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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Tonight there'd be ice cream, ice cream for crow., 22 Mar 2002
By A Customer
The Captain bows out on an immpeccable high. The high priest of avant-dust-rock-blues-jazz-speak-pink-child-hammer-music leaves with an album full of humour, fun, style and poetry. The melodies and guitar lines predictably unpredictable. He's really letting it go here like he's actually relaxed. He uses a spoken word technique to incredible effect, its absolutely compelling. Addictive listening that just when you feel you have stretched your brain around it, you haven't, its seven tangents to the diagonal left of you. The Magic band are pinging off each other superbly and its a heads down final charge at the ramparts of the catatonic state we dwell in. Hats off to Mr. van Vliet.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Thinkability fused with listenability..., 25 Nov 2004
After years of listening to this man's exceptional batch, this one has definately grown to be my favourite. If you're new to Captain Beefheart then "Safe As Milk" (his first LP) is, I think, generally accepted as the best place to start, but I recommend moving along swiftly to this (his last). It's quite a leap chronologically, but I think it makes sense, as both albums manage to a fuse the cerebral & spiritual needs with those of the, erm, corporeal. Think Howlin' Wolf meets Willem De Kooning (before the stroke)...ahhhhhhh! It's just a shame that it hasn't yet received a decent digital transfer. Maybe one day...
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11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
The Last Beefheart Album, 8 Mar 2001
Some fans love this one. Not me. By now, the Captain had almost given up singing (or roaring and bellowing, should I say) in favour of poetry recitations. I count six such on this album : things like "Hey Garland I Dig your Tweed Coat" and "Skeleton Makes Good" are not songs, they're dramatic readings. The music is harsh and challenging, as usual - it's a great version of the Magic Band. There are three standout tracks - the title, which jumps out of the speakers and bounds around the house like an escaped ape, as also does "The Past sure is Tense", and then "The 1010th Day of the Human Totem Pole" which horribly encapsulates the reasons why we can't get on with each other. But you may wish to leave this album until you've digested Safe as Milk, Strictly Personal, and, of course, Trout Mask Replica. In that order, if you value your psychological well-being.
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