Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica

[cliff]

So, I am reading some of the 300+ reviews of this album on Amazon(dot)com ... and I am actually having a blast.

This is an extremely controversial album. Reviews ranging from "This album is RETARTED" to "Greatest album ever made". Makes for a fun read.

Personally, I have heard parts and pieces of it a few times, and I absolutely cannot stand Beefheart's voice. The whole thing is just really really annoying to me. And I consider myself someone who will patiently listen to all genres and styles with a big ear and a totally open mind.

But maybe that was the whole point of the album, which intrigues me. To totally challenge the conventional and just say fuck it. This is an album that I think you AREN'T supposed to enjoy the sound of. This concept is appealing, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of music. This (to me) just makes it art. Simply a spectacle to behold.

Maybe I'm just not "there" yet?

But I don't know if I'll ever be with this album. It's mighty tough to get onboard in these funky waters.

Thoughts....

[cliff]

ha... here's a good one

"Mega-garbage hand crafted by non-musicians for pseudo-intellectuals with built-in cloth ears"

[digidancaballero]

I enjoyed the sound straight away on my first listen. And I was 14. I can never understand how so many people can't get their heads around it.
I actually did a report in my freshman year of high school on Captain beefheart and The Residents and the bands that they influenced. As I played the music the kids in class had total "WTF" looks about their faces. The teacher begged me to end my report and stop playing the music even though I wasn't finnished. Yet she indulged a different kid with his boring videos of cars driving in circles for far too long. This experience taught me a lot about the world. Or something?

[FauxAssNonsense]

Captain Beefheart wasn't trying to sound unlistenable or annoying.
listen to the album again and you'll notice that it's completely musical from instrumentation down to compositional arrangement.
you might not like his voice, and certainly i've met a few people who just can't get around his voice, but many people do like it - many people who aren't just all about "WEIRD MUSIC."

[cliff]

Ok, so after giving this album another chance I can say that I don't absolutely loathe it (as a whole) like it did the first few times.

The songs do have structure, and there are actual "parts" that are repeated at times. There is also a fair amount of interesting interplay between instruments. Some I would even call impressive or unique/original.

My conclusion (for now, and probably for a while) is that this album isn't total crap. Neither is it amazing or totally revolutionary and mindblowing. It's good... but it's not great.

[Don Caballero]

Of course there are parts, isn't that obvious? There are powertabs around of this stuff, you can work it out. the songs have structures, yes!

[scythe]

This album is fucking essential. It's constantly intimidating in all the right ways.

[ourcaballero]

A Tuna is as Close as the Cat Gets to a Diamond - Tim Kinsella