I guess I'll preach this one up:

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: Trout Mask Replica (1969)

Now there are a lot of messed up CDs out there, usually done in a short amount of time in a chemically enhanced state to give it a haphazard feel to them. One example might be Faust, which is also an awesome band. But Captain Beefheart (aka Don Van Vliet) mythically wrote all the songs for this album in one 8-9 hour writing frenzy. With the songs transcribed, he and the band spend 9 MONTHS rehearsing and refining the material, usually in 15 hour days, isolated in a foreboding pink house in California. (It is now a mecca for Beefheart fans.) Well, when one day when it was decided that the music would finally be recorded, the Captain got his childhood friend Frank Zappa to produce the album. They recorded the whole album in one day, because they were so well-rehearsed. Now when one first listens to the album, the usual initial reaction is: "These guys can't play their instruments!" The fact is that they sure can, and play such twisted and angular rhythms and melodies that they form a cacophonous tornado of sound, melded with the Captain's off-beat (literally, he recorded the vocals by listening to the reflections of the backing track, resulting in a delay) grumblings, whoops, hollers, and recitations of his colorful poetry (Neon Meate Dream of an Octafish, anyone?) After the first listening, most people usually never end up talking to the person who showed them the album again, fearing for their mental stability, or maybe attempt to exorcise the musical demons that have infested in the compact disc. Well, after two or three more listens, I was able to "get it" and soon, the songs start to almost sound like catchy pop songs (yes I got a few stuck in my head) The album was a double LP, so it barely fits on a CD, and I highly believe that if he condensed it down to a single album, it would have been even better, because personally I haven't been able to listen to the whole album straight though. Some songs are great, but others sound like "filler". Also, the bass does some really crazy stuff, and it would be great if it was louder in the mix. Besides that, I think this a great album. Most bands just push a button and can distort their guitars and create mayhem through timbral distortion, but these guys create rhythmic and tonal distortion, if that makes sense, so this is a very monumental album, because I guarantee it doesn't sound remotely like anything else. I'd give it a 9/10, recommended for those seriously interested in avant-garde music, or just want something goofy to laugh at!


Fast n' Bulbous!