Trout Mask Replica – CAPTAIN BEEFHEART*

Frownland/The Dust Blows Forward ‘N The Dust Blows Back/Dachau Blues/Ella Guru/Hair Pie:Bake 1/Moonlight On Vermont/Pachuco Cadaver/Bill’s Corpse/Sweet Sweet Bulbs/Neon Meate Dream Of A Octafish/China Pig/My Human Gets Me Blues/Dali’s Car/Hair Pie:Bake 2/Pena/Well/When Big Joan Sets Up/Fallin’ Ditch/Sugar ‘N Spikes/Ant Man Bee/Orange Claw Hammer/Wild Life/She’s Too Much For My Mirror/Hobo Chang Ba/The Blimp/ Steal Softly Thru Snow/Old - At Play//Veteran’s Day Poppy

Was Captain Beefheart’s double LP Trout Mask Replica the most pretentious album ever? Quite probably, but that didn’t stop some delusional critics heaping it with praise. (UK:21)

“I've never really appreciated it. I've given it all my effort but I can't get past the dissonance, the absence of classic album and song structure.”

“This one headed straight from my collection to the Salvation Army $1 box.”

“No one I ever played this album to likes it. That includes many people that are serious music lovers. This album exists only for people to name-drop it so they can look cool. I can't imagine anyone listening to it from start to finish.”

“I think it's terrible. The only thing I found eye-opening about it is how so many people think 'weird' = 'brilliant'. This isn't brilliant. It's some of the most unmelodic stuff I've ever heard. Yes it's weird and different from anything else, but that doesn't make it any good. His lyrics are goofy, but if you can't write a decent melody, or any melody at all for that matter, then you should take your lyrics and turn them into a book and don't churn out something like this.”

“This double album consists of 28 songs that range from beatnik poetry readings, to funky blues-rock, and fun comedic ditties. The songs wouldn't be too weird by themselves, but when combined into one double album, it is a crazy experience.”

“It's so wilfully obtuse and deranged that it's a real chore to try and get through it.”

“This was, quite literally, the worst album I have ever heard. Anyone who tells you that it's a masterpiece is completely out of their mind. For anyone to truly like this, they have to be insane. However, you'll find a hefty amount of idiots who use the 'I like Trout Mask Replica' line to sound more intelligent, or something. If he did this in seriousness, he'd have to be the most stupid person ever to have lived.”