Customer Reviews

Trout Mask Replica

5 star:		(162)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(106)

 

 

Opinions are divided about the Captain, as evidenced by the rabid one-star reviews and the equally rabid five-star reviews. I have never seen a page this polarized. Let's just make one thing clear - you will never get this album on first listen. Once you give it a couple of thorough listens, you can easily hear ideas, and then after that it will be pretty easy to see this album for what it is - rock music's equivalent of James Joyce's "Ulysses", which I wouldn't call the greatest novel ever, but certainly one of the greatest. Listen to "Ella Guru" - this is the best individual example of the Captain's method. At the beginning, the guitars play one riff, one lead guitar, one rhythm (the rhythm part, though, admittedly is in a different time signature from the rest of the group) and keep playing that riff until the "She got all the colors that nature do" line. They then abruptly switch to a different riff, over the bassline (which is in a different key, but harmonizes in odd places with the guitars) and drums' previous parts. When we get to the "High yellow high red high blue she blew/Hi Ella, high Ella Guru" line, everything switches again to a different riff. This riff is transitional, with the guitars harmonizing, the bassline snaking around and around, and the drumming (which I believe is what turns many people off the most - the drumming is almost never in 4/4 and focuses on truly offbeat accents for most of the album) doing its stuff. Then they go to the chorus, with that cowbell, and then the next section is a solo section, with the solo in the left speaker, with rhythm parts and bass and drums, then it changes again briefly, then back to the chorus. Throughout, everything that sounds "wrong" is repeated in a cohesive way, therefore becoming the song's riffs. And all the songs here, except for the a capella songs, "Moonlight On Vermont", "Veteran's Day Poppy", and "China Pig", are like this. It's really not all that hard to comprehend. Beefheart's lyrics are fantastically visual and very humanistic glimpses of another universe. So I should really leave this to you to decide, but to me, this is crazed, wild genius splattered across the face of popular music. I should also say that "Moonlight On Vermont" and "China Pig" are actually pretty conventional blues songs, and that "Veteran's Day Poppy" is a '60's protest song. Not everything works here - I'm no fan of, say, "Hobo Chang Ba" - but mostly it does, which is why most of the one-star reviews sell the album short. Please give "Ella Guru" another listen with the step-by-step I gave - you might get it this time. I'm not trying to sound patronizing, because it is really very hard to get into. But once you do, you'll never see music the same way again. Come on - are you gonna listen to Good Charlotte for the rest of your life?

That is how I would describe all of you mudslinging soldiers of the amazon.com battlefield. I just read through a monstrous heap of 1 star and 5 star reviews and hardly anybody wrote about what they themselves liked or hated about the music and for what reason. Music is about the personal experience, nobody is right or wrong (probably).

Now I'll write about myself. A couple of adjectives come to mind when I think of this cd, particularly absurd, excessive, extreme, childish, messy, and spontaneous. While I'm sure this sounds like a recipe for musical disaster to many people, this album puts me in a wonderful mood. It has that hilarious and wonderful feeling of childs play (eric dolphy's "out to lunch" comes to mind) that very few musicians are able to capture. Its that feeling that makes you forgive the music for its flaws, and love it for its highlights, which i feel outweigh the failures by a ton. At times this album sounds so cacaphonic that its funny, and while this could have made for a terrible album, its the conviction in the playing and singing that keeps it balanced (teetering precariously though); the harmonies, melodies, rhythms... music in general on this cd is pretty damn interesting and pleasing in a bizarre way. Overall, the album has that flowing feeling of "rock and roll" that draws you in and keeps that rocking feeling even when the band sounds as if its falling to pieces.

On the down side the album is a bit long and i think a couple of songs could have been cut without too much loss. The production is pretty harsh and probably could have been better, but on the other hand i feel that it works well with the music. I guess some people might find the lyrics a bit pretentious (if you consider intentional half-sense to be pretentious), but I find them funny in their glorious absurdity

The unlistenability of this album is completely overrated (aside from maybe the song Pena, which i happen to like a lot). I wont deny that it might be a difficult album to those unfamiliar with avant garde music, jazz, rock, blues... yeah just go into this album with as open a mind as possible, see what happens. beefheart never does what you think he'd do, and thats not a bad thing at all. this is music that cracks me up and has substance at the same time, balances things out. music doesnt have to be serious all the time. Fast and bulbous!

O.K. PEOPLE, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELVES!!

The reviewing page for this cd has turned into a forum for the slanderous voices of many people whose votes get appreciated for similarity of opinion and not quality of review!

Literally I see a feeding frenzy of those who despise Captain Beefheart, for whatever reason, uniting in a campaign to support each other. This is not what reviewing is all about, and you people know it. One to three sentence reviews don't cut it, and personally I, nor any other near objective observer cares to read or be puzzled by the support of these pi$s poor reviews.

TO A REAL REVIEW::

**Preface:: Many of the previous reviewers wish to convey their beliefs that Captain Beefheart is an elitist, who thinks his gibberish is, "more smart," than regular language. They also wish to convince you that musicians such as Frank Zappa are where it is really at. For the purposes of comparison, allow me to quote some Zappa to show you where the real elitism is: "all you Jesus Freaks go home, no one wants to hear you," and "I experienced the real depths of life." Now, by no means am I a Jesus freak, and my own beliefs are not applicable in this review, but I wish to illuminate both judgment and elitism by a musician that thought so highly of himself he decided to melt from drugged out pop/folk into musical theory and compose a series of symphonies. I would be exhibiting repetitive language to explain myself here.

**NOW, Beefheart and his band of unstable (pre-avant-garde) musicians made no attempts to create their own language, like the pretentious Sigur Ros, or to recreate music. THEY ACTUALLY ARE BEING TRUE TO A STYLE OF MUSIC AND LANGUAGE THAT EXISTS. *****Trout Mask Replica is based on the musical themes, (more importantly style and impatience) of hobo music. That's right, hobo music. The American Hobo has more than a simple right to be represented artistically; he is the bedraggled bard of previous times, he is the source for authentic folk music.

Beefheart chooses to not romanticize the hobo aesthetic, but to portray it accurately and goofily, as the dispositions of hobos predominantly are. (I can speak from experience here, having been homeless in Boston for a time, and having traveled well across America.)
This cd is out there, as is the mental meanderings of most homeless people or vagrants. Beefheart himself appears to stutter in the midst of his performance, so swept in the insane pseudo-improvisational style he chooses to adapt. Just look at the cd in simile to James Joyce's, "Finnegans Wake," only in the sense that there is a synonymous artistic utilization of 'stream of consciousness'; but with a sense of humor, and (especially) without all the pretension. ;)

This cd is a light-hearted hilarious journey to the heart of the hobo aesthetic. If you can have a sense of humor about the performing arts, and don't have an inferiority complex when things confuse you; instead your response is laughter and wonder, then this cd will make your day.

4 and 1/2 stars.

I'm no professional musician. I can't explain to you why Trout Mask Replica is pure genius. I can tell you that it is not for everybody. Frank Zappa once said, regarding the public's attitude towards popular music: "Give me something that sounds exactly like something that I already like." With that sarcastic comment, Zappa hit the nail on the head. Most listeners want music in standard (4/4) time, with familiar tones, and based on familiar scales. If you fall into that majority, do not buy Trout Mask Replica.

Those who have studied music, particularly free improvisation, find Trout Mask Replica to be utterly brilliant. It is an ugly ducking of an album, something that seems stark and unforgiving on first listen, but reveals more depth and beauty the more you hear it. There is much to be enjoyed here. The drumming (by Drumbo aka John French) shatters preconceived notions about tempo and timekeeping. Bass clarinet is present, a rare instrument these days to be sure, and not an easy instrument to appreciate. The guitar and horns are harsh and difficult for the average listener to digest coming across as nothing more than a cacophony. Often, it sounds as if all six musicians are playing different songs at the same time, and that is not too far off the mark. Yet, these conflicting parts mesh and intersect at key moments, creating an overall effect of, "It sounds wrong, but right." With repeated listens, it begins to sound more right than wrong. Bits and pieces coalesce and suddenly it clicks. There are hooks here, catchy guitar parts that reveal themselves slowly.

The music is playful. Captain Beefheart plays homage to homage to Americana on "Moonlight in Vermont".
"Pachuco Cadaver", the most immediate piece here, is catchy and pop-like in its structure. It is here that the newcomer should dive in. Yet Trout Mask Replica's prime influence in the blues, both at its most ancient and futuristic at the same time. If that's even possible, then Beefheart did it right here. And "Hair Pie: Bake 2" is just pure jazz.

If you gave it a shot and you didn't like Trout Mask Replica, then that is a question of personal taste and you are not wrong. However, nobody can say that this is not music, or that this is the work of amatures. It takes years for musicians to be able to compose and play music of this stature. If you don't appreciate it, that's fine. AC/DC are still making records. A lot of people can't appreciate Edgard Varese or Ligeti either. Yet their music continues to live on years after their deaths. So will it be for Don Van Vliet and his Magic Band.

After repeated spins, even the most jaded of listeners can find something to enjoy. Whether it be Van Vliet's gutteral blues howling or the loud and aggressive slide guitar, there is much to be loved on Trout Mask Replica. If by chance you are a Beefheart fan already, or are slowly becoming one, there are some interesting companion pieces to be had:

1. Grow Fins: Rarities 1965-1982 is a 5-CD box set containing two entire discs of Trout Mask outtakes and sessions.
2. The Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot, which has two albums on one CD and is generally considered the easiest Beefheart music to digest, based in standard blues.

Buy this if you like experimental Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Throbbing Gristle, Mike Patton, the works of Edgard Varese, early (Easy Action and Pretties For You) Alice Cooper, or free improv. Also check out Open by Kathryn Ladano if you like this. 5 stars.

Isn't it great how many 5 star reviews there are for this album right next to plenty of 1 star reviews? This makes complete sense to me, even as a 5-star person.

Trout Mask Replica is NOT an easy album, and it's not for everybody. A very common experience for people who do love it is that they were at the minimum initially puzzled by it, and at the most completely hated it at first. While I didn't completely hate it at first (although I did feel that way the first time I heard a different Beefheart album), I was totally puzzled by it, and could only listen to it in short bursts. One thing this album is REALLY good at is producing a REACTION. That's not a great thing in itself, but great revolutionary art does seem to elicit such a response.

I can proudly now say that I have listened to this album all the way through MANY times, and for God's sake, not to be cool. It's probably one of the most uncool things to say you love this album, but I listen to it truly because I love it - it's just pure brilliance all the way through.

The lyrics are some of the most poetic, strange and beautiful in modern music, the musicianship while admittedly VERY strange, is totally unique, revolutionary and mind-blowing, and the creativity is at a zenith.

Some won't have the patience to listen to this enough to fully appreciate it, others will never appreciate it no matter how hard they try, and often those people prefer to just trash it, and that's fine. They're entitled to their own opinions. If anything, that just adds to the enigma that is Trout Mask Replica - perhaps the most hated and most loved album of all time. They can enjoy hating it as much as I enjoy listening to it over and over and over again knowing what some of us have been priveleged to know, that it's perhaps the finest piece of recorded music in the 20th century.

So there.

P.S. One thing to add as an addition here. Please take a look at the first 50 or so reviews of this album. There were a FAR smaller percentage of 1 star reviews than there are now. Someone I know rated it 5 stars back in 1999 and for a LONG TIME it had a very high percentage of people finding the review helpful. Now he has 33 of 75 finding it helpful, and most positive reviews are more like 2 out of 20 finding it helpful. Why would that be? Could it be some people out there who hate it are trying to artificially drop the rating on this album and convince people not to buy it for some strange reason? Again, this album elicits a response and I think these people are so offended by it that they've made a huge effort to try and discourage people away from this brilliant album to the point of acting like the people who love it are messing with you. I feel sad for those people, but more sad for the people who will believe it and be scared away from giving this album a try. They even go as far as suggesting there's a conspiracy out there trying to get the people to buy the album. Could it be the other way around? (Oh what a fragile web we weave, when we practice to deceive.) The fact that a small group of people would go to SO much trouble would make me even more curious to see what the fuss was all about, but it's up to you. You can vote over and over again and make this review seem as unhelpful as you want it to appear and even get all your friends to help you, but you can't erase my words. After all, it is #28 on Mojo's greatest albums list and #58 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest album of all time, so it has earned some modicum of respect somewhere. If the people who rated it so highly here and at these highly respected magazines are all elitist snobs, then there sure are a lot of us, aren't there? How many people have to love it before it's acknowledged that it's generally considered to be a classic? The people who love it TRULY DO love it. I know I do, and proudly so...

"Mousetrapreplica", the subtitle for the song "The Blimp", provides an apt description of this album as a whole: Many people will be scared off and skeptical at first exposure, but those tempted to hazard a second or third listen may be caught in the spell of this album, never to leave again.

I had been a fan of a wide range of eclectic music for some time when I first came across Captain Beefheart via Trout Mask Replica. I was nevertheless utterly unprepared for the aural onslaught that followed. I felt as though I'd been shaken by the Captain himself through my speakers, a somewhat unpleasant experience. What differentiates me from the one star reviewers is that I had the chutzpah to go back for more (sadistic, maybe), feeling determined to "figure out" what this was all about.

This is what will make the difference between loving and hating this album, it requires complete attention and an active listener. For anyone willing to give this album time, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and rewards aplenty for reaching it. What at first seemed unhinged and cacophonous eventually revealed an intricate structure and inner logic which must be heard (many times) to be fully appreciated. But that's the beauty of this beast: It provides increasingly enriching listening experiences which continue to reveal new information and insights with every listen, a quality found in great art of any type.

In time, individual instrument parts become clear, revealing a brilliant use of contrast and counter-point. Rhythms which once sounded cluttered swing and shift in bouncing polyrhythmic ebullience. It becomes apparent that every space in the music is as purposeful as every note, and that everything has been planned and rehearsed to a T. The band manages to swing and rock in a staggering contrapuntal effect to the exacting nature of the compositions. Not a second is wasted.

Also revealed through repeated listenings are the various influences on the music. While there is certainly no precedent for this album, much of the music and lyrics harken back to folk, jazz, songster, blues, sea shanties, and other traditional American musical idioms. These are amalgamated with Beefheart's unique vision to create a sprawling, pastoral, utterly unique vision of Americana.

If you revere music as a valid art form with vast potential, and appreciate albums as you would a fine wine, this may be for you. Just remember that things are not always what they seem, and that there is a finite limit to how much audio information you can absorb and understand in one sitting. If you're prepared to take the bait, count on getting hooked.

This album can be a little difficult to get into at first. I knew I should expect some strange music, but I wasn't expecting exactly this. If you are a fan of Captain Beefhearts albums before and after this, I would not reccomend this. If you are a fan of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, free improvisation, Tom Waits, noise rock, free jazz, and abstract poetry, I would reccomend it. Once it grows on you, this is an absolutely astounding record. Amidst a rambling garage rock song, a saxophone will scream out of the wilderness and lead the other instruments down a winding, atonal road. Right after an epic, dissonant blues rock song, Van Vliet will croak to life with a strange, stream of consciousness monlogue ("bubbles pop big.....in a lipstick kleenex..."). A crazed, Pharoah Sanders-esque clarinet and sax jam will lead into a rythmically dense rock song.

This album really goes places no other album has gone or attempted to go, before or since. If you are a fan of art, you will like this albumed. Reccomended to the open minded.

Take one part delta blues, some spoken word and poetry, free rock, and mix liberally with 5 to 600 tabs of acid and you might get something approximating Trout Mask Replica. This album sounds insane at first listen, as though the musicians had no clue to what they were doing. On closer inspection you'll find some extremely well thought out ensemble playing by one of the best and most eccentric bands in rock. Its polyrhythmically complex, harsh, sometimes tuneful and always interesting. The Magic Band were originally blues players but they certainly didn't stop there. Much of this music is beyond description, its gotta be heard to be understood. The guitars will both play different sometimes clashing riffs with the bass player somewhere in the middle. The drummer Drumbo (John French) is one of the most original players I've ever heard. He's invented a new language for the rock drum set, its incredibly polyrhythmic and uses every drum with near equal emphasis. Captain Beefheart rides over the top with his bizarre lyrics, amateur saxaphone and incredible voice. This is the album that artists as diverse as Andy Summers of the Police, XTC's Andy Partridge and DEVO have stated as being a major influence on their musical development. There would be no Pere Ubu without the good Captain and crew. Most people are not going to like this album, its not an easy listen by any means. Those with open ears and mind will find the experience rewarding though.

Hey!

This album is brilliant, but it takes a lot of patience and an open mind to appreciate it. For those who don't like it, you must come to realize that you don't understand it. Hopefully someday you will understand it. Until then, please don't slander the work. There are a lot of bands out there today who have created a hardcore style based off of this album. The influence (whether they know it or not) is unmistakable in bands like HELLA, DILINGER ESCAPE PLAN, VOLTA DO MAR etc...

For those that think this album is random noise, try starting with tracks like "The dust blows forward and the dust blows back"
or "Orange claw hammer"
-they are unaccompanied vocal tracks (and some of the best poetry of the 20th century)

And if you think that two saxophones played simultaneously can amount to nothing but nonsense (Mr. reviewer from the BRONX, NY)
Check out Roland Kirk from YOUR hometown of New York who could not only play up to THREE saxes simultaneously.......WITH SOUL, but ripped at them!!

This is by far one of the greatest albums ever made. Whoever argues or has a different opinion is wrong. There's no such thing as a different opinion than mine when the subject is this album. Seeing by the other ratings I see 1 individual disagrees. Now, he is true in saying Zappa is more talented,and sure, maybe even "better" I will not lie. But this album is one of greatness that should be heard by all. Seeing that everyone else who voted agrees, I think you should buy this and cherrish it. Buy Frank Zappa's "Hot Rats" or "Grand Wazoo" as well.