Trout Mask vs. Genesis to Revelation

Ramble alert:

Yet it's interesting that in the other Captain Beefheart poll his more accessible albums are not getting much appreciation (I suspect that various voters haven't listened to either album in whole let alone taken the time to acclimate themselves to the musical expressions). As for the weirdness, I think for a mainstream Prog perspective (I was thinking of the mainstream in terms of people who consider themselves to be Proggers but aren't generally into the more experimental Prog acts and prefer the big names especially in Symphonic Prog in case I wasn't clear), Gentle Giant isn't really that out there on the whole. It can be. It's definitely more out there than the likes of many Symphonic Prog acts, but would be fairly tame in comparison to various acts in RIO/Avant Prog (I think a fairly close equivalent to GG in Avant in terms of accessibility would be Cardiacs, Miriodor to an extent, and even Henry Cow somewhat). Of course it's a very different kettle of fish to what you find on Trout Mask Replica. The music there is quite unrefined. Gentle Giant pulls out fugues and counterpoint, but it's in the jarring juxtapositions where you find a lot of the weirdness. There's an elegance and polish despite the weirder aspects to GG's music. Trout Mask Replica I would, glibly, compare to The Shaggs' Philosophy of the World for the primitivism which can come across (I expect some will hate my comparison, but hey, Zappa liked it and Beefheart).

Anyway, of course there's nothing wrong with liking what one likes (I find the goalposts of what I like shifts -- tastes are mutable, just wish my daughter's music was mutable sometimes -- yeah, very bad pun) and anyone who says grok is good in my books (Stranger in a Strange Land is one of my favourite books) -- we really need more Martian words in our vocabulary....

Revelation: One listen every 10 years is enough for me.

Trout: One listen every 20 years is enough for me.

^ There was perhaps a tiny element of sarcasm in my reply that you quote. I am in fact one of those idiots who appreciates TMR (and Joyce and Picasso, come to that).

Edited by Mascodagama - January 19 2018 at 12:59

^ sorry for pointing out the obvious then.

Trout for me...there's only a handful of songs I really like but I'll still take it over the 1st Genesis, though I like Doc at the Radar Station much more

Well, I don´t believe he was even semi-trolling. I think he just was one of those genius, mad artists, that just have a need to express themselves in a way or another. Did he think he was a big artist, is another question, I think he wasn´t. Just because he liked to draw for example bags and curtains. After he decided to quit musicmaking and concentrated to painting, they really paid big sums for he`s paintings.