Trout Mask Replica [CD]

Ok so you've never heard Beefheart before, you heard about him through listening to Zappa or reading one of those twenty billion top fifty album thingy's in a music magi etc. Am I right? Well if I am then you should buy this album....I don't think your going to like it, well at least your first listen. You'll put it on and hear noise. Nonsensical, chaotic, dissonant noise. The sort of sound that comes from a bunch of people who have never played an instrument in their lives. It will hurt your head. But that will pass, put it aside and go back to it again and again. Eventually you'll hear it in a completely different way. The dissonant noise you used to hear are in fact melodies, just melodies you've never heard before, the crashing sounds are in fact extremely complex rhythms and time signatures that have up until the point of this albums creation have never really been used. That's the magic band explained now lets move onto Beefheart himself.

I first listened to Captain Beefhearts vocals on this album and couldn't understand why so many people considered him to be of a genius status. He just seems to shout, there's not much of a melody coming from his vocals its just him yelling words. But that's just it, listen to the words, read the lyrics, he's not a singer he's a poet, a poet with the wildest imagination.

Trout Mask Replica is without a doubt one of the hardest albums in the history of popular music to grasp, but it is also the most rewarding. After understanding this album I've been able to look at music in a completely different way, and truly appreciate the skill of these musicians. How they were able to create this music when listening to what came before them is to me incomprehensible (if you know of any bands before them that made anything remotely similar please let me know). But most importantly I grew to love these songs. Sure even today there's a few of them that I flick over but not many of them, each song is a burst of experimental rock bliss that makes you think about what you put into your ears. The songs are genius, the album is genius, BEEFHEART IS A GENIUS!

On the first listen of this record, it's hard to understand what all the fuss is about. 99% of people who listen to this album for the first time would think it was utter trash. Guitars seemingly crackle and slide about without any kind of musical intentions whilst the rhythm section initially appear to be suffering from some kind of nervous spasms. To top it off Don van Vliet's super-insane howl is enough to give the strongest of minds nightmares. However, any such notions gradually dissolve after around 6 plays of this pioneering opus. Songs like Ella Guru and Hobo Chang Ba offer pumping jazz-blues with an irresistable twisted child-like playfulness, which bring smiles of cheshire cat dimensions. Every song is so intense it feels like it will burst, whilst the music is actually so painstakingly complex, only the subtlest of ears could really truthfully appreciate the majesty and raw beauty of the music. Beefheart's voice also grows on you so fast that by the end of 'She's too much for my mirror'(a proto-punk delight), you wish you could make just half of the such unique, idiosyncratic sounds that are generated. But its not just the sound of the record that really astonishes. The wordplay is marvellous with phrases such as 'a squid eating dough in a polyethelene back is fast and bulbous -got me?' ringing around your ears long after this double album as ended. Overall, this album shows beefheart and his magic band at their creative peak, providing a pioneering timeless LP which will be revered and cherished by generations to come.

I'm going to do something a bit different here. I've listened to this record three times so far, and I'm going to give you my first impressions, then I'm going to leave it for a bit - wait till I've heard it a few more times, and let you know what's what.

So why am I doing that? Mostly, because I understand from reading previous reviews that you have to listen to it at least 6 times before it starts to make sense. Also because other reviewers have suggested that you will either love or hate this record. At this stage, I neither love nor hate this record, though I was convinced that I was going to love it.

I've been listening to Beefheart for 5 or 6 months now. I started by watching "Captain Beefheart - Under Review", which was an excellent introduction, and convinced me immediately that I had found my new favourite band. So I bought "Safe As Milk", which has absolutely rocked my world. It has changed my entire musical outlook. It has pushed my Doors collection into obsolescence. I can't listen to a record without comparing it to "Safe As Milk". At least, it seems that way.

So then I got "Unconditionally Guaranteed", knowing full well that it's not considered to be one of the best. Sure, it's a little weak, but it's still quite good. After that, "The Mirror Man Sessions". I'm still not entirely sure what I think of that one. I love some of it, but I find it challenging to listen to. So now, I've moved on to "Trout Mask Replica". I've had this CD for a while, and I've been itching to listen to it. Towards the end of last week, I finally got a chance.

Given what I have already heard from the Captain, what I've read about Trout Mask Replica, what I know about it from the documentary, you'd think I'd have an idea of what to expect - wouldn't you? No. I actually couldn't imagine what it would sound like. And having listened to it, it doesn't sound like anything. In terms of instrumentation and production it's like the music on Mirror Man, but then again, it's nothing like it. You still have tippy-tappy drums mostly down the middle of the mix, with a flat, yet pounding bass alongside. Then the two guitars, again largely bereft of effects, and quite flat sounding, one in each speaker. But that's where the comparisons with Mirror Man end. As for comparisons with Safe As Milk - there are really none. The Captain doesn't seem to sing at all, which is a shame as his singing was outstanding on the first record. There are no fat grooves either. And those two elements are my favourite elements of Safe As Milk.

The songs are short, and there is very little there in terms of structure. The instrumentation just weaves and overlaps, shifts and er... honks. You can take that final word that doesn't fit with the rest of the sentence as an abstract comment on the music.

It's not like rock n' roll - hardly at all. There are no standard rock dynamics - it seems like it's all or nothing. Everyone plays, or no one plays for the most part. And it's so jarring. It's not like Sonic Youth, where you have so much going on, but it all fits into a kind of soundscape. It's really hard to just let it wash over you.

Now don't get me wrong: I'm not saying I don't like ANY of this, that I don't get ANY of this. There are some parts I like a lot. I like "Ella Guru", with it's almost standard structure and coherent chorus, "Moonlight On Vermont", which is just brilliantly jagged. I love "Veteran's Day Poppy", which is the most emotional song on the record for me so far. "Pachuco Cadaver" is pretty good, "Sugar and Spikes" is good... it's just that this record hasn't come together for me yet. And I'm wondering whether it will.

Now, I'm about halfway through my fourth time through, and I've just read a review that suggests breaking the record into 4 song segments. So after this time, that's what I'm going to do. I'd thought of maybe splitting the record into 2, as it was a double album, or maybe 4 - one for each side of vinyl... but I'd decided to just try and take it all in. I'll see how I get on.

So it's another week later, and I've listened to all the songs on this record twice more - this time I split the record into groups of 4, 5 or 6 songs, and listened to each group twice. I have to say, it's not really fallen any farther into place. I like the same tunes as I did before - though I did notice the excellent drumming on "Pachuco Cadaver" this time - a really long figure that incorporates some lovely jazz-style rolls and er... flams. I also like the vocal on "Ant Man Bee" now.

Splitting the record into chunks did work in a way. It meant that each chunk had a couple of tunes, an a capella song and an instrumental usually, but I don't think there's any future in it for me. I'm going to split it into 2 now.

Well, I've told you what tunes I do like. Obviously there are some that I'm indifferent about, and unfortunately, there are some I really don't like, and that I can't really imagine that I am going to like. "Hair Pie Bake 1", "Neon Meate Dream of An Octafish", "China Pig", "When Big Joan Sets Up", "Hobo Chang Ba", "The Blimp", "Old Fart at Play".

That's quite a stumbling block. I wasn't really prepared to not like this record, but if that's the way it's going to be, I guess there's no shame in that.

Right, next time I add to this review, it will be with my final thoughts. Hang tight.

Ok, I think I'm ready now. I've kept on returning to this record, just giving it a chance to sink in, and I guess it is bit by bit, but I think it's going to be a very long time before I feel able to profess the kind of love for it that other reviewers have. It is to this record's credit that I have been able to keep returning to it.

I still pretty much like the same songs that I mentioned before, but now "When Big Joan Sets Up" has joined that list, but only because of the guitar part. I can't ever imagine liking the a capella tunes enough to warrant giving this record 5 stars.

I do like how jagged, and how messed up this record is. There are cuts that, in terms of production values, don't fit with the album, and the skits inbetween tracks suggest an early forerunner to the kind of japery hip-hop records often indulge in. It's certainly ahead of it's time, but I find that there's a large obstacle to enjoying this album - a larger obstacle than the chaotic music. And that's the production. None of the instruments are mixed clearly enough, especially the drums which are often nigh-on impossible to hear. Drumbo is playing rhythms that are difficult enough to make sense of as it is, without adding the difficulty of actually being able to hear them.

Now, I'm fairly confident that in time more and more of this record will appeal to me. What makes me think that? Well, since listening to it so many times I actually returned to "The Mirror Man Sessions", and enjoyed that record a lot more than I had previously. I just get the idea that each Beefheart record I listen to will gradually open up a new layer of understanding, will make sense of a record of track that didn't make sense at all, and finally I will be able to appreciate each recording as a part of a great and ambitious whole.

Music doesn't really come any more challenging than this, and I like a challenge.