ELECTRICITY

Electricity is a compilation of early Beefheart material that can serve as a good introduction to the artist. It's a chronological overview documenting his 67-68 period and it features both released and unreleased material from the albums Safe As Milk, Strictly Personal and Mirror Man.

The oldest material is the most accessible and has helped me to crack the hard shell you need to get through before you can taste any of this man's unique catalogue. The album focuses on the dirty country-blues of his beginnings. There are also some psychedelic elements and of course Beefheart's well-known croaky-rasping devilish voice. The most impressive piece here is the 19 minute long Tarotplane, which wasn't released till 1971 but surely demonstrates the man's huge influence on the kraut scene.

Listening to this collection from start to top, the blues gradually disintegrates into a dissonant clash of short jagged riffs and off-beat rhythms. While Beefheart's voice still has a slightly melodic flavour on Zig Zag Wanderer from the debut, it has been stripped to a hoarse shout/wail on the second album. Also the music is becoming more and more challenging from Trust Us onwards.

While not a necessary album for fans, it's an excellent compilation for newbies that might prepare you for the trip through the impenetrable swamp of Trout Mask Replica. At least it did for me.