SAFE AS MILK

Now, you have to understand how prog was in 1967. Innovation was almost nowhere to be found in rock music, bands like Procol Harum and the Moody Blues were making the artsy advances that proved to be very influential, and so did The Nice. However, here is Captain Beefheart introducing himself as a wiry Delta Blues sound gravelly-voiced bandleader. His voice influenced by the likes of Howlin' Wolf, but his mind influenced by the likes of nobody but himself, Beefheart created an album that was so groundbreaking that even John Lennon himself stated it as his favorite album. The pure weirdness of the lyrics that were sometimes Dadaist sometimes even radio-friendly showed that Beefheart was deeper than anyone you could find on the radio. Beefheart's Magic Band showed that they could weave in and around any of that hot and gritty blues sound. Ry Cooder, Jerry Handley and John French showed up any blues band that thought they could hold a groove, and they added texture and new tones unheard of. John French's delicate patterns combined with Ry Cooder's nasty tone and wiry licks and Jerry Handley's heavy bottom end weaving in and out of Beefheart's wild patterns and structures proved to be something influential. Beefheart indeed got weirder, and this album is the most accessible of all of them, but this even proves to show that Beefheart could truly do anything, but this is what he chose to do, and you'll find nothing like it anywhere.

Best tracks: Electricity, Abba Zaba, Plastic Factory