|
I'm kinda weird about Beefheart, but then I'm kinda weird. I like his entire output, but the only album I've ever bothered owning in Trout Mask Replica. To me that is his ultimate statement and the other records just pale by comparison.
The other albums have some sort of connection to the whole beast of rock 'n roll while Trout Mask is entirely it's own original music animal. I mean, it's rock and blues based of course, but the time signatures are from some other planet. As Adam says it's incredibly complex, and yet it's totally primitive at the same time. A lot of artists throw around the term "avant garage", but nobody has ever achieved that concept with the same level that Beefheart did on Trout Mask. The closest runner up I can think of is Dial M for Motherfucker by Pussy Galore, but they were never anywhere close to the musical virtuosos of the Magic Band.
|