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Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica CD (album) cover

TROUT MASK REPLICA

Captain Beefheart

 

RIO/Avant-Prog

3.76 | 389 ratings

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Putonix24
5 stars Trout Mask Replica is one of the most divisive albums of all time, it is a love it or hate it situations, but the reasons to loving it or hating it are mostly the same.

Just by seeing the cover you can know that this is not going to be pop, jazz, or even psychedelic rock, you can only be confused but also amused by just looking to the bizarre and grotesque cover.

And yes, this record is bizarre and grotesque, and the music really is like that, mixing free form jazz, delta blues and avant-garde, along with some outsider flavor, making this odball record. It should be noted that this record is not just random playing, the Captain and Drumbo actually wrote and arranged this show, and it must be hard to consciously write like that.

The music is very raw, and every instrument sounds like it is playing its own thing, and this might be off puting and disorienting for most people, but the fun relies on identifying and trying to figure out what is going on. Polyrhythms and Polytonality are all over the place on this record.

The best part in my opinion is the whole Captain performances, they are... hilarious, his raspy voice is so entertaining, and don't start about his lyrics, most notably "Pachuco Cadaver" with the classic "fast and bulbous" skit that appears on the album and has been a meme since the 60s, and "Pena" where the Captain just screams randomly, what was he thinking? We don't know but I always want to cry of laughter when I listen to it.

When people talk about the greatest records of all time they mostly only recognize records with more serious themes like those in Pet Sounds or What's Going On, but non-seriousness and jokes are also important, as this album is like the greatest joke of all time.

Assimetrical and abstract, bizarre and grotesque are just a few words that can describe this masterpiece.

EXTRA: The negative reviews of this record are as hilarious as this record, love reading to them.

Putonix24 | 5/5 |

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