Trout Mask Replica

Some stuff is just weird for no reason - but I feel like this is weird on purpose. There's a difference.

What a weird album. I don’t usually have a taste for anything this strange, but this one is strangely compelling. I doubt I’ll revisit it, but I really am glad I listened

Oh lord, this was a ride. At first, my gut reaction was Nope, 1 star. Do Not Like. But it grew on me. I laughed because it made me think of a group of newbie band kids, the 1st time with their instruments, everyone making noise and doing their own thing. It also reminded me of something I would hear on Dr. Demento which I haven't thought about in a long time. I could give it 2 stars but I'll go for 3 because I would listen again if I were in the right mood. Also, it's currently not available on Spotify so I listened on YT Music

This is such a weird album. Some of it sounded like parts of the same song were slightly out of sync eg Ella Guru, but some others felt like they were the backing track to a madhouse eg. Hair pie: bake 1. Some were unlistenable such as Frownland, yet some were actually enjoyable and lacked the general mania of the album such as moonlight on vermont and pachuco cadaver. Sweet sweet bulbs simply felt like an extension of P.C, and therefore unnecessary. Neon meat was just the right amount of odd, with tangible lyrics/spoken word and messy instrumental that wasn't whiny. It reminded me of an old advert. This retro aesthetic is followed on by Sugar 'n' spikes. My human gets me blues was similar in the 'just right' aspect. Dali's car barely missed going over the crass inharmonious border, but was still enjoyable. I wish I could say the same for Hair Pie: Bake 2. Bills Corpse and Pena were...interesting. China Pig reminded me of smooth old blues/jazz music or even country, thoroughly enjoyed that song in the mixture. Well felt like a biblical activist speaking in a megaphone on a street or on the radio- pushing the limits of what a song is, similar to The Narcissist Cookbook (as does Fallin' Ditch). Some gave the vibe of being trapped in a jungle listening to animals making noise, though in their defense, relatively good noise- for animals such as When Big Joan sets up. Ant Man Bee included a fusion of sort of jazz, rock, experimental music- it seemed as if the members of the band all had a different idea of what they wanted the song to sound like- not to say that it didn't work, because surprisingly it did (until around the 2.40 mark at which a horrible shrill sound decided to put me off a bit, though only momentarily). Another song that had a bit of dissonance between vocals and instrumental was Orange claw hammer, but once again this didn't take away from the overall enjoyability, though it was too flat to go on for so long. She's too much for my mirror changed up the flow again, picking up tempo and refreshing the senses (once again bordering on that precarious line of harmony and discordance). Hobo chang ba essentially carried on from the previous song, and not much more can be said aside from the half way point incorporating an actual tuneful beat. The blimp destroyed this in a way that I couldn't decide if I loved or hated, with its wild circus atmosphere. Steal softly through the snow once again played into the clashing aspect whilst bringing it together with some coherent sections, carried on by Old fart at play. Wild life was insanity, goofy as all hell, but had the instrumental and production quality of a middle school music class, instructed by an enthusiastic musician who has to try not to cry every time he teaches them (and not because their playing is beautiful). Veterans day poppy brings the album together, with a softer and slower tone that leaves you to wonder what on earth you just listened to, and whether you liked it or not. The answer....some of it. And the rest of it? Let's just say I'd use it as good torture music.

Wort a listen, but just one.

kind of a classic. Not as bad as I remember

ok this one wasnt on spotify pero i listened to the band's other stuff and hmmmm its country ahaha. but the bass is fun

part of me wants to go with a 2, the other part wants to go with a four, so i'll settle for a 4 or 5, so i'll settle for a 3

Challenging Listen. Unrestful. Makes me feel uncomfortable. But I can see the musical genius in it and I think it is important to expose yourself to music like this from time to time, it can open up how you think about, experience and create music. As it doesn’t match my musical taste I’ll give it a mid rating.

At first I thought it was ridiculous, but upon listening further I think it's good-bad-avant-garde ish... No... yeah, it gets better but it's not something you listen to on a road trip.

Listened to this while playing Imperium Classics solo. I lost. I was worried at the beginning that I was going to HATE this album...but its weirdness kinda grows on you. I can definitely appreciate why people think is genius level...but I'm not totally sold yet.

I’m too fat to go outside during the day. But I’ll stay home with you if you don’t talk about how small your hands are. Honestly would not relist but I’m glad I listened. It did make me laugh sometimes.

This is definitely an album. Anti music? Definitely unique...I don't ever listen to it though. I appreciate it's creativity and what it's trying to do but it reminds me a bit of ecce homo. The genius is in how terrible it is and it makes an impact but you I never would put this on out of any emotion. I only rate it low because of that reason not because I don't appreciate what it's accomplishing.

No idea how to rate this. Quite possibly the weirdest album I've ever listened to, but did get to the end. Absolutely should be on a list of "must listen" albums - but not sure I'd want to play it again.

Van enkele primitieve grommen ging de mens in 100.000 jaar naar een ''Duran Duran - Rio'', én naar dit. God's wegen zijn ondoorgrondelijk. Even de knop omzetten, en head first het chaotische brein van Don van Vliet en z'n magische mannen in. En chaos is het. Er lijken zich tientallen instrumenten te gelijk af te spelen, en het album voelt aan als een huis dat op omvallen staat. Die constante spanning, waarin instrumenten met elkaar overhoop liggen, en je nooit weet wat er een seconde later staat te gebeuren. Het levert een unieke ervaring. Het zet bepaalde vastigheden waar muziek uit bestaat op losse schroeven, op een wijze die sinds dit album niet gereproduceerd is. Free jazz en poëzie gemixt in modderige delta blues, met een dun lijntje bij elkaar gehouden door het gebrom van Don. Het album was alleen te vinden op YouTube, en het lijkt me ook geen gek idee om dit muzikale herseninfarct op afstand te houden van het grote publiek. Heb me kostelijk vermaakt met de comments onder het album, en deze twee vatten wel ongeveer samen hoe ik het album ervaar: 'This sounds like an entire band falling down stairs, but they keep playing.' Maar tegelijkertijd ook dit: 'I have never experienced such a strong desire to keep listening and stop listening at the same time.' Ik hou van muziek die je op het puntje van de stoel houdt, en ''Trout Mask Replica'' zorgt er zelfs voor dat je er meermaals af flikkert. Vaak hoor je over dit album dat je hem een keer of 10 moet luisteren voordat het opeens een magistraal meesterwerk wordt. Ik kan niet wachten tot dit eureka moment zich voortdoet, omdat ik zo van het andere werk van de band geniet. Maar ik zit daar nog wel een luisterbeurtje of 7 vanaf denk ik. Toch moet ik zeggen dat nu ik wat aandachtiger luister (wat me ook twee bebloede oren heeft opgeleverd), dat er best wel wat songs opeens aanslaan. Nouja, het zijn vaak bepaalde passages en elementen die de aandacht trekken. Er gebeurt altijd wel iets extreem onaangenaams wat je ervan weerhoudt om volledige nummers nice te vinden. Dat Don van Vliet sommige instrumenten nog nooit had bespeeld voordat hij de studio in ging voor ''Trout Mask Replica'' is hoorbaar. Hoe 'free' wil je het hebben. Ook hoor je dat de voedingsbodem van deze plaat een gevaarlijke cocktail van insomnia, drugsmisbruik, cult-achtige spanningen, en gewelddadige episodes betreft. Songs die het dichtst in de buurt komen van ''perfectie'' (in het wereldje van Captain Beefheart dan) zijn 'Moonlight on Vermont' en 'Ella Guru'. Die eerste is voor mij het hoogtepunt, ik hou van de gospel-achtige blues die op de mat wordt gelegd, en de stem van Don is op zijn eigenzinnige wijze volmaakt. 'Ella Guru' is het nummer wat het dichtstbij radiovriendelijkheid komt, met een catchy hook die klinkt als een deranged The Kinks-song. Verder zijn het vooral de tracks waar nog een blues geraamte in te ontdekken valt die mij wel bevallen ('Dachau Blues', 'China Pig', 'Sugar N' Spikes'). 'China Pig' is een puike front porch blues en klinkt als een opname van Tom Waits in de 90s. Luister maar eens naar 'Chocolate Jesus' of 'Jesus Gonna Be Here'. Jij ook Floris. 'Pachuca Cadaver' is een ander memorabel moment. Die bouncy openingsriff pakt me helemaal in, en de outro is misschien wel het enige moment dat de band zich in een groove bevond. Dat kan nooit de bedoeling zijn geweest. Maar over het algemeen is het zo'n fucking delirische kakofonie aan riffjes, toetertjes, en vreemde time signatures, dat ik maar moeilijk kan aanwijzen waarom sommige songs er boven uitstijgen. Toch hoor je aan veel moderne noise en art rock bands dat het hun wel gelukt is om het te ontleden, en zo is dit bizarre album tegen beter weten in toch ook wel een blauwdruk geweest voor veel underground acts. De absurdistische humor drijft ook telkens boven, en alhoewel het vaak wel echt uitermate goed klikt met de maffe productie (of lak daar aan), hoeven die veel te lange monologen niet zo van mij. Die gaan volledig over het hoofd van een nuchtere Hollander, denk ik. ''A squid eating dough in a Polyethylene bag. Is fast and bulbous, got me?'' Nee, niet echt, maar wellicht na nog een keer of 5 luisteren. Ik blijf volhouden. Free jazz kan echt een verademing zijn in een landschap vol gestructureerde en in massa's geproduceerde muziek, en de delta blues heeft zoveel waanzinnige artiesten voortgebracht. Maar ondanks dat ik het een dappere en inspirerende mix van beiden vind, luister ik liever naar m'n Ornette Coleman en Eric Dolphy, of m'n Howlin' Wolf en Junior Kimbrough. De band schildert een surrealistisch schilderij, waar de luisteraar uren naar kan kijken zonder er enigszins wijzer van te worden. Toch verschuilt deze tekening - voor de volhardende toeschouwer - ook prachtige melodieën en groundbreaking gitaarspel ('Veteran's Day Poppy' is Slint een jaar of 20 voordat math rock pas echt zijn intrede maakte, en 'My Human Gets Me Blues' etaleert post-punk elementen à la Gang of Four en Minutemen voordat punk überhaupt een ding was). Het was een ellenlange trap waar de band van af donderde, maar ondanks dat er enkele belangrijke aderen in m'n hoofd geknapt zijn voelt het wel alsof ik nu met een verschoonde geest de dag aankan. PS: De vis op de cover is ook gewoon geen forel, maar een karper. Wat het dus een soort replica maakt. Oh Don, never change. 7/10 (fascinerend doch onplezierig) Highlights: Moonlight on Vermont Ella Guru My Human Gets Me Blues Pachuca Cadaver

This album took me a minute to get into. The beginning is chaotic, but not in a way I enjoyed, but I ended up warming up to it about a quarter of the way through - I feel like the songs got more structured after that point. I did really enjoy the vocal interjections, it made me appreciate the album as a fun, collaborative, and artistic project between friends. But, I don’t think I’ll listen again. I also tried to listen to Replica of a Trout Mask by Kansas Fried Chicken (2022), obviously inspired by this album, but I couldn’t get through it. The beginning has the same chaotic vibe that this one does.

This album weird, quirky, off-the-wall and gets a lot of attention for having a cult-like following. This is my third or fourth time listening, and I like it just enough - specifically the jazzy & bluesy parts. We've heard weirder on this challenge.

3.5

Well, it's interesting at least! Could be a grower!

Definitely qualifies as an album to hear before you die. Just not one I will listen too again.

I’m pretty sure I listened to part of this album before, but I don’t think I made it through the whole thing. I’m really not sure how to rate it - I honestly didn’t think it was too weird or unlistenable at all, but the length was the most challenging aspect, and I also can’t say I truly enjoyed it, either. I’ll give it a 3 for now but will revisit it. I’m glad I listened to it and it certainly deserves a place on the list - there’s really nothing else like it.

I think this one could so bad it’s actually good. My partner asked me if I have to listen to this in the living room, which isn’t something that happens very often, 600 albums in.

I don't know what to say about this one. His singing is atrocious, like he's not even singing along to what the instruments are doing, and I know it's on purpose, but it's not enjoyable. If you ignore the polytonal lyrics, and just listen to the instrumentals, sometimes they sound completely out of time with each other, like no one is playing the same song, but if you listen carefully it actually all comes together. It's actually difficult for a band to sound like they don't know what they're doing, but also make it all sound cohesive, that is an achievement in itself. This album, is not easy to listen to, it takes effort to get through it, the wierd spoken word poetry interludes, polyrhythms, polymeters, it's a music theorists dream, but it's too much for the average listener. For it's historical influences, it get some points but overall not an enjoyable listen

This is objectively bad music. But it takes itself so unseriously, and I kind of find it intriguing. It’s so bad it makes me want to keep listening.

This is a tough one. There are parts of this I really liked and then other bits that are quite impenetrable and you just sit there thinking WTF. I'm scoring this more on creativity and experimentalism rather than listenability I think.

Deranged, unlistenable, but I respect the weird

Look I love it but also I do subscribe to the philosophy that music should be, on some level, actually listenable

I'm genuinely at a loss for words. I mean, I've known for a while now the mysticism of this album, and all the oddities (putting it lightly) that come with it, but I don't think I've ever been so taken aback by an entire album. I've dabbled in the avant-garde, and it hardly ever ends well, but I still went into this with pretty blank expectations for the sake of my sanity. However, this is appalling, yet appealing, like a car crash you can't look away from, even though you really want to. I spent the majority of this album with my head in hands, trying to live through the utter lack of cohesion or basic enjoyability, and at eighty minutes, that's difficult, but my brain seemed determined to find something I liked here: "Oh, that guitar lick was nice," or, "wow, this drumming is such an odd time signature," but yet I was ready to tap out at nearly every moment. I understand this album is the complete antithesis of all other music, but I just can't listen to this like you would look at an abstract painting, it defies music itself for me, and my brain genuinely does not know how to react to it. It is not enjoyable, it is not catchy, nothing here is music to me. Yet, I don't hate it. As I said, I hear a lick here, a still solid song here, and it makes me realize that despite defying music itself, it has those charming moments that some albums trying to be the pinnacle of music making fail to have, and I feel that makes this album somehow even better, despite being one of the worst albums I've ever heard. Its too long, many of the tracks are unlistenable, but as an album perhaps one day, I too can join the ranks of those who understand the "art" of this album. For now, it sits somewhere in the middle for me, as it represents the back-and-forth I had whilst listening. I will note the album is kind of funny at moments, as when I remembered to tune into the lyrics I'd get such wacky, zany shit that I can't help but appreciate it in that aspect.

I like weird and this was just that. The version I listened to was pieced together on Spotify but maybe the original version on vinyl would have landed better.

Today's album is brought to you by the good folks at 1969 music. This double album features hits like: Hair Pie - Bake One & Bake Two, Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish, She's Too Much For My Mirror, and, Old Fart at Play Why a double album you ask? Certainly you can understand that it was necessary to fully chronicle Captain Beefheart's vision and brilliance, while Frank Zappa's producing and influence are evident throughout. (*Disclaimer: This review may or may not have been influenced by hallucinatory drugs that were taken prior to listening to the album's original release.)

Wierd as hell, like 4 bands playing 10 different songs at the same time. As close to experimental jazz as a rock album can get (probably) - but moments of clarity. Not on Spotify for some reason, maybe just too strange.

Listened Before? No Top album cover and album name. I've heard of Captain Beefheart, and know of him mainly by association to Zappa. Looks like this one is produced by Zappa so this ought to be interesting... First impression is that the production and style feels almost modern. Wild how clear the vocals are. Unsurprisingly, this is an eclectic adventure. The Dust Blows is a weird-o a cappella that blends into Daccau Blues which vocally sounds like the rapper E L U C I D in vocal tone. Hair Pie: Bake 1 is a dense and wild instrumental warble. Can't say I love it, but I imagine it is hell to try and play with all the contrasting rhythmic components. Amazing that it converges at the end to a central "theme" before cutting to a drugged out recording of a conversation. Okay so I sort of lost the ball as I was working and getting interrupted. While it is no direct fault of Captain Beefheart, having to listen to this on YouTube definitely put a crimp in the experience; its hard to go from avant garde blues to some glittery add about skin care. All around this is an album by weirdos for weirdos. I can certainly see how this was particularly revolutionary for its time and made way for similar freewheeling artistic adventures. Did I enjoy this? Not really. Was it interesting? At times. Would I listen again? Yes, but in a different format. I think this is an album that critics probably get behind, but for me it is a tougher sell than most. 3 / 5 because (a) the cover is awesome, (b) there is a lot in here to like if you are looking for it, and (c) I dig how free it all feels. Losing points here because (a) it is long as hell, (b) I have a hard time focusing with this on, and (c) I couldn't pick out a single track by name. Added to Library? Can't :(

Dne

Muziekkunst, daardoor niet altijd prettig, maar wel ontzettend artistiek.

I mean, hear me out... I'm definitely relistening to this in due time. Not any time soon, but one day

Holy shit

I'm so sorry this is a carless review I think I would need to listen to this album 100 times before I could actually absorb its contents and understand what's going on

He's trying too hard to be weird without actually having anything new to say. He adds nothing new to any of the genres he attempts, but it isn't entirely unlistenable. I can get down with some of this stuff, especially, I think the lyrics are quite clearly thought out and introspective to their respective time period. There is something calmly hypnotizing about the whole thing and I can't figure out if it's genius or stupid. Overall, I'd say something intentionally confusing to disturb the audience. Fast and bulbous! 3/5

Impossible to rate, impossible to categorise - and very hard to listen to; firstly because I had to listen on youtube and secondly because it very deliberately pushes its audience away. Glimpses throughout first listens says something interesting is going on here but then jabbering vocals and discordant guitars pulls you away. An album you don't want to listen to yet you feel compelled to listen to. A hunch - this album is all the stars if you listen to it often enough - right on that pretentious/genius scale or the trash/art scale. Three for now. I'll come back to you.

I had already listened to album a few times before and being a Zappa fan I knew what I was in for. It's a tough album to digest for sure but as you listen to it it raises the question, is this music? what is music? how does if differ from sound or noise? Don't think this album answers that question but it certainly was one of the first to ask it. Lastly this album is undoubtedly lowly rated because is tough to get in one listen, it's like shoving a whole chicken down your throat at once. You first need to find and slice off the good parts, then eventually you might come to like the giblets.

This is so hard to rate. I don't even know if it's music. But I think it should be on the list. I can't tell if the band is brilliant or if they're terrible or even if they're playing the same song as the other players. And the Captain sings on top of the sometimes nonsensical music a completely different song. Yet it sometimes really works. Based on a rating scale that I've done, I think I have to go with "it's fine." I may listen to it again someday, and I think it's important. But I don't think I enjoyed it much.

#1 - Okay, I think we know what were getting into here. /Fantastic/. Very frantic. #2 - Well, it's a poem. Not a good poem, but a poem. #3 - Uhh. #4 - I'm not sure what to make any of this. Is this outsider art for musicians? #5 - At this point, I'm just going to accept the madness that is this album. Actually, there are some good riffs here. #6 - Normal sounding - in the good way - compared to the rest I've heard. Pretty good, but we're not getting anymore on this album, are we? #7 - An experience. #8 - ...not.. terrible? #9 - Again, not terrible. It's okay for something blues-adjacent. (...) #12 - I can dig it. (...) #15 - What the actual f*ck. Hahahaha. #16 - Well. #17 - LMAO. Are we sure Joan's not a t-rex? #18 - This album runs on beans, the musical fruit. (...) #27 - Rather a sad song to end on actually. (...) denotes that I have nothing to say for this range of songs. There's a lot on this album to digest. He's a definitely an original even if he sounds like my dad singing in the car; we're here for the ride and stuck with him. A "once in a lifetime" experience. I would leave this unrated if I could because it's experimental and weird and I don't think you can rate it. But I have to give it a number and it's a 3/5 because it's unique.

Second listen.

Very weird album. I think I am lacking some context here, and maybe I would have rated it better if I had that context. Still the album grew on me throughout. It's interesting but hard to listen to.

Don't have as much patience for this as I did 20 years ago, but still a milestone in experimental rock, and Orange Claw Hammer is a great song.

I can see why Zappa produced the captain. The Magic Band is awesome. Captain Beefsteak definitely presents his own version of reality. It is a shame he and the managers treated the band like shit.

Iha jees

3.7 - Less mind-bending than I was expecting given all the hype, and also more listenable. Aside from some of the "Naked Lunch"-esque spoken word asides, I find this soundscape fun and palatable. It's definitely of that 60's strain of Whacky and Weird (with capital "W"s) inhabited by the sort of insider/outsider artists like Frank Zappa and Robert Crumb. I like the creepy, crawly guitar lines that move in parallel worlds, as well as the drums that more often punctuate the vocals, hardly ever giving rhythmic structure to these messy musings. But sometimes through the noise, you hear moments of sonic and emotional clarity that hit you unexpectedly in rather poignant ways. Standouts: "China Pig", "Orange Claw Hammer."

What if frank Zappa, ween's pure guava, and Tom waits had a baby...they would have captain beef heart's trout mask replica. It was really hard to get through and I don't think that I will ever understand it. I do appreciate then living on the edge of the music spectrum, but it falls short on what I conceive music to be. I also love Ween and Tom Waits...but I hear too much Zappa to enjoy what they're trying to accomplish.

Best YouTube comment on this album: "This sounds like an entire band falling down stairs, but they keep playing." Disjointed, shambolic and absurd. Gleefully weird. Creative and entertaining in its way... but I can't really imagine choosing to listen to much of this album except to say that I did it. Fave Songs: Moonlight on Vermont, She's Too Much for My Mirror, Pachuco Cadaver, Hair Pie: Bake 1, Ella Guru

weird and wonderful. "Don't do it that way, you'll never make a dime." 3 stars

No se puede opinar. Ninguna canción disponible en Spotify

3.5 Yes, I gave this a 3.5. It isn't bad. It's weird but good in its own very unique way. I think this album is hard to get used to. This first time I head it I thought, "What the hell is this?" but over time, and after many listens, I start to feel like this one is better than I initially gave it credit for. More time might raise my score but for now, I'm good with 3.5

6.5/10

This album is admittedly difficult. It’s obviously experimental, very tongue in cheek, and sounds like pure randomness a lot of the time. However, there is a huge American roots music influence that carries through seemingly uniting the noise. With the studio chatter it seems as though the album is a loose documentary of sorts nonlinear, and all encompassing. I can hear the influence on artists such as Tom Waits which makes me wonder why the album was released in the shape that it is in. It’s clearly trying to get something across, but maybe I need to give it a few more listens.

I didn't make it all the way through this, but enjoyed more of what I heard than I expected, given its reputation. Giving a neutral review because I don't want to fall too far behind, but definitely want to come back to this someday and give it another whirl.

I like weird stuff and this is truly weird. But it's hard for even me to listen to the whole album straight through. I still laugh at the way he sings "me and my girl named Bimbo". That songs is my favorite on this album.

It's so crazy and weird that I can't dislike it for being weird

Wtf?

A lot of you have never accidentally recorded yourself having a nervous breakdown while on acid and IT SHOWS. All kidding aside I liked this a lot for the artistic experiment of it all. A mind melting mix of rock, country, bepop, avant-garde spoken word, and proto punk rock. I can see how this influenced a generation. I can also see why most people hate it. That being said, I’m not adding it to any playlists for summer block parties or anything.

Aïe aïe aïe jsuis pas capable d’en écouter plus que 15 minutes Je reviendrai

Basically unrateable. My view here is that you have to forget like or dislike, get or forget. It can't be reasoned with, it doesn't stop, it feels no pity. Whether you are there or not, it exists. Double album is too much, but 40 minutes is an audio equivalent of wild swimming. Bracing, a shock to the system and you return refreshed. 3 but could be 5, or 1.

Like a weird rip in space and time. Not sure what's going on but sounds eclectic for a 60s album

Je présume qu’il a influencé entre autres Tom Waits. Je suis sensible à l’aspect expérimental, qui sort du lot

Ja ja

Blues. Rock. Un poco experimental. Largo. Con altibajos.

It's all so much.

This entire album is completely unhinged….but I liked it

Fast and bulbous. I don't know. It kinda works with my ADD. I get why this is considered to be something you should hear, at least once. It is certainly something to hear, anyway. Pretty hard to digest. The songs were generally short, but definitely all over the map. I definitely don't "get it". Somehow, I still kinda liked it. I need a few more listens before I can really rate it, but we'l say 6/10 for now.

This was a tough listen. I need to revisit

Just because something purposefully sounds bad doesn't then make it good. If I were a musical publication and rating the album on its "importance" and impact to music as a whole, sure, rate this higher. Sometimes, experimentation or art for its own sake is worthwhile, and no doubt 'Trout Mask Replica' is a fascinating example of just that. I'll also acknowledge the musical and technical proficiency required to put together something like this - it sounds awful, but it's awfulness with a purpose. But wow, it's hard to listen to. 3 stars for its impact, as I acknowledge we wouldn't have music like Tom Waits if it wasn't for Beefheart.

Very challenging album, I know it’s meant to be purposely bad but some segments are downright unlistenable.

i know, but i don't know.

Far too many uses of the word 'bulbous'. This is an unhinged and fascinating record that sounds like a car crash through Tom Waits' nightmares, and veers from funny to harrowing in a split second. It's also way way too long - I was feeling a solid 4/5 for the first hour or so but it did drag towards the end unfortunately

It does offer some gritty and occasionally funky appeal if one can drop one's grudges against its considerable difficulties. One thinks of Beat happenings, and free jazz, and performance art, as much as pop or rock music. More than anything, it's indulgent, and its innovations and influence seems perhaps diluted as the influencees seem to have exceeded him in many ways. Worth knowing if its merits don't go down very easily.

So hard to listen to. Unbelievable story about the recording.

Het is wat wennen aan het genre. Het ligt me niet helemaal maar ik ben wel mee in de creativiteit

This is a difficult listen to be sure, but it's got some slappers in the mix there. Fast n bulbous.

This is a really tough one to rate, first half of the album I was wondering if I could listen to all of it, by the end I was kind of embracing its madness and enjoying what rhythmic music there was to enjoy - that said I do feel the second was more “musical” than the first. Was going to give a 2 but as I will defo listen again, purely out of curiosity, have gone one higher

Notoriously difficult listen, it's definitely interesting and it's obvious the influences it has had on musicians like Tom Waits. In terms of a casual listen though, it is not exactly a pleasant experience. I could see getting addicted to the chaos though with repeat listens.

Hard to listen to, but not impossible, and once you open your mind to what's going on, there's plenty to get from this album. It set a bar for how we gauge outsider music in the rock era and you can hear this album in all kinds of things that want to diverge from the usual.

Blues... Justo blues A lot of inprovisation

I know that this is an important and influential album and should definitely be included on this list; everyone should endure the experience at least once (like the album Free Jazz or The Shape of Jazz to Come). It's a creative and artistic expression, but just not one I like in the least. Its so fucking long and unless I knew the history that apparently these were extremely practiced songs, it sounds like someone gave instruments to complete novices, told them to play, and pressed record.

Unrateable

This is a grower. I really like the wacky vibe, the surreal lyrics, and of course the atonal jazz fusion instrumental. It's chaotic but simple, and I'm actually not a big fan of that. I like the distorted bluesy guitar sound mixed with the free ranging sax, but there are only a few tracks where it actually sounds incredible. On the plus side, nearly every song offers something unique and weird. But for most of the disordered mess, I often can't see much value. Maybe there is hidden under multiple focused listens, but most tracks seem to provide nothing exciting. Just something to say "huh that's a bit strange," sometimes you hear the same thing in other tracks and you swear it loses its novelty. I really did not like the spoken word tracks, but it did place me in an atmosphere I'd like to revisit while high. That being said, the opener and closer are by far the best tracks on the album, groovy and structured yet unsettling and unpredictable. Favorites: Frownland, Ella Guru, Moonlight on Vermont, Bill's Corpse, My Human Gets Me Blues, Sugar 'n Spikes, Veteran's Day Poppy

The music is as weird as the cover. It actually was quite interesting for a while, it took until half way through the 28 tracks before I lost interest. Surreal mixture of Jazz, with some blues structure at times and left field lyrics. I am unlikely to ever listen to this again, but it certainly was an experience and that justifies it being on this list.

Produced by Frank Zappa. Yes, it does have a Zappa-vibe to it for sure. Still getting aquatinted with it. It does get better with time…. 3/5

A little bit of nonsene is OK. I like the album cover.

The strangest album so far.

This annoying album cover haunts me. I seem to find multiple copies all the time when flipping through stuff; or I'm remembering wrong and I just see a copy on the wall all the time and I can't escape it. Either way, don't like it. The music itself was bizarre. Just enough enough to be interesting and not outright hate it, but I couldn't listen to it and not be doing something else at same time

Experimental até demais, não tem em streaming

I love Zappa and CB is often compared to Zappa, but this was a hard listen. 1.5

Not something for me but polyrythmic can sound nice if you excute it properly

Honestly not as awful as it is exhausting.

es un loco y un poco me quiro matar, pero de bizarro algo bueno tambien esta. nose.

No lo terminé. Muy buena tapa. Se nota el sonido de Frank Zappa. No me shockeó tanto porque el sonido me es familiar, pero banco la experimentación y sobre todo me gusta que haya temas cortos.

I have this on vinyl. I have tried so hard to like it. But it’s just awful. Giving it a 2 instead of a 1 out of respect for Frank Zappa.

Been waiting for this day - the subreddit has made this album famous. So famous that the last thing I expected was having to go to Youtube to find it via playlist. I'm not sure I found or listened to all of the songs but I heard enough. Does the album lack structure? Does it sound like it was made by a kid? Is it the worst thing I've heard on this list? Would I like to listen to it again? Yes, yes, no and no - in that order. Maybe my impressions were helped by low expectations set by reddit (I sort of expecting finger nails on chalkboard type stuff). But there is, for me, a certain charm here...it was sort of like listening to the seeds of something that could have become more but was stopped dead in its development tracks. I loved late 1980s David Letterman because he took the camera behind the scenes and you could see and feel how the show was made. I'm not saying I loved this album but it has a place and I can appreciate that. 2/5.

I have finally been blessed by the magic carp with its presence. Listen man, I can sort of get it. I listened to the whole thing, and I really tried to be ACTIVELY listening, not just using this as background noise. But my god, it still felt like noise for the majority of the time, it's redeeming quality is that sometimes this is downright hilarious to listen to. Sorry Captain Beefheart :(

They deliberately tried to make the most unlistenable album ever, and it’s still better than a lot of stuff on this list. Beefheart tells Zappa and Yoko, “Hold my beer.”

If you took all the weirdness of Waits (of whom I'm a big fan) and Zappa (not as much), mashed them together, turned up the bizarreness to 11, and then removed any of the actual musical skill and emotional weight they bring, you end up with something like this. I give it a 2 because it is weirdly compelling in places, and the sheer audacity of it is somewhat admirable. I think I would sooner re-listen to this than most of the Eno and techno stuff on this list. But I just can't go any higher than that for something this extremely weird and off-putting.

Some people clearly took too many drugs back in the day. Each to their own, but do they really have to impose their nonsense on others?

An extraordinarily strange and even harsh critics’ favourite. For its unique and uncompromising Anne garde approach it deserves a couple of stars, but nothing more.

Ça va être long et je sens que sydou va détester. Je comprends ce que ça fait dans la liste car c'est vraiment différent et fondateur donc ça sera pas un 1 mais bordel c'est chiant à écouter... Beaucoup de bruit et la voix de capitaine cœur de bœuf fait pas rêver du tout

Discordant nonsense

So I didn't hate ALL of it. In particular, some of the bluesy jams were perfectly inoffensive and occasionally fun, but when "perfectly inoffensive and occasionally fun" is as good as it gets, yikes, good luck. Dude locked the band in a house and psychologically abused them for months to make this? This?!? Rock sociopathy has given us a lot over the years (Siamese Dream, the later works of the Beatles, PRINCE) but this ain't worth it. I understand this must have been world-tilting in 1969, but it's 2026, I want to listen to something *good*. On the Wikipedia page for this, there's a comment from Matt Groening (?) that he hated it when he first listen, but that sometime around the fifth or sixth spin (!) it clicked and he loved it. For all I know that would be true for me too, but I doubt I have the patience to find out. I've tried to listen to Lulu too, and rightly concluded life is too short.

“Squid eating dough in a polythene bag is fast and bulbous!” - Captain Beefheart, Paucho Cadaver. This is like fricking crazy ahh album it’s almost as if they are just trying to shake up what industry with these weird sounds. For most of the album all of the instruments are playing against eachother. However for some moments you can get some really banger moments, one reason I love and respect Zappa. This is definitely one of his early works, where he is trying to put a message out there that he doesn’t really care. And he is just going to keep making music to prove people wrong about the rules of what music has to be to make it big. He is just doing what he loves not making any hit singles. It’s mad respectable and inspirational. Fish mask replica is a very strange album with very strange lyrics and very strange instruments. It’s just weird, but when you need a super weird album this will do it for you. If you’re driving your friends somewhere that you don’t wanna go, you can throw this on at any time and drive them insane. Fav song: she’s too much for my mirror it’s so like run it’s great

Huh?

2 stars

It's finally here. The album I've been expecting and dreading for the last 950 albums. And honestly? It's a heck of a lot better than I'd feared. Still bad, mind you, but not as bad as it could be. We start with Frownland. I see the vision. Beefheart and Zappa and co. achieve it nicely. Every instrument, including the vocals, uses a completely different tempo and key. It's hilarious, disjointed, glorious. I seriously doubt I'll have the patience for 78 minutes of this, but then I've been proven wrong before. The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back... just a little snippet of 1890s glory. From the "Oh! Susanna" days. It's quite literally just poorly recorded vocals. Then we're shoved back back into the land of the frenetic, with Dachau Blues (I'd rather go to Dachau myself than listen to that again.) Ella Guru is the closest we get to something conventional. But it still sounds entirely ahead of (separate from?) its time. Nothing else in the 60s sounds quite like this jumbled, yet surprisingly musically complex, mess. Hair Pie: Bake 1 brings me back to my jazz big-band days. You know, when everybody's honking their saxes, trying to out-Chameleon (Herbie Hancock) the others before the band director walks in? Sprinkle some Donna Lee (Charlie Parker) in there... I'm glad they added audio of something eating the title pie. Very important. After this point the tracks start to blend together. It doesn't help that I'm listening to a SoundCloud version that doesn't show which track is which, so I have to switch back and forth between it and the TMR Wikipedia page to try and calculate which track is playing at any given time. Pachuco Cadaver (I think?) is honestly really solid. I have to shout out the lyrics of the song Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish: "Meate rose and hairs / Meaty meate rose and hairs / Meaty dream wet meat / Limp damp rows / Peeled and felt fields and belts / Impaled on in daemon / Mucus mules / Twat trot / Tra-la tra-la tra-la tra-la tra-la". Incredible. I also have to shout out Old Fart At Play for being a news commentary detailing exactly what the title suggests, and nothing more. Per another reviewer: "You could give this a 5 for the sheer brass balls of releasing this on the public, but, really, it gets a 1 for being shit." Well, except that's not how averages work. The album is certainly shit, and Beefheart's balls are indeed brassy, but only a little bit (plenty of experimental music exists), so I'll give Ol' Beefy a 2 and a slap on the wrist. 2/5 Key tracks: Ella Guru, Hair Pie: Bake 1, Pachuco Cadaver, Hobo Chang Ba, Veterans Day Poppy

Every now and then there would be something I found enjoyable, but most of it not so much.

Link To Album:https://archive.org/details/captain-beefheart-and-his-magic-band-trout-mask-replica_202403

Uh wow… even going in knowing this was going to be a challenging listen, there was nothing that could have prepared me for it. I don’t hate it as there’s actually parts that I really liked, but there is just so much going on that I can’t focus on anything too closely which is the point I guess. Some instrumentals have some catchy parts and I can even get into Beefheart’s on some tracks, however that’s with caveat that for every few things I enjoyed there’s about 50 more pieces than completely confuse and disorientate me. Like halfway through I thought ‘I have to be close to done right?’ just for another 14 songs to be sitting in the queue. I can definitely see why this was influential especially at the time. Could not imagine how it was to hear this as it came out. I though do not plan to come back to this for a LONGGGGG time lmao.

Vamos allá. Llevo tanto tiempo sabiendo que llegaría este momento que no creo que esté a la altura de las expectativas (bajas) que tengo. Solo lo he encontrado en una lista de usuario de YouTube Music. Al final no ha sido para tanto. NO creo que lo vuelva a escuchar y no guardé nada, pero en mi vida creo que he escuchado cosas peores en especial alguna de esta lista de 1001 discos.

I'm displeased to learn there is another Captain Beefheart album on this list. Double Album. 79 minutes. FML

Would have decimated this but I read about the creation of this album and it's actually awesome

I understand they are important musically and culturally. I heard future echoes of Primus. The Residents were from the same school (or at least same school district) but the music seemed, somehow, happier? Trying to make music rather than anti-music. More power to the Captain (RIP) but I can’t, just can’t.

Cuenta una historia está interesante. Al principio tocan mal los instrumentos y se van sumando d a poco. Al final tocan bien. Es solo una canción

Art rock experimentation that confounds. Don Van Vliet pushes the boundaries and sometimes stumbles upon something interesting, but most of the time it’s just aimless.

I would give it 1 but honestly it was so out there and wild I just wanted to know what they were going to put on this album next. Kinda sounded like the Temu version of Tom Waits. 2.

Odd music, but far from the worst. That was my prevailing impression, just that it was odd. I could probably see myself appreciating it at some point, but it's not striking enough right now for me to continue.

vielleicht bin ich zu dumm und ignorant um es zu checken, hab es auch nicht ganz angehört aber es sind nur random geräusche, einmal hört es sich einfach nur an wie schreiende gänse... also whack

i completely understand the importance, talent, and difficulty of this album, but I am unfortunately not a music nerd so I do not understand the concept of 'polyrhythms' or sucking my own dick to feel smarter than the next person. This thing is actually OKAY once you get past Frownland, what an insane way to start an album. This certainly ain't no Throbbing Gristle levels of fucked, I would never listen to this again but I'm glad I can say I did. It took me all day to get through though lmao.

Complex for no reason and virtually incomprehensible. This is the kind of crap snobs like to reference to show that they are somehow superior because they understand this music while us mere mortals are repelled. I'm looking at you 5-star reviewers. The emperor has no clothes and he's overweight, hairy and ridiculous.

Difficult to get through & a real challenge to the listener, but the list was made for albums like this.

Ik voel het niet. Het doet me niets

Hard to vibe with this one. I was able to in little bits. But overall not an easy listen

Rock surrealism from Beefheart was certainly experimental and boundary pushing but somehow the songs just got left behind for me.

Can we stop having albums that aren't on streaming platforms? A sign that not everything complex and difficult is necessarily "good." The "Finnegan's Wake" of records. I have these neighbors who destroyed a perfectly good portion of their lawn to create a prairie garden. While they may understand that a prairie garden provides more biodiversity, they expended a lot of effort to make their yard look like garbage. This album is the musical equivalent of that: a lot of effort for a "what the f*ck are you doing?" response. This sounds like something I'd make up when I'm goofing around and want to annoy my family. I think I'll use it to wake my kids up from now on.

We used to be a proper country, with actual freaks. It wasn't as bad as I expected going in, but there was no way I was making it through the entire double album. Tuneful at moments, but gravelly vocals and noise for noise's sake combined for a rough listen.

What a strange album. It's nearly unlistenable, it's almost all unstructured noise and slam poetry vocals. Unsurprised to learn it was produced by Frank Zappa. I've heard a Captain Beefheart album on this list that was pretty good blues rock, I gave it a 4/5, so I know these guys can make good music, but this ain't it. There were one of two songs with minimal structure that had a little blues-something going on that will save this from the Hall of Shame, but there's not a lot to grab onto here. This is experimental rock in every sense of the word. 2/5

caos, no entendí pero me gustaron los sonidos.

**An ok album

Too weird but frownland rips

Sadly couldn’t listen on Spotify. Only copy was a very spotty you tube version

More Moonlight on Vermont, less Hair Pie. Genuinely struggled to finish this, but there's worse on this list. Like Kid Rock. Fuck 'im.

I did it! Not as tedious as some of the garbage I had to suffer through on this list, and at least they sound like shit on purpose. 2.5

Can’t find this anywhere but based on other reviews, looks like I’m not missing anything

Occasional offbeat blues sequences kept me from hating this as much as some other stuff on here but intentionally bad is still bad

This wasn’t for me

Et album jeg har set frem til og frygtet på en gang. Det er faktisk ikke helt så avantgarde som jeg havde troet. I sine gode øjeblikke minder det lidt om Tom Waits. Desværre er det som om Kaptajnen og hans magiske band har en dyb avation mod det melodiøse, og derfor forsøger at ødelægge det hver gang der. kunne opstå den mindste melodi. Nogle albums er lavet for lytterne. Det her virker som om det er lavet for musikerne selv. Det er uden tvivl vigtigt for musikhistorien. Men behageligt er det ikke. Jeg kunne kun finde en Youtube video af det med hvad der lyder som bops og huller i lyden. Det siger meget om det her album at jeg faktisk var i tvivl om det var fejl i afspilningen eller meningen at det skulle lyde sådan. Jeg er stadig ikke 100% sikker.

Absolute chaos, hated it wildly at first but found myself tapping my foot a couple of times when they deign to play instruments. Giving this an extra star from my initial review but pretty sure it's because I developed some kind of Stockholm Syndrome by the end.

Not sure how to put this listening experience into words… chaotic, felt attacked by the first track but then it calmed down a bit (just a bit though!)… two stars as I imagine there is a lot in the lyrics to explore - definitely heard reference to Dachau, blimps and spam…

Bruh am I trippin out over here.

No need for this album to be so wild. So many better Captain Beefheart albums where they at least mix in some actual tunes with the experimental stuff.....

completely strange -- glad i listened, but didn't get at all

There were moments

This is an album I’ve always planned to listen to. This is the second time, and the last. Hundreds of ideas but little coherence. Made harder by not being available on Spotify. I’m all for experimentation but as I get older I need melody

I do not get or enjoy this album. But I respect Beefhart and his "break everything" mindset for this album

Woof

A super funky band I don’t know how to think about it. It’s like a weirded slimy cheese, i’m not sure that I’d listen to this as often as the Soft Boys album from yesterday but Captain Beefheart did his thing. Had to split my listening between Youtube and Spotify.-GEMV (01.02.2026)

I really wanna like Captain Beefheart-and I do musically-but I really struggle with the vocals (2.5)

About what the album cover would suggest: wandering, rambling somewhat jazzy rock

First off, I couldn’t find this album anywhere. Best I could find were playlists people had assembled. So I don’t know how much like the original album it is. Second, I’ve listened to a fair amount of Beefheart but not this one. This one seemed like it was intentionally obnoxious.

5 star album cover (hell I have a mural with it included on my wall) 1.5 star album listening experience.

I like music that's a bit weird but this is absolutely beyond me. Occasionally it drifts into something that gets me interested but the vast majority is a slog to get through. I presume you need drugs to properly tap into whatever is going on.

It was okay not great. He sounded like a cool dude though

I finally got around to my relisten of this. The first time around I didn't think it was as bad as everyone says and gave it a 3. Once the novelty wears off its hard to excuse some of the more eccentric tracks on here. That said, I still don't think its as bad as everyone says; there are some really great moments on here that hark back to "Safe As Milk" which was an incredible blues rock album they released just two years prior to this one.

As someone who enjoys so much of what this influenced, it's a challenging listen to say the least. Does that mean it should have a "classic" rating? It's the classic album to point to if someone claims they "listen to everything" and you want to put that to the test, sure. But does it need to be in the same conversation as some of the best music ever made? I'm not sure I believe that to be true.

Fascinating and a little strange in a kinda nice way.

OK... Sometimes too much drugs IS too much drugs.

I had high hopes, having never heard the album and heard high praise from my music oriented friends. Should've known this is one of the most experimental albums out there, even the bloody producer is a big name. It's too weird, too all over the place and too many of those are places I don't especially like. Not for me.

Pretty chaotic, but unique and interesting for it's time.

какафония составляет примерно 80% альбома

Fast and bulbous vacillating oddness. Greatly grating occasionally endearing

This is in the top 10 weirdest things I've ever listened to in my life. Find the entire thing on Youtube.

Why is it that only the crazy people make 80 minute albums?

Its not music. But it did occasionally make me smile

🤨 The soundtrack to a clogged toilet

Meh ….

if i got £1 for every time an individual music critic got paid to write a review of this album for a reputable publication in which the critic would call this album a perfect masterpiece in the medium of music i would have four great british pounds. there's some good guitar and drum work on here, and the vocalist certainly sells what he's going for. but i don't have anything else good to say, gets a 2 for being bad & interesting rather than bad & boring. highlights when big joan sets up she's too much for my mirror veteran's day poppy ella guru pachuco cadaver

I was looking forward to this one initially after having heard about it on the Reddit page, and generally I like non traditional experimental music, but I do think this one may be pushing it a bit. Shouting abstract lyrics over the top of seemingly unorderly blues jams with strange keys and tonations is one way to make your music very technical/difficult, but also hard to enjoy…

so far only first 20 mins... not my thing, I think. Open to revisiting to see if I like it more sometime in the future, though.

Will always be a critics favourite due to insane stories attached to the recording of it. Always been too much for me this one.

In a nutshell: intentionally weird. Of course Frank Zappa was behind this 🙄 Just play it. Even if you skip tracks you don’t like, because how can you know what you don’t like if you don’t try listening to different shit? Overall: 3/10

Unsure how to rate this

Hello, where are you going

I guess this record is considered important within the lens of experimental rock. Sure, I can see that. I find it hard to trust people who consider this their FAVORITE record of all time, however. I won't deny that the personnel involved here were decorated musically and the fact that the composition pretty much stands on its own, but the "lol random" of it all doesn't automatically make this a masterpiece or anything. I see this as just a novelty and not much else, to be honest. The various squeaks from the sax are the only thing I'll remember from this.

An album that stubbornly refuses to end. There were a couple tracks that kept this from being 1*, but it was close. 1.5* rounding up.

i dont know man

I have tried to like this album for decades.

So hard to find this album. Found it on youtube I think and it was super funky. I was not a fan

145/1001 Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ If the previous entry was a bit too experimental for me, this was even more so. At an hour and 18, this was far too much. There are elements that I do like, but too few and far between...

Musically interesting. Tastefully - not for me

I think this one I couldn't find on streaming + didn't want to look for it on YT (so this is for me to go back & listen later, but more likely never)

Prioir to this day, my only two experiences with this album were: buying Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan, and looking at a picture of Frank Zappa sitting in a toilet in an old neighbours house. That's a convoluted and kind of biographical way to say that I had never heard this record before and, at best, my experience of it was pretty much tangential. At first, it's certainly challenging. It's weird in both charming and violent ways, defying conventions and tastes. The artists are no amateurs and you can tell that behind all the noise are tons of experienced musicians. I can appreciate all that and still not like the album. I don't like this album.

Tom Waits if he were actually drunk instead of just pretending to be.

#767. This is not the greatest Trout Mask in the world, this is just a replica. 2/5: wtf

Bad. But 2nd half is better than the 1st time I heard it.

Yeah I'm probably not gonna listen to this again but I have to give it credit for existing.

uhhh... It was.. something.

I tried. Couldn’t get through it. 2 stars.

Full disclosure, I only listened to part of this. Enough to conclude that it's worth two stars, in my own personal system, for its wild levels of rhythmic experimentation.

Favorite Track: Ella Guru

Hmm. Weird bluesy album. Not too bad but too much music that just sounded off.

Still don’t get it

Definitely anticipating this one. Found myself bopping along with the first few songs, but boy did it lose me by the end. Not the worst album on the list.

having a laugh! bold to release this publicly. most certainly shouldn't be on this list

Listening to this made me feel something. That something often felt like being poked in the eye but I’ll take that over the feeling of nothingness from a dozen other albums the generator has given me. Does this album belong on this list? Definitely. Every music nerd should listen to Trout Mask Replica before they die. Does that make it a good album? Absolutely not.

I love Zappa, but this a much harder listen that the usual Zappa stuff. I'm missing those virtuouso guitar and xylophone solos that became the jewel in later years...Middle of the road for me.

Frownland 3 The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back 1.3 Dachau Blues 2.8 Ella Guru 3 Hair Pie: Bake 1 (instrumental) 2.4 Moonlight on Vermont 2.8 Pachuco Cadaver 3 Bills Corpse 2.9 Sweet Sweet Bulbs 3 Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish 2.7 China Pig 2.8 My Human Gets Me Blues 2.6 Dali's Car (instrumental) 2.4 Hair Pie: Bake 2 (instrumental) 2.5 Pena 2.2 Well 2.4 When Big Joan Sets Up 3 Fallin' Ditch 2.5 Sugar 'n Spikes 2.3 Ant Man Bee 2.4 Orange Claw Hammer 1.8 Wild Life 2.4 She's Too Much for My Mirror 2.2 Hobo Chang Ba 1.8 The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica) 2.1 Steal Softly thru Snow 2.4 Old Fart at Play 2.4 Veteran's Day Poppy 2.8 Score: 2.496428571

Kinda grew on me by the end but just... Yeah never gonna be my favorite

Weird but not like in a fun way. I appreciate how eclectic it is, but aside from one or two bits of one or two songs (I recall a fun sequence of free-associated sort of words, and something about God not being allowed to play with dolls as as child), not really my thing. A lot of it is like a knockoff Tom Waits.

Not for me.

I knew this wasn’t on Spotify from before and I knew people are against Spotify I know, but it’s all I have and I’m not sitting through YouTube ads so I’m listening to a strange mix of demos studio versions and live versions mixed and recovered like it was an old episode of doctor who. Then I decided to switch to YouTube cuz I’m not a coward even though (as of now I’ve only heard side one) 2 adverts including 1 double advert popped up. The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back was much better on the live version I heard, Ik it’s just an acapella track but he had so much more charisma live. With the rest of the tracks Ella Guru was probably the toughest, it’s just so strange vocally. Moonlight in Vermont has quite a cool riff, but it lives among the chaos of this album perfectly. Hair pie 1 I was thinking- wow I can hear it probably inspired some post punk and later the gnarlienes of the holy bible- but comparatively that’s polished. (Trust me I will revisit it) current score 2/5

Unfortunately I was unable to find this streaming anywhere outside of a low quality youtube rip so I can't really speak to the quality of the production. But I can say this really wasn't for me at all. I get that this is supposed to be somewhat experimental avant rock but this was just... not good. Kinda felt like most of the people involved didn't know how to play their instruments or know how to sing. Maybe that's the point? But can't say I liked it.

Капитан велик, но альбом невыносим

Every now and again, a glimmer of genius emerges from the murk. A wonderful little hook, a guitar twiddle, a fragment of bassline. Sometimes even Beefheart himself sings with a bit of melody and you think 'maybe there's music here'. And then the aural terrorism returns. It was just so totally unnecessary to take all this musical talent and use it for evil. I refuse to accept that people enjoy this at face value rather than as an attempt to lord it over lesser listeners who just never had the musical or intellectual courage to 'get it'.

Well, that certainly was… something. During a time in music when people were singing about holding hands and electric guitars were still controversial, this band was like, “How about some schizophrenic math-rock and abrasive gypsy vocals?” Thanks! It’s very well crafted and deserves respect. I hate it.

Weird

Sure, I get it. Be intentionally weird and annoying. We used to do this in high school. It's fun and funny, and you get to feel like your smarter than the normies. As an adult, I'm not going to spend my time listening to it again, but I get it. At least it's interesting enough to not be 1-star. What is interesting though is the obvious influence on Tom Waits. Waits clearly took a lot of these same sounds and styles into his own music. The difference is that Waits was able to find the balance where its actually listenable.

Simply not for me. Some parts were relatively enjoyable, but the moment you begin to ease in, a cacophony of incoherent noises disturb your peace. The polyrhythms and polytones and all that wankfest doesn't justify calling this music. Its only saving grace is the creative risk it took - pity points for that.

Could only listen to the one song. This a a band I would want to see live but can't listen to recorded. The song was full of energy for sure but was all over the place.

When i was in high school, i remember stumbling upon this album in a Barnes and Noble and being immediately intrigued. I couldn't afford to buy it, but when I went home, my sister and i read about Captain Beefheart's whole life story and how meticulously planned every note on this album is even though it sounds random and everything was so weird and interesting, i told myself "I'm about to listen to this and make it my WHOLE personality" so i downloaded it and started listening and i wasn't disappointed in the music, i was disappointed in MYSELF. I wasn't cool enough or weird enough to enjoy this album. So i was hopeful that now after so much time and experience I'd grown enough to hear what i couldn't hear before and it's still a no for me. I appreciate what it took to make this album and i love that there's space in people's hearts for something this unique and experimental but i don't have what it takes to listen to it. I'm giving myself 2 stars

National Anthem by Radiohead from the record Amnesiac has arguably the greatest outro of any Radiohead song and therefore arguably the greatest outro of all songs. It’s a crescendo of cacophony and controlled chaos. For every sound you hear there is another sounds waiting to be discovered. It’s beautiful and I will listen to the whole record just to reach that moment. This album is not that. BUT. I feel like Beefheart would listen to it while painting and tip his cap to it.

It might be a masterpiece, or it might be one of the most abrasive albums I've ever heard - not easy on the ears: but there's undeniably something going on here.

From the YouTube comments: "I have never experienced such a strong desire to keep listening and stop listening at the same time." Indeed. Sonically unpleasant, but it oddly and often piqued my ADHD-addled ears. I'd love to watch a documentary about this album, but I won't be tripping over myself to listen to it again anytime soon.

2.2

This is like the more non sequetor bits of Firesign Theater and/or Monty Python filtered through a Frank Zappa *Freak Out* experimental vibe. In done ways I get it.. But just because I get it doesn't mean I have to like it I must say the chordal choices of this album are both intriging and disjointed. Definitely this is in "three make jazz" theory of music. Again I think I get it, even if I don't like it. A constant theme of this listening experience. (Experience is a good word for this) I have a sneaky feeling this may be one of those albums that will hit me one day. This is not the day. "Hair Pie (Bake 1)", "China Pig", and "Ant Man Bee" I noted as tracks I actually enjoyed. Still... 78 min orchestrated chaos it a bit much for me to ingest. And side 4 feels a bit less orginized than the first three. I'm keeping it at two stars... But much higher two stars than last time. (4.8) ★★

É um álbum que eu nunca mais vou ouvir, mas nunca mais vou esquecer.

How many different words can you jam into a double record?

Absolute madness.

2.5

Experimentalismo experimental que experimenta. Interessante. CVJ Neko.

If you told me Yoko Ono was this bands manager I would believe you.

2 stars only because I recognize the influence, but otherwise I found this unlistenable.

2.0 Story time. I was introduced to this album quite young (and haven't heard it since) - in year 9 or 10 we were chatting about favourite albums in class (I'm guessing I said either Enema or the state or Take of your pants and jacket), and my maths teacher said this was his. Went home and asked my dad if we had Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart. Should have seen his face. Turns out he did have it, on an old LP. We put it on and it took about 3 minutes to realise my maths teacher was taking the piss out of us. Looking back, there is a 90% chance that was the case, or a 10% chance he would drop acid every weekend and put on some avant-garde classics. Anyway, this experimental Avant Garde is to me the Mark Rothko equivalent of music. It's mostly shite, anyone without talent could pick up an instrument and produce something of similar quality, but yet it still exists and sells well. People pretend to enjoy and find something deep and meaningful in it, but deep down they know they're just pretentious bellends. The only thing that saves this from being a 1* on here is that surely this was the first example of this type of album, so you have to give them credit for that. What should have happened afterwards though was people said "that was interesting but the human species only needs one of them during its existence". Sadly it didn't pan out that way.

Great DJ, so-so lyrics

A lot of chaos and god, the brass... but there's a few decent sounding songs. My favourite was Steal Softly Thru Snow.

Im sure it sounded better in the 70's

Obviously this is intended to be a little obtuse. I think on a different day I may have liked it more, but this was not that day

Feels like I’m having a stroke while high

Sounds *exactly* like an album where the songs were composed one or two bars at a time and stitched together Frankenstein-style. Shifts gears within the songs faster than any prog band would ever dare. The net result is that there are barely any grooves or hooks to latch onto, because before the band can settle into any pattern, they've already moved onto something else. (The big exception here is album closer "Veteran's Day Poppy", with its repeating guitar figures - it's the least abstract and most effective cut on the album, made even more so because of its brutal lyrics.) This album is admirable in its intent and execution, but not particularly entertaining to listen to.

Oh man, this song has a reputation surrounding it. Looking forward to hearing it! I love how immediately, 0.01 seconds into the first song, it sounds like they threw a bunch of musical instruments down a set of stairs, and that insanity doesnt let up....at all.... I can see how Tom Waits probably sweated this guy pretty hard. A lot of similarities. The Captain is just a lot more "out there" Apparently with the song China Pig, they decided to play it outside of the recording room where the microphones were, hence why it sounds like it's being played a mile away.....because it was lolol Overall, that was a wild album! It certainly lived up to its expectations! Fell off a bit at the end there with subsets of songs that felt unfinished, but I can see how Beefheart was trying to change the format of blues rock by injecting jazz into it. Not something I would listen to often, or probably ever again, but interesting album nonetheless Favorite songs: China Pig, Moonlight on Vermont, Dachau Blues, Pachuco Cadaver, My Human Gets Me Blues Least favorite songs: "Hair Pie: Bake 1", Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish 2/5

I will admit that this album grew on me over time, but this was a bit too long and chaotic. Started off as a 1 star, was one of the worst I ever heard and then it finished off as 2 stars

The one song of this album that was available was enough for me. I don’t know why, because I love so many artists that you can draw a straight line to from Captain Beefheart, but this was never a band that I could get into. So points for influence, but I won’t be listening to this group again until their next album pops up on this list.

I usually enjoy experimental music, and I appreciate its value as a force for innovation. However, not all experiments are successful. Sometimes their value lies not in themselves, but in what they opened the door to – which doesn’t mean they’re interesting to listen to. For me, this album falls in that this category. It may have had an impact on many musicians, but it feels too raw and transitionnal, and I find it really hard to listen to. The 60s were full of weird experiments ; some of them were even weirder than this album, and yet remain much more enjoyable to listen. Ummagumma came out the same year, and it’s infinitely stranger – and yet more haunting – than this. My main gripe is probably that the singer has a terrible, terrible voice. It’s harsh and grating and it got on my nerve so much that I had a hard time listening all the way through. I would maybe have liked it better if it had been an instrumental album. My knee-jerk reaction was to rate it a 1*, but after reflecting on it I'll still add an extra star for its sheer uncompromising madness. Despite being almost unlistenable, it's still more interesting than the heaps of radio-friendly, vanilla pop we got on this list. 3/10

This was a hard listen given the combo of random musical approach and then it getting stuck in a loop and repeating endless parts of the song. For some songs I’d get into in because there was an interesting give and then it would repeat endlessly to the point of really tired and don’t want to hear it ever again. It got 2 stars because scattered in the mix there were a few catchy riffs then it would get ruined by a bizarre shift into noise or endless repeat. No standouts at all.

I understand that this has a place for uniqueness but I legitimately struggled to find any kind of joy in this. The notes and how discordant it was, gave me a headache and made it very difficult to have it on without constant attention. That being said, because it's so different I will have to give it a couple stars just because I honestly have never heard anything like this before.

Oh dear lord I’m not sure what this is supposed to be, but what it ISN’T is BORING! Mix of blues, cacophony, chanting, what seems to be off-the-cuff ramblings of an institutional escapee… there HAD to be copious amounts of drugs involved in the making of this. I listened to the entire thing. The lyrics did make me laugh at times. I would never give anything this bodacious only one star, but it also isn’t going to get more than two!

To get the full effects of this you would need to be on stimulants. There are interesting bits but a lot of quirky nonsense to wade through. A cult act enjoyed by a lot of cults I expect. I hope one day to catch up to how great a lot of beefheart fans think this album is. Its not today though.

Well this was certainly an experience. There is a lot of technical skill to play like they do, but the arrangements sound awful. The lyrics are nonsensical and weird and I know that's the point and it for sure takes cajones to make something like this and release it, but that doesn't make it good or a masterpiece. Only art critics who have sticks up their butts would listen to this and find it pleasant or profound.

WHY, WHY, WHYYYYYYYY is this taking up space on this list?????? the most "interesting" thing about this rambling mess of sound & noise is the album cover.

Couldn't listen to on Spotify, can't find it anywhere.

…I think I need to go lie down. I barely have the words to even describe this album, it’s incomprehensible. I haven’t seen anything like this throughout all the albums I’ve listened to, an experimental album, which felt like the longest hour and eighteen minutes of my life. Literally everything about this album felt fine tailored to make you lose your sanity. The vocals felt sounded like an old hillbilly being dragged down a gravel road behind a truck. The music would sound passable sometimes, and then sound like a fight between overly territorial turkeys on the next song. But, in all seriousness, it’s hard to rate an album like this because although it sounds bad, it’s the sound that they were setting out to achieve, so does that make it good? Or is the album bad simply because it sounds bad? I think that’s a philosophical debate for another time, so all I have left to say to those going to listen to this album is, good luck, and you’ll never be the same…

I love some albums because of their attention to detail and the musicianship of the members; bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Others because of the raw output, musical knowledge be damned; like Slayer. This goes so far to the detail that it wraps around to being devoid of music theory. When I first put this album on, the only thought running through my mind was "what the actual fuck am I listening to", and I don't think I've ever had as visceral a reaction listening to anything else before this. I understand that the atonal, polyrythmic style that dominated this album was intentional, I don't care. This album sounds like if you described jazz to someone completely unfamiliar with music. Some of the tracks like Pachuco Cadaver have some groove to them and sound kinda good, but good lord I can't for the life of me stand 95% of the tracks. I adore Frank Zappa to the utmost degree, but I don't understand what the hell he was thinking while producing this album. Maybe interesting to the right people, I am not one of them.

more than anything, this should show how I feel about that shitty def leppard album. This is at least interesting. Also kind of awful

Too out there for me.

Did your teachers ever say "you cannot get a 0% on this test, because that would require you to know all the answers and purposely get them wrong?" I don't know music theory, but I felt like that was the case while listening to this. Whether or not it was meant to sound like this is rather irrelevant to my opinion--if I thought it sounded good regardless of intent, it would get a better score. However, one thing I almost never felt was boredom, and that makes this album avoid the dreaded one-star rating.

Seems to me they go out of their way to be truly unusual

I had to listen to a playlist of the same name on Spotify so i'm not sure it was the actual album. I kept waiting for the intro and goofing around to stop and the album part to begin. Maybe if I was in a band or high I'd get it?

Lots of talk on here about Matt Groening of The Simpsons saying it's his favourite album. Well, I love the Simpsons but I can't go on and say it'll be mine. I do respect the ambition and its uniqueness. But sometimes, being weird for weirdness sake isn't necessarily a good thing.

I need a t-shirt that says: I survived Captain Beefheart! Thankfully this is not a list of 1001 albums you need to hear on repeat. Glad to have heard it, glad to not need to hear it again.

⭐️⭐️/5. Would love to come back and give this another listen and try to see what everyone is seeing, but I am such a rhythm and beat person that free, experimental jazz like this is a hard lesson. Loved the story of them playing it exactly like this in concert tho - that’s musicianship.

1.5 It’s not without moments of enjoyment. There are tuneful, fun bits. There really are. But it’s also between all the aggressive, intentionally bad soundscapes and annoying structures and it’s all almost 90 minutes. It’s one of those things where I can respect that someone had to do it to push the genre further. But I don’t have to enjoy it as a listening experience.

Usually I like weird stuff but this one straight up made me so anxious I couldn’t finish it. Giving it a two cause I respect what it’s doing

i looked at the reviews and its either a 1 or 5 for the most part. People who are giving this 5 are just being pretentious and trying to appear edgy. This is as bad as Red Hot chilli peppers and that got a 2 - so a 2 it is. Not one song stopped me and make me go..ohh thats interesting. for the most part it was unbearable. In Fact, I stopped about 3/4 of the way through

Loved the instrumentos of air

Pop pop pop music! This is something else, it's complete shit but always gets high praise from hipster assholes! It's a noisy mess! I'm sure when I was an edgy 14 year old I'd tell you this was the shit, now it's fucking noise

The low-point of a bad acid trip. This album redefines the term 'cacophony' Tho there are some good explanations on Wikipedia if you read the production notes. • Recorded partly in a commune-like house where the 'magic band' lived. • Atmosphere was similar to the Manson cult. • Mandated worship of Captain Beefheart, (Don Glen Vliet) who had been diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia. • Ate nothing for 8-months. • Each member was berated for days until they cried and submitted to the Beefheart. • Beefheart composed 70% of the album on piano, an instrument that he didn't know how to play. ... and the kicker of all of that is the band was forced to 'practice' for 14 hours a day. WTF? You practice for 14 hours a day and produce this? But perhaps the most telling is that this album was produced by Frank Zappa. So, if you find the Mothers of Invention and Zappa entertaining, you're gonna love this. Extra star for experimentation.

Punctuation is important. My 1001 comrade encouraged Captain Beefheart to "experiment on my friends." I think he meant "experiment on, my friends." At least I hope so. Because I don't want Captain Beefheart or his Magic Band to experiment on me. "Trout Mask Replica" was more than enough already, thank you.

I really don’t know what to make of this, which I would imagine is the point. I actually find it less insufferable than Zappa and the Mothers, so that’s a plus. Two stars. Don’t think I’ll be returning to this one. Life’s too short to force myself to listen to something multiple times in the hope that I may grow to love it when there is so much great music out there to discover and enjoy

Damn… They really must have taken some seriously hard and illegal stuff to come up with something like that. I understand this is a very technical work but “Dali’s Car” and those a capella vocal horn noises are still hurting me too bad. In an attempt to stay mentally safe, I didn’t go through the whole 80’ of this trip. 2 stars just for the experience of listening something really unconventional which sounds like the thoughts of a drugged schizophrenic mind.

I'm being kind giving it a 2. I'm primarily giving it a two because it at least is an original idea. But there's also a reason this is uncommon

It was experimental but all kind of fell flat.

Niet echt mijn ding

at least when my generation took too many drugs and made unlistenable music you could dance to it

kind of confused

Couldn’t find on Spotify?

1.78

I get why this is on there just not for me

Was isch dänn das? Wells so schräg isch gits äs 2

I’m giving this two instead of 1 because it made me laugh. Didn’t need to hear this before I die though.

This is pretty chaotic. They worked very hard at making this sound as bad as possible. Well...that was different.

Well that was interesting. This is not on Apple Music, so I had to go to YouTube. The comment section alone was high quality entertainment. I’ve heard noise rock more atonal than this but this is still a challenge. Comparable to Frank Zappa, this is still far better than his bullshit. I like to think that this is one of those albums that you have to listen to many times through then suddenly it clicks and becomes one of the best albums ever made, much like In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel was for me. Still, right now, it’s a mess.

Average queen album. Listenable but nothing outstanding about it . Would prefer a more dramatic presentation

I kinda enjoyed the bits where there were lots of instruments randomly making noises (apparently they're polyrythms) but I did not like that guy's voice

Love the musicians. The vocals are just okay.

You know, despite this album being notoriously bad, I didn't 100% hate it. In fact, I think it gets into 2 territory.

слишком авангард для меня, простите

YouTube started playing an Alka-Seltzer ad halfway through and I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be part of the album or not.

In the midst of all the rambling vocals and odd music are a few snippets worth listening too. 2 stars or D-.

Seems to come from the throw-everything-at-it-and-see-what-sticks school of composition. While I’m not against that I can’t get on board with this particular sound.

OK.

Did not listen

Captain Beeffheart just isn't for me. i understand it's technically accomplished but I just can't do it man

That one guy in the corner shouting obscenities and giggling whilst everyone else tries really fucking hard to pretend they don't exist. Usually that guy is me. When I drink I think I'm funny. That time it was Captain Beefheart. But he wasn't drunk and he roped a load of impoverished musicians in and made them repeat his crazed shit over and over, and he wasn't drunk (at least not all the time) and it went on for hours. All the squares in the bar had never seen a guy giggling and shouting like this before and eventually they looked over and asked each other what the heck was going on. And then they gathered around to see if they could figure him out, but they couldn't. I kind of agree this is an album to listen to before you die, but that doesn't make it good. One of his musicians started crying.

I'm incredibly torn with this one, I think it's the most I've had to say for any album so far. I can always appreciate art that pushes the boundaries and tries something new, and nobody could claim this isn't original. On the other hand, I don't see myself ever willingly wanting to listen to this album again. I appreciate that the way each instrument plays in a different time signature is extraordinarily difficult to pull off, that doesn't change that it often sounds fucking dreadful. This sometimes sounds like individual tracks from different songs smashed together into an incoherent mess. The prime example is Frownland, though to be fair, it probably skews perception being the opening track, and it's rarely that incoherent again. That's not to say it isn't an issue again; as another example, Pena is just horrible. Just complete nonsense. There are moments where I can hear a good track buried, like Dachau Blues or Hair Pie Bake One, but it's lost in a sea of complete nonsense (though to be fair, I found it quite funny that they just buried what sounded like a decent, normal song with erratic screeching on the latter) There are a few songs I can somewhat appreciate. Sugar and Spike and Ant Man Bee are sort of good, they still have the ramshackle feel but it kind of works on those. The closest I'll get to actually liking anything is Moonlight on Vernont and Ella Guru, though I can't really put my finger on why they stand out compared to the rest Beefheart's vocals just become exhausting eventually as well, he does show he can actually kind of sing at various points throughout, but it's frequently grating. I admittedly skipped Orange Claw Hammer, just got so sick of his gibberish The length is also totally unnecessary. I went in with pretty negative preconceptions, actually found myself somewhat appreciating it, if not enjoying it, but felt like it was never going to end and I started hating it again. Maybe it was intended to be some kind of endurance test I think I can see why some would enjoy this, maybe in an ironic way and/or out of awe of the utter insanity (I love The Shaggs, for example). I will say I get why it's on this list, and it's earned its place over several other albums I've listened to so far. I know that many say you have to listen several times before it starts to click, maybe I'll do that in the future Highlights: Moonlight on Vermont, Ella Guru

Säkert genialiskt, men lite för udda för min smak. 4/10

This could have been a 4 minute song

Album 1041/1089 Ah yes, my old friend Trout Man. I first came across you, years ago, flipping through my aunt and uncle’s copy of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums. How your colourful, surrealist cover intrigued me at the time. I tried listening to you once, and failed. I will not fail again Edit: Trout Mask Replica has been listened to in full. First, before I comb the reviews to find someone else’s opinion to base my review off of (:p), I recall one of yehs* pointing out how incredibly loud the vocals are in comparison to the instrumental, and it became increasingly frustrating the longer the album went on (perhaps reaching a head at the a capella “Orange Claw Hammer”) I do subscribe to the notion that a future listen (or listens) can be a wholly different experience- kinda like MBV’s Loveless, where there’s so much going on that your brain focuses on different elements each time. However, I can't go back and report on that. I'm not... strong enough. It seems that Captain Trout Man has once again won this round. *Found it, it was actually a Fantano vid on TMR I watched a while ago, and now watched again tonight to be sure.

I am glad I listened to this album, as it is quite an experience. But I don't think that I would ever or will ever do it again. There was never a point were I wanted to turn it off, unlike some other albums I've listened to.

Quite an interesting and peculiar album, not necessarily nice to listen to, but I can tell that there is some ambition behind it. Also it is cool that albums like this could be done at all.

had my eyebrows lifted the whole time while listening to it.

A very strange record. Most songs just sound like sketches like they are not finished yet. I had better records here.

Had to listen to this on YouTube. What a weird album. I overall didn’t like it, but there were certain moments that stuck out to me as good or clever. Mostly, not something I enjoyed.

Well I guess I knowwhere Tom Waits got the idea to sing like that from. Lots of stuff said about this but at over an hour and twenty minutes long, if it really has got this hidden depth you can glean from it after multiple listens that's simply asking too much of the modern man's time.

I'm convinced this album is just a prank because otherwise it doesn't make sense.

strange

There’s so much crap here, but it has moments where it starts to coalesce into something worth listening to before degrading back to utter nonsense.