LICK MY DECALS OFF, BABY

I think a lot of Beefheart fans like to argue about whether this record or the more famous "Trout Mask" is Van Vliet's best. I personally prefer the sprawling mystery of weird corners of "Trout", and I think the other reviewer Eric hit the nail on the head in saying "Lick" is similar to "Trout" only much more focused, and yes "angrier" too. Or at least, the sound here is definitely more aggressive "tear-your-head-off" where "Trout" has a more psychedelic hazy relaxed feel to it. So I suppose if you love the approach of "Trout" but want the "sillyness" removed, then this is definitely the one for you. Though I tend to prefer the "hypnotic" Captain to the "screaming" captain, so I have a hard time considering this one to be really all THAT great. I can't quibble with the approach as a whole, I guess it boils down to I think about half the songs are excellent, but some just seem "noisy and screamy" for the sake of "noisy and screamy."

NOT a good starting point forthe uninitiated, *unless* you are the type of person who loves John Zorn / Boredoms type of obnoxious craziness. (In that case, start here, but then you probably already knew about this LP!)

Of course for Beefheart fans, this one is absolutely essential.