Strictly Personal
This album has gotten a bad rap for it's over the top production but I don't care! It's an amazing album and could be the one of the most hallucinatory albums ever recorded! I just played it back to back twice! If the only Beefheart you know is Trout Mask, then you may be shocked to hear this, which is more coherent and rooted in both blues and "song" structure, though in both the Captain proves(as usual) extremely adventerous, inventive and innovative. The album just builds and builds right to the very end...the epic Kandy Korn which has one of the most stunning finales ever! Safe As Milk and Trust Us are unbelievable nuggets and there are two wild psycho-blues workouts that have to be heard to believed(Son of Mirror Man and Gimme That Harp, Boy) Admittedly, some of the production takes the guts out of the guitars but I don't mind the phasing on the vocals. It definitley feels like a totally cohesive, unified album....it just happens to be an acidy album! Finally, if you happen to be a connesiuer of the outer edges of late 60's rock (let's say Skip Spence or Syd Barrett or even Grateful Dead, Zappa or King Crimson) but found Trout Mask Replica too abrasive and scary or found Safe As Milk too mid 60's-ish-early-in-the-career-kind-of-feel,then this album may be the missing link for you! It was for me
