peu exagérée, je ne peux personnellement pas m'empêcher d'apprécier l'album pour son jusqu'au-boutisme. L'objectif était de faire quelque chose de bizarre, éloigné de tous les standards du rock et pour moi, c'est réussi. L'album a été très influent et a montré qu'on pouvait oser des choses improbables et avoir du succès. Ce qui me gêne le plus, dans tout ça, c'est la phase de conception. Personne ne devrait être traité comme de la merde pour un simple album de musique. Et ça retire une étoile de la note finale. PS : ah et en continuant d'explorer un peu, j'ai vu que la pochette n'est pas un montage, c'est vraiment Captain Beefheart avec une tête de poisson qu'il utilise comme masque et il existe une vidéo de lui en train de jouer du saxophone soprano à travers la bouche du poisson, dégueulasse ! Quand je disais que c'était un terrier de lapin, je ne déconnais pas.
While currently not available from Apple, since I have this album, it was easy to access for a relisten. Yep, still a great album!
this album is equal parts hilarious, equal parts absolute confusion. it shouldn't work, but it does. the avant-garde is hard to get past, but overall its pretty good and fun. this album, for me, falls into this list perfectly. you should listen to this album once before you die. what you do with it after is your choice, but its crazy and unique
For along time I thought that Captain Beefheart was just a novelty act like Doctor Demento or Weird Al, so this album was something of a revelation. To say it’s hard going is an understatement, and first impressions are of a shambolic racket with different musicians noodling to whatever groove is playing in their heads while some crazy dude rants random beat poems over the top. Continued listening is worth it though, although it doesn’t get any easier. This is actually meticulous free jazz where the apparent randomness will sometimes resolve into a tight focus before splintering off again. The lyrics are similarly thought through as a piece of performance art that would obviously go on to inspire people like Tom Waits and David Lynch. Moonlight-on-Vermont-tastic!
I love the weirdness!
An assault on the senses by a band who sound like they're falling down a very long flight of stairs. It's not a comfortable listen- I don't think it's meant to be. Yet Beefheart and Zappa are both masters of their craft and the result is so intriguing that to my surprise, I ended up enjoying this.
04/06/2026 My time has finally come. For an album that is supposed to be monstrously horrible... I was expecting something utterly terrible. To my shock, it wasn't as bad as all you crazy cats say. At least it was different to all other music at that time! Spotify listeners: 245.9k
A deconstructed psychedelic cabaret from a wild showman having a demented trip - it's annoying on purpose, disjointed, choatic, dissonant, lo-fi, funny and full of life. Settles into some surprisingly deep grooves to jam out, but they succumb to the centripital forces pulling it all apart.
4.5
Do not be discouraged by the first track of this album. Once you endure it, the remaining songs are quite pleasant.
Perhaps not his most accessible work but it’s one that’s grown on me over the years. The strange angular nature of the backing music in conjunction with Beefheart’s lyrics create an impressive juxtaposition which is full of wit and humour. The album definitely rewards repeated listening
This is right up my alley! Quirky, creative, complete chaos
Took a bit of effort, but was worth it.
The roots of everything Zappa!
this is what all music should sound like
Not just fast, it's also bulbous.
yeah ok
8/10
So ridiculous and I love it. Made me laugh out loud a couple of times (in the best way)
Here is a hugely controversial but classic album, that has been the subject of many thinkpieces. It sounds ugly, discordant, dissonant, and like the people involved have no clue what they're doing. But is that the case? No, if course not. This is a group of very accomplished musicians, perfectly capable of producing up to standard material. So why did they make it intentionally sound "bad"? Well, "bad" is in the eye of the beholder. I would say this is one of the first instances of the true avant-garde ethos appearing in rock music. Unlike something like The Shaggs, which sounds "bad" accidentally and has been hailed as an experimental hidden gem, Beefheart and Co. actually intended their songs to sound this way. And I would say that requires a lot more skill than playing it straight, even. These songs sound off in very specific ways. They still sound like discernable songs with structure and recognizable melodies, but they were put through an uncanny valley filter. And the fact this is also so long of an album is part of the artistic statement. It's almost as if the record is daring you to turn it off. No wonder it has been cited as an influence by many musicians down the line. And the fact that it still sounds out-there all these years later is a testament to the skill of everyone involved. Intimidating and difficult, yes, but unlike anything else. Key tracks: Frownland Ella Guru Moonlight on Vermont When Big Joan Sets Up Ant Bee Man Veteran's Day Poppy
A record for contrarians. And reader, I'm one of them. I can find beauty in noise, distortion, some dissonance...and yes this.
most interesting listen yet from this list. shows you what music can be and hints at what it should be. funky stuff.
You know, when even Frank Zappa is like "the fuck you doin?", you know you got something weird. It's intense to listen to this in one sitting but it's basically the foundation of mathcore.
The full spectrum on show here: Drums are showcasing cocaine because you need laser focus to keep these sycophantic rhythms Guitars are on some sort of acid the way they go on these shaggy dog walks The rest of the instrumentalists must have been on some sort of methamphetamine as a treat And the singer is simply huffing his own farts. Fast and bulbous.
interesting
Undeniably a challenging listen and left me a bit exhausted after an hour. However, it is such a strong artistic statement, and still such an incredible UFO in music history. Very glad I experienced it, and I enjoyed it much more than I expected to.
Definitely the ultimate example of musical marmite. Experimental, avant and for many impenetrable. I confess to rather liking it and understanding why Frank Zappa chose to promote Don Van Villet. John Peel would also agree……this is now 57 years old and we don't hear this level of creativity and imagination in popular music now. Highly entertaining stuff, but did it need to be a double……?
Wonderfully weird
This is an album you more experience than listen too. It's easy to judge someone by their opinion of this album.
Interesting! Different
Wild
You're not going to believe me, but I really enjoyed this album. It's fun, funny, spikey and spans musical genres in a fascinating way.
Okay so I think like most people with functioning ears, I was kind of angry about the assignment for the first quarter of this. It gave me the feeling I have when I realize I dropped a spoon in the garbage disposal only after I turned it on, and sounded even worse. I turned the corner of respect by the halfway mark though, and even rounded the bend on liking it by the end. I’m going to take those people who claim you realize it’s the greatest album ever after the half dozenth listen at their word though.
surprisingly enjoyable - but still quite tough
This is tight as hell. They probably did not need to rehearse as hard as they at least acted like they did to get this result, but nonetheless. A glorious cacophony of poetry and music somehow over and under structured. Future "noise" rock bands and zappa could only dream and pretend...
nie wiem czego wlasnie przesluchalem, ale bylo to jedno z dziwniejszych 80 minut jakie slyszalem, totalnie obskurne nagranie ktorego nie ma co szukac na spotifaju, a jednak ma potezna wiki czy zasluzone miejsce na liscie 1001 albumikow, plyta z 69 bedaca trzecim krazkiem kapitana beefhearta i jego magicznej bandy, jest to rokowanie eksperymentalne, a eksperymentem tutaj byly glownie warunki jego powstania, 8 godzinny maraton zeby napisac 20 kilka trakow, 6 godzin w studio zeby je nagrac, a nastepnego dnia nagrywac do nich wokale na prawie gluchosci, co sprawia ze wydaja sie dziwnie niedopasowane, opoznione, nie na miejscu, nie tylko z powodu lirycznego misz maszu, poza tymi niecodziennymi warunkami dochodzi forma jaka jest tutaj uprawiana rokowanie bluesowe, wokale czesciej niz spiewanie oferuja monologi tak bizzarne, ze nie wiem czego sluchalem i pewnie sie nie dowiem jesli nie znajde jakiejs dobrej transkrupcji calej plyty, bo ciezko ze sluchu sie polapac w czyms takim, zwlaszcza gdy sa jakies utwory na dwa glosy, albo na glos i krzyk, zeby na kolejnym miec cos prawie szantowego, a nastepnie recytacje poetycja totalnie bez instrumentala, nie ma czasu na nude, ale na bardziej normalnych trakach mozna posluchac naprawde muzyki ktora czuc, takimi trakami byly dla mnie spike n sugar czy ant man bee, ktory chyba najlepiej hajlajtuje wykorzystanie saksow na tym albumie, ktore nie sa jedynym niecodziennym dla rokowania i popularnego rokowania instrumentem jaki zostal tutaj wykorzystany, bo sa nawet oboje, traby, dzwonki, klarnety, wiekszosc dziwnosci wnosi pan kapitan, ale na blimpie jest takie nastakowanie detosci, ze slychac prawie orkiestre, a co do beefhearta to niezly gagatek, multiinstrumentalista ktory nie potrafi w nuty i ktos za niego musial aranzowac traki, jakby nie dalo sie jeszcze dodac dziwnosci do tej plyty, to nad produkcja czuwal nie kto inny jak pan zappa, ktory z poczatku chcial zeby to bylo nagrywane w warunkach domowych, takich domowych ze banda byla tak biedna, ze zyli z pieniedzy od rodzicow ktore mialy ledwo starczac na czynsz, a jedzenie bylo trzeba krasc, nie wiem czy wiki jest az tak barwnie napisana, czy serio byly tam az tak dramatyczne sytuacje, ale daly dramatyczny efekt w postaci repliki pstragowej maski, ktora z pewnoscia zostanie w pamieci jako wyjatkowo dziwny a jednoczesnie sluchalny albumik, brak plejkowania bo calosc bylo trzeba szukac na soulseeku
That's some weird shit man. This isn't noise for the sake of making noise. It's in the same vein of the experimentalists of the 50s like Glass, Reich, and Cage. In Moonlight on Vermont there is a bit of interpolation from Steve Reich's Come Out. Overall, it's a hard listen, but overall, I kinda dig it.
Didn’t listen to all of it but very much enjoyed the part that I did
pre-listening notes: god dang this look amazing post: very interesting
Nice one
Although I only just listened to this two months after I rolled it, I still think it’s amazing I got it a day after Zappa. Love that this has skits basically. The atonality is the hook.
Nog niet geluisterd. Maar klinkt kunstig en daar hou ik wel van.
Past all the bullshit, this is a great album. It has consistent lyrical themes, Beautiful poetry, memorable refs, I like how Frank Zappa, Sean‘s in every once in a while to say some crazy shit. The drumming is excellent crazy out of this world. The baselines are rocking. So much feeling in this album. It is a little bit long, and I think the bluesiness Of the whole album becomes grading after a while, but besides being a difficult lesson, there’s so much good stuff in here, I don’t know if you really could cut any. “bad songs “
"Produced by Frank Zappa". That explains it.
This is such a crazy album. Many artists who later became popular have cited it as one of their biggest influences. I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it, but I have to give lots of credit for breaking the boundaries of conventional pop-rock formula and inspiring others to rethink how rock music can be presented.
not on spotify
Like the Sword Of Damocles, Trout Mask Replica looms over us all. I was fully prepared for one of the worst things I was ever going to hear but honestly I quite enjoyed it. It’s definitely not an easy listen. It’s abrasive and chaotic but, for me at least, it works. It’s not something that’s gonna be in my regular album rotation but I can see myself once or twice a year taking a notion to give this a listen. Top Track - When Big Joan Set Up
Weird but entertaining.
It finally happened. Not sure why people hate it, but I don't love it for the sake of contrarianism either. Really liked the experimentation though. 4/5
What an album! Can't imagine there are going to be many on this list which will be quite as divisive, far out and generally wild as this one. I played it at work for some coworkers and it generated a pretty great heated conversation about the merits of art, modern art and experimentation. As a piece of provocative art this absolutely succeeds. There is just enough sustenance in the chaos to keep the listener engaged but it's still pretty thoroughly chaotic. You can definitely hear the influence on punk music but it also borrows from jazz, classical rock and beyond. Now would I readily put this into my rotation of "good music" I go for again and again? Absolutely not but I really enjoyed the experience of listening to and learning about this. I will round my rating up based on how affective this album was but acknowledge that there is a whole lot of context required to appreciate this album as much as I have.
I suppose this should be right up my street, given that I'm a massive Zappa fan, but It's always been a struggle. I don't care what anyone says, this is a difficult listen, right from the off. That's doesn't make it bad, in fact, quite the opposite. I'm just going to have to make more of an effort because of the strong sense of FOMO. It's on my shelves. Heard before ✅️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ✅️ Tentative ★★★★☆ (7/10)
I was one of maybe three or four teenagers who listened to an inordinate amount of Captain Beefheart in the 1980s. That was strange I admit, but the music is stranger still. I wouldn’t be surprised if this album single-handedly led many to jump off the 1001 bandwagon altogether. That would be an understandable response to this surreal, dissonant, experimental tour de craziness. And I almost downgraded the album myself. But then, it draws me back in again… I surrender to the surreal, I ride along, and I’m captivated the way you get captivated by a strange yet provocative piece of artwork.
Ordinarily this kind of album would test my patience. It is very experimental, indulgent sounding, and brutal to get through. However, it is Captain Beefheart - which is like a degree of difficulty indicator. I can only say that if you commit to listening to it, you will be rewarded (no, the end isn't full of commercial singles), but is like ready James Joyce. To appreciated it, you have to get really familiar with the dialogue and rhythm of it to appreciate it. Still it is hard. I am giving it a four because I am not strong enough to give it a five.
You wouldn’t get it
That's what I call "art". Captain Beefheart is just something else. Completely unique and unhinged.
I can't imagine being upset over this album. It's meant to be kinda stupid, right? Like they knew what they were making was a mess. It was a middle finger to the status quo. How can you hate that? It's a proto-Double Nickels On The Dime...I'll take messes over polish every day of the week.
3.5 RYM / Proto Math Rock
What a strange album. Never heard anything quite like this before. This is my 3rd time trying to get through the entire thing. I have immense respect and pity for the musicians who were straight tortured in order to make this album. It takes both incredible talent, dedication, and mental resilience in order to make this. And yet I still don't know if I like it. I can understand the intrigue it brought looking at the records that came out the same year (Abbey Road, Kind of Blue, Led Zeppelin II) and this sounds like it was made almost orthogonally to the influence of the music of the past, like it lives on a completely different axis than everything else. I don't hate any of the songs either, in fact I really like Veteran's Day Poppy. I just don't see myself listening to it with the same fervor, passion (dare I say poisson) and love that other people hold for this album. This is a very interesting album. I know I'll be listening to this again to get a better opinion on it, just not any time soon. 4/5
If I’m being honest, I love this. But I also feel like there isn’t a true rating I could give it besides the 1-5 one on this site. This is a masterpiece that I don’t feel like hearing in full again. It is insane, it is brilliant, it is absolute garbage. This album deserves to be here as a challenge to the average listener. I’m glad I got through it, but as for a rating, I honestly have no clue. For this site, I’m gonna give it a 4, but my true feelings are reflected elsewhere (WTF/10, 4/5 on this scale)
Really weird. As a YouTube comment put it - sounded like the band fell down a flight of stairs and continued playing. 4/5.
This encapsulates hair cake tbh. Only one song is available on Spotify so that's all I'm listening to
Cool but weird :shrug:
Always an absolutely unhinged listen.
It sounds like Tom Waits backed by a more folk rock Contortions. The discordant guitars keep it very interesting and I can hear how this influenced many others who were able to use the style in a more traditional way. It’s cool to compare this to the debut to see how much further off the rails they’ve gone. I like Zappa’s idea of treating it like a field recording of a foreign civilization. After reading about how they were living while making this, it might as well be foreign to me. Rating: 3.8
Weird 8
It's not that serious...
*This album is some of the craziest stuff I've ever heard, but it intrigues me to listen more times to understand it better.
I was definitely confused. Then went back in time to new York city! Even tho I have never been, definitely gave vintage sad cinematic movie. I was at work while listening to it and it was just a matter of time before I rolled down the stairs while taking the thrash out. Definitely a perfect song, for a chaotic day. Aka not chaotic love the jazz.
A hometown hero! Man, could you imagine a Britisher lineup of Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa? Can you believe that was our scene 50 years ago? We’re not making weird enough music. Petition to make the A.V.’s music WEIRDER. I didn’t make mine weird enough the first time out. Funny enough, my History of Jazz professor at AVC had one of Captain Beefheart’s old bandmates come and do a lecture on his legacy years ago. It was awesome. Could I listen to this album all the time? Hell nah, but when I do, I always just sit and giggle. This is true freedom. What a reminder to just create. Some people think this is the worst album ever made, some people think he’s taking the piss, and some people think he’s unlocked a level of genius not yet known to this earth. I don’t know about all that. I know Hair Pie reminds me of high school band kids fucking around and that’s probably as much thought as he intended I put into it.
BRABO no início eu já tava completamente desorientado das ideia imagina vc fazer uma loucura dessa propositalmente e PIOR ficar interessante
In the midst of the chaos, there is an interesting and melodic album. 4 stars
This album wasn’t available on Spotify so I just listened to another album of theirs. I was surprised by the diversity of genres they make and how original their sound is. Some of it being ahead of its time, some of it being very characteristic of the 60s/70s.
Once you've heard it, you can't unhear it; a life-altering recording. I love and hate it in equal measure. Today, I loved it except for the repetitious acapella tracks Since this album isn't on Spotify, and I therefore can't save songs that I like to my playlist to prompt future reflections -here's my amateurish and hasty listening notes: Frownland - A baptism by fire, chainmail voice and dense atonality. Dust Flows Forward and Dust Blows Back - ominous to hear the isolated voice and natural vibrato, with a strange, somewhat pastoral poem Dachau Blues - the groaning of the industrial death machine is absolutely evident here Ella Guru - a more straightforward psychedelic rock number, comparatively with a jazzy drum part and chorus refrain Hair Pie Bake 1: cacophonous horns in the Ornette Coleman tradition. Moonlight on Vermont - a chainsaw and axe of bluesy treble-rich freakouts going through the bathroom door; my favourite track. Pachuco Cadaver - second mention of the fast and bulbous trope, a bouncy accented trip, enjoyable Bills Corpse - a more challenging polytonal drag with horrorshow lyrics, that bouncy feel remains, but feels like a carnival bungee cord starting to fail Sweet Sweet Bulbs - funky gunky and makes all kinds of pastoral/spring/sexual comparisons Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish - what am I actually listening to here? China Pig - the recording quality changes, aping old blues records and blues 78s, definitely the straightest composition here My Human Gets Me Blues - like a swamp witch doctor leading two bands at two different songs at once. When that bass comes in the last quarter it hits like a bowling ball Dalis Car - Is this Glenn Branca? Who invited Thurston Moore? Hair Pie Bake 2 - like all leftovers, better the second time when thoroughly warmed up Pena - fast and bulbous again, is this the point in which you realise they're kind of joking and having fun? Well - the best pure acapella track When Big Joan Sets Up - makes me feel like being on a rollercoaster, some of those little guitar motifs are brilliant. The horn cutting through is genuinely hilarious at first. Can would be proud Fallin' Ditch - lives up to it's name, sounds like a band falling down a slope Sugar N Spikes - lives up to it's name, sweet and jagged - another relatively straightforward one! Ant Man Bee - John Lewis Hooker(ISH) at the outset and by the end I've no idea what I'm listening to, maybe a semi-truck carrying a jazz band through LA traffic Orange Claw Hammer - a touchstone would be Richard Dawson, although far less folksy, or perhaps the melodies of Gregorian chant Wild Life - I hope to never feel as shitty as this song feels, it's like a migraine in a nursery She's too Much for my Mirror - it's only now I notice Zappa when I hear him, even though I know he was producing! The drumming here is chefs kiss. Hobo Chang Ba - is this a sensitive depiction of immigrant alienation or should we cancel Don Van Vliet? The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica) - how tight were the band? I bet they loved rehearsing together in harmony under no pressure Steal Softly Thru Snow - the band seem to get progressively tighter as the album wears on - is it intentional or my ears adjusting? Old Fart at Play - you can hear what he would do on Ice Cream for Crow, I think. Why the vocal take lasts so much longer I've no idea! Veterans Day Poppy - a seriously strong finish, I think - it's like 60s psych meets European Son meets One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest meets rockabilly
Did not know what to expect going into this, but I think I actually enjoyed a lot of it. Chaotic, sure. Enjoyable, absolutely. I can absolutely understand why people are turned off by it, and I figured I’d be one of those people. Something about it however, just kept me engaged, and I’m still not sure what that thing was. The only parts of it that were weaker for me were the spoken word tracks (plus a couple of the others) - • The Dust Blows Forward ‘n the Dust Blows Back • Orange Claw Hammer • Well • China Pig Highlights - • Frownland • Ella Guru • Pachuco Cadaver • Bills Corpse • Sweet Sweet Bulbs • Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish • My Human Gets Me Blues • Sugar ‘n Spikes • Steal Softly Thru Snow • Old Fart at Play • Veteran’s Day Poppy I actually think this is getting a 4/5 Definitely planning to revisit it at some point.
This is what my brain sounds like on Friday nights after a long week of work, a bottle of wine and a joint that is starting to kick in... beautiful chaos
OK, this one is... a lot. This is probably the most unpleasant album to receive a 4 star rating from me. Nonetheless, there's something there, within the cacophony. Or rather, there's a lot there, seemingly at odds. That's the whole point. Or rather, the points. And angles. Lots of angles. Some jagged edges too. Some things are upside down. Others are sideways. Some are non-euclidean. Not sure where I'm going with this review. Sudden stop.
Such a huge fantastic interesting world of an album
impressively amazing. produced by Zappa so not that surprising but it pushes all the boundaries of what should be enjoyable while still being a great listen!
Only one song available on Spotify from the album. Unable to rate.
This feels like when I first listened to Tom Waits' Rain Dogs, but on steroids. Of course, Captain Beefheart was first. This album initially sounds like a bric-a-brac shop with random stuff piled up, except upon looking carefully it's not random but rather a very considerate construction by an intriguing mind and musician. Does that make it easier to listen to? Hell no, this is one of the hardest albums I know, not quite as hard as, say, a Christina Aguilera album, but for rather different reasons. This album makes me want to listen to it carefully... will buy (it seems very hard to find though). The songs are a blend of hard blues, free jazz, and much more that I can't name, the can get you so on edge that the odd recognisable chord or rhythm suddenly feels like a relief. Lots of tension in this album. Definitely a hugely influential album, definitely well made, definitely interesting, but does it sound good? Still making up my mind. Safe as Milk was definitely much easier. If it depended just on "does it sound pleasant" I'd give it a 2-3 for the moment. But I have the feeling that as I unpeel its layers, it will very much grow on me.
No
Idk why I mess with this but I do (I’m way too pretentious)
oh hell no. everytime i go to record store and see this album i always force my friends to listen frownland just to see their reaction. now actually gotta listen to the whole thing lowkey terrible but the story behind this album is so fascinating that circle around to kind of liking it. The band isn't shit, the songs are supposed to sound like this this is just how they're composed. The band was like pretty much tortured in the process of making. they like survived off a couple soy beans and were beat or trapped in a barrel if they fucked up their rehearsal its so fucked up. Its an insane listen and everyone should experience it once there really nothing like it (for better or for worse)