rushgoober Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 Here's a review I posted on Amazon about this album about 6 years ago: "I first heard of Captain Beefheart somehow in reading about late 60's music. I saw his first album "Safe as Milk" in the cutout cassette tape section of my local music store for 3 or 4 bucks and brought it home. Upon listening, my reaction was that it was the most obnoxious obscene piece of crap I ever heard. I actually found it offensive! Rarely have I had such a forceful reaction to a piece of music. A few days later (a week? a month?), I thought, well, let me give it another shot before I sell it. Oh my God, it was brilliant. The only other time I had such a dramatic negative reaction to an album and then on second listen or refleciton realized it was a work of genius was with Last Exit's "Iron Path." Quickly I rounded up the rest of early Beefheart's work, and of course I fell in love with the deeply strange (and boy is it different from "Safe As Milk") "Trout Mask Replica." This is truly one of the most unique pieces of music ever recorded and I must admit it had to grow on me. It was quite some time before I could listen to the whole thing at one sitting, but time has been kind to me and to this album. It's still as freshly invigorating as it was 30 years ago. It doesn't fit the times now, but then again it didn't fit the times then. This album just doesn't fit, and thank God! Popular music would have been a little sadder than it is now if this bizarre piece of beauty never emerged. And I do admit it's not for everybody, God it just couldn't be, but if you're an adventurous heartly soul, you're gonna be amazed..." This is a very unusual album in many respects. First of all, if you go to Amazon or a site where people review albums, you'll never come across another album with more five-star ratings along zero-star ratings - people love it or passionately hate it. Another interesting factor is how many times (to the point of absurdity) you come across people tell the story that they didn't like it or were puzzled by it at first and it took awhile to grow on them, but now they think it's one of the best albums ever! This is not an album like any you've ever heard before - a double album made in 1969 and produced by Frank Zappa. It even shows up on a lot of critics best of all time lists and is considered very influential in some circles. The Captain (Don Van Vilet) supposedly has a five-octave range singing voice, and sings in this very deep voice that's very powerful and intense - the music is very atonal and almost chaotic sounding until you realize that it actually has a LOT of structure - there are regular insturments being used - drums, guitar, bass, even clarinet and saxophone occasionally, but done in a way that breaks the boundaries of what these instruments are usually designed to do and what rock music is usually supposed to sound like. The lyrics are very poetic and strange. Some people call the album psychedelic, but really it's avant-garde. So, is anyone else a fan? Anyone heard it? Anyone love it? Hate it? There is rarely an in-between... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Gomez Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 (edited) Edited August 16, 2005 by Dr.Gomez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustard Death Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 I downloaded those two free MP3's from TMR... and they're great! I tried to find the album a couple of days ago, but Best Buy didn't have it... >_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted August 17, 2005 Author Share Posted August 17, 2005 lemme know if you manage to come across it and buy it MD. listening to the whole thing is an experience, to say the least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Grizz Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 I've heard of this album before. It is highly acclaimed. I will put it on my list to acquire. Thanks, Goober. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oberon Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 Oh crap. Yes I did hear it. Many times. I still haven't got around to liking it. Weird stuff. Weird, weird stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted August 17, 2005 Author Share Posted August 17, 2005 QUOTE (Oberon @ Aug 16 2005, 10:31 PM) Oh crap. Yes I did hear it. Many times. I still haven't got around to liking it. Weird stuff. Weird, weird stuff. it's one of those albums that has to grow on most people, and you might have to put it aside for periods of time to see if that can happen - for some it's faster than others, and for some, they'll never manage. even once i grew to really like it, i still couldn't listen to the entire thing in one sitting for awhile, but now i have many times - an album i had to be more persistent with than most, but WELL worth the effort... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 I've heard many of Captain Beefheart's "music." He is very unique musican indeed. Trout Mask Replica may sound like a monkey slamming a guitar against a screaming cat but nothing else sounds quite like it. I would say his best album would be Clear Spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 Thought I'd bump this thread and see if I could find anyone else who is a fan of this amazing and weird as f*ck album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In A Tidewater Surge Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Listened to Trout Mask Replica for the first time a week ago or so. Couldn't stand it at first. Now I've come to adore roughly half the album, though the other half still annoys the hell out of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I much prefer Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) and Doc At The Radar Station. And I emphasize MUCH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 (edited) QUOTE (In A Tidewater Surge @ Jan 1 2011, 09:51 PM) Listened to Trout Mask Replica for the first time a week ago or so. Couldn't stand it at first. Now I've come to adore roughly half the album, though the other half still annoys the hell out of me. That's pretty fast to get into this album. Keep with it and I bet you'll love the other half too. You might have to start spacing out listens though for days, weeks or even months, but I bet it'll happen. Oddly enough, once I listened to his subsequent album, "Lick off My Decals, Baby," I appreciated TMR even more. Why? Because Lick Off My Decals, Baby sounded like an attempt to recreate the Trout Mask Replica magic, but ended up coming off too slick and polished and like it was trying too hard next to the raw, spontaneous feel of Trout Mask Replica. Really, there is no album like it by anyone ever, not even Captain Beefheart himself. Edited January 2, 2011 by rushgoober Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micgtr71 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jan 2 2011, 08:25 AM) QUOTE (In A Tidewater Surge @ Jan 1 2011, 09:51 PM) Listened to Trout Mask Replica for the first time a week ago or so. Couldn't stand it at first. Now I've come to adore roughly half the album, though the other half still annoys the hell out of me. That's pretty fast to get into this album. Keep with it and I bet you'll love the other half too. You might have to start spacing out listens though for days, weeks or even months, but I bet it'll happen. Oddly enough, once I listened to his subsequent album, "Lick off My Decals, Baby," I appreciated TMR even more. Why? Because Lick Off My Decals, Baby sounded like an attempt to recreate the Trout Mask Replica magic, but ended up coming off too slick and polished and like it was trying too hard next to the raw, spontaneous feel of Trout Mask Replica. Really, there is no album like it by anyone ever, not even Captain Beefheart himself. Agreed. The first time that I heard this I was young and thought that it might be a joke. It was the eighties and pop and polish were in and the prog I was into was solid and well written/executed. My friend said that he had found an album by the guy that was on the Zappa records. We popped it on and promptly cleared the record store that we worked in. The owner said not to play it again. We started to play it at night around closing time and I found myself starting to enjoy some of it. Can't say that I listen to it often, but I respect it and can find moments of brilliance within. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 (edited) QUOTE (micgtr71 @ Jan 2 2011, 06:43 AM)We popped it on and promptly cleared the record store that we worked in. There are very few albums I can think of that are well loved by many that very few initially love and truly take time to be appreciated. The only other one that springs to mind is Tales from Topographic Oceans, but oddly those two are in my top ten albums of all time. Some albums can be easily loved and admired by millions immediately, and others are simply acquired tastes... Edited January 2, 2011 by rushgoober Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micgtr71 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jan 2 2011, 01:22 PM) QUOTE (micgtr71 @ Jan 2 2011, 06:43 AM)We popped it on and promptly cleared the record store that we worked in. There are very few albums I can think of that are well loved by many that very few initially love and truly take time to be appreciated. The only other one that springs to mind is Tales from Topographic Oceans, but oddly those two are in my top ten albums of all time. Some albums can be easily loved and admired by millions immediately, and others are simply acquired tastes... Tales is one of my favorites as well. We used to put that on late before closing and inevitably there would be one guy who would look up from the used lps and sound a barbaric yawp in appreciation. Mostly people would ignore it. We had so much fun back then. I miss the record store atmosphere. When I saw High Fidelity I was very nostalgic for those times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rush! Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I actually enjoyed around half the album on my first listen...which was about 2 or 3 years ago. His other work is also great... Although I listened to Unconditionally Guaranteed and Bluejeans & Moonbeams the other day...not impressed with those at all. Even the Captain himself rejects those two. I'd probably rank his work like this: 1. Trout Mask Replica 2. Lick My Decals Off, Baby 3. Ice Cream for Crow 4. Safe as Milk 5. Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) 6. Doc at the Radar Station 7. Strictly Personal 8. The Spotlight Kid 9. Clear Spot 10. Unconditionally Guaranteed 11. Bluejeans & Moonbeams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchetaxe&saw Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Mad, mad album. That's a good thing. Safe As Milk is my favourite though. Yes, Bluejeans and Moonbeams is bloody horrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted January 3, 2011 Author Share Posted January 3, 2011 QUOTE (Rush! @ Jan 2 2011, 11:42 PM) I actually enjoyed around half the album on my first listen...which was about 2 or 3 years ago. His other work is also great... Although I listened to Unconditionally Guaranteed and Bluejeans & Moonbeams the other day...not impressed with those at all. Even the Captain himself rejects those two. I'd probably rank his work like this: 1. Trout Mask Replica 2. Lick My Decals Off, Baby 3. Ice Cream for Crow 4. Safe as Milk 5. Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) 6. Doc at the Radar Station 7. Strictly Personal 8. The Spotlight Kid 9. Clear Spot 10. Unconditionally Guaranteed 11. Bluejeans & Moonbeams I only really know his early stuff. I had Unconditionally Guaranteed many years ago and heard it once or twice, but don't remember it well, and I don't remember it being very good. Of the ones I have: 1. Trout Mask Replica 2. Safe As Milk 3. Strictly Personal 4. Mirror Man 5. Clear Spot 6. Lick My Decals Off, Baby 7. The Spotlight Kid Eventually I'll pick up his last 3 albums from 78-82... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silas Lang Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 QUOTE (micgtr71 @ Jan 2 2011, 08:43 AM)The first time that I heard this I was young and thought that it might be a joke. This is my theory; the fact that Zappa produced it would support that. Maybe my tastes are too mainstream but I find it to be largely unmusical. I used to own this actually. My usual process with newly acquired albums is to give them 1 or 2 listens per week for a month. That gives me time to get a good familiarity with the music to decide whether to keep it or not. Supposedly the "brilliance" of this album reveals itself after 100 listens...with 95 to go, I gave up. Perhaps my mistake was making this my first exposure to Beefheart. However, I have since listened via youtube to his other stuff and TMR again...and, for me, it's still a no-go. And I do get it. Musically it's a horrible, noisy mess with awful "vocals" and lyrics that appear to be total nonsense. The very definition of unlistenable. As a double album, it's simply agonizing overkill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imaginos Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 (edited) Edited January 5, 2011 by rushgoober Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rush! Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I just realized that my favorite section of music on the whole record is the drum solo from 1:54-2:06 in Sugar 'n Spikes. I might be partially biased since I'm a drummer but that little drum solo is one of the best things I've ever heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 I've been listening to this album like crazy recently. Damn, this is one atonal, convoluted, twisted masterpiece. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas King Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 I heard this album today and I really don't know whether I like it or not. I have mixed feelings about that album. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaportrailer Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 I heard this album today and I really don't know whether I like it or not. I have mixed feelings about that album. There's some great stuff in there. Sugar n Spikes is pretty fun, as is Veteran's Day Poppy and the spoken word bits. Moonlight on Vermont is pretty rockin' too. When you want to have your mind blown, check out some of the rehearsal tapes. The band is playing the exact same stuff the exact same way.Although uncredited on the album (because the Captain was being a total dick at the time), John "Drumbo" French played drums and did most of the musical arrangements.He would transcribe Don's piano parts and figure out where they would work best and how to fit them together. "You know what to do", the good Captain would tell him. :oAt first blush it seems like a load a shit/noise, but there is method to this madness. Have fun with it! You might enjoy these - or not! :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObNDoR36v0E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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