@@lordjustinian2913 I feel like it’s both of Art Rock and Math Rock mixed together. Also feel like the track “Pena” reminds me of something Ween would put on one of their albums at one point
@@surprisinglyroomy I would imagine when everyone is saying 'yo, check *insert name* out, it's the best thing ever man', your expectations might not be so high
33:54 "this album right now feels like the equivalent of a carp out of water moments before it dies. just brainless flapping around until time ends. and you're just watching and waiting, but it just keeps flapping and it just never dies. it never goes away. then it jumps back into the ocean. all that suffering was for nothing."
I never really thought it sounded awful. Shocking and weird at first yeah, but no harder to listen to than a lot of other stuff. After dozens of listens it just sounds awesome
As somebody who loves this album. One of the things I love most is seeing people listen to it for the first time. I adore every single song on the album. There is live footage of these songs and it’s insane that they can just whip these out at random. They even reformed the magic band recently and can still play these songs. I think it’s an incredible experience. Captain Beefheart Da Goat No Cap!
@@ileutur6863 it may be the 1st one in its species 😂 but seriously tho, and I said this lots of times to friends and strangers on the internet: if you would play an instrument and tried to learn one of this songs you would think differently
One of my favorite albums! It was an acquired taste, though. But I eventually became so enmeshed in the Beefheart universe that I met several Magic Band members and even drove to the Trout House in Woodland Hills, where this was recorded, to see it up close & in person.
@@SirArthurTheGreat He only abused his band lol. He was very nice to his fans I’ve heard. He remembered names crazy well. Kinda like how Sun Ra was just Ra never abused his band like the captain lol
This is one of my favorite albums, but because of the memories attached to it. I know it doesn’t sound great- but because of the history behind it/the madness, it was one of my dad’s favorites. It was one of the only albums he showed to me directly, even though we talked about music all the time. After losing him last year, this LP just makes me smile. Lots of fond memories of him and ingrained into this album for me :)
Brad at one point compared this to a fish flopping out of water refusing to die, and I think that runs parallel to my experience with the album. It sounds like a grubby, slovenly dead-end job gas station in the middle of the Nevada desert refusing to go under. It also kind of reminds me of the games Barn Finders and The Neverhood, in their clumsy, unintentional bluegrass jazz sort of energy. The point where I deviate from Brad is that I think this album is such a perfect encapsulation of the trope that frankly I really love it.
Another game the music reminds me is the first Hylics game. The music, specifically the enemy/boss fight music, is very chaotic and weird. It’s an extreme juxtaposition from its sequel, which is way more cohesive, partially in due to Mason’s collaboration with Chuck Salamone.
Veterans day poppy is one of my favorite songs of all time. The lyrics drop the bizarre schtick and is really straight forward and depressing, about how flowers on the grave of a dead soldier can't help, it only remind the parents of the son they lost in a selfish war. Also the guitar work is absolutely stunning and really sounds like it heavily inspired post rock and slowcore bands of the 90s (which are 2 of my favorite sounds in music). Just a stunning track
@@quagtwo I agree with both of you.'Poppy' is currently my fave tune on the record, and like you say, the guitar parts near the end are just bedazzling. Amazing that a human brain(s) could come up with it.
@@ronniechilds2002 yes yes!! It feels like a track that rubbed off on bands like u.s. maple (all time favorite band of mine), June of 44 and in a lot of ways, slint!
@@dilbophagginz absolutely agree. If u dig slint, check out everything Jason Nobel has been a part of. He was also from Louisville and played with the slint dudes a lot. His bands Rodan, June of 44 and shipping news I feel picked up where they left off
This album makes me appreciate Disco Volante even more…that album has the same level of insane avant-garde experimentation, except each song has a distinct (and listenable) character, and the album is jam packed with memorable moments that you’ll catch yourself whistling five years down the road when you’re in a rest stop bathroom
Disco Volante is on a whole other level. You could listen to that album casually or even on shuffle with every other Mr. Bungle album. Listening to Disco Volante is just listening to a weird but cool album. Listening to Trout Mask Replica is like an event in and of itself. You make the conscious decision to listen to Trout Mask Replica. You put that shit on your calendar a week in advance. You close the curtains and put your phone on silent when it’s time to listen to Trout Mask Replica.
Disco Volante is truly the masterpiece of Mr Bungle. California is coherent but more watered down (not bad in any way) even still crazy in its own way and the Self Titled is also pretty good but it is excessively juvenile. Disco Volante is the perfect balance between seriousness and humour; it has comedy (After School Special for example) but in a more darker and subtle way (thing that I think they carried to California) and its darker without needing to be straight up " haha scat porn and asphyxia autoerotica ". Pieces like Violenza Domestica (my fav song from it), Platypus, The Bends or Merry Go Bye Bye are just so utterly insane and unsettling in a wonderful way (and the whole album also is. Carry Stress, Phlegmatic, Desert Allah, Everyone You Went To High School With Is Dead, Chemical Marriage). It is truly their magnum opus.
This is the best review of the album I dearly love. Ok, I'm 60 right now, so... But, when I heard it first in 1980 I was confused beyond... Now, I treasure this album to an extend that is almost non-human like. From the Netherlands, I loved your remarks and get it.
I never realized this album had such a following or that anyone would really dislike it this much. I grew up listening to it from my dad as a kid, so I guess it grew on me from being in the background all the time. I guess they're right, you have to listen to it over and over to make it click.
There is a really nice version of Orange Claw Hammer floating around on RUclips that is just Beefheart on vocal and Zappa on acoustic guitar that is excellent.
The guy who said you should’ve done “I’m glad” off safe as milk is totally right. You should’ve done a song like that which displays they can EASILY craft like a super amazing conventional song. I think he actually would be BLOWN AWAY by the difference like that song is literally so conventional you’ll see it like put over corny romance movie clips with 15 year old girls commenting how good it is, which is sort of funny Bc I know there’s an amount of them that have gone to check out the rest of that album or his other albums to find more songs like that, and they were in for a shock lmao
Took me about 5 listens until the light bulb went off and I finally heard it as a masterpiece. People can't hear it because it obscure, as soon as the brain gets familiar with it its a badass album. (also for 1969 this album was an absolute pioneer, it contains 3 decades influence -70's,80's, and 90's)
If you hate blues, this album is a bliss! To me it is, anyway... Helps if you're baked to no end. It's no dinner with your family music, but perfect for the opposite mood..
I don’t think anyone is advocating for this album as casual listening lol. But it’s still a classic that pioneered a lot of shit in experimental sound and inspired a lot of musicians in it’s wake. I’ve only listened to it once and I still love it as an experience of art. It’s kind of like seeing a movie with a twist or a big moment for the first time. That moment in the movie is never gonna hit like that first time you saw it.
The more I think about this, the more I agree. I can’t tell if this is an insult or a compliment to this or to icedancer, and I kinda think it’s both to both.
Don doesn't sing like there's a frog in his throat, he's one of the best blues singers the world has ever heard. I must admit, this album is a little bit difficult to listen to but Moonlight on Vermont is my jam! I love it. Also, their earlier work, such as Dropout Boogie is pretty awesome as well.
It's the fucking critics' fault that brad is reacting with an attitude like this honestly I think this album is quite entertaining when the listener gets used to it, and I agree that it's a classic like other critics, but that's the POINT. Overtime pretentious music critics have hyped up this album as this 'pinnacle of music' deep experimental philosophical album that stood the test of time 'cause of its musical inquiries, when I imagine even Captain Beefheart ultimately approached this album as a more artistically viable way of trolling. It is groundbreaking, but the whole point is that the ground that it breaks will never be stepped on in the first place. Outside of the lyrical 'themes', the statement pretty much ends on 'seriously approaching the art of KEKW' It's truly & honestly not a classic because it is an avant-garde masterpiece but because it shattered the irony of 'making a point with music', something dudes like Frank Zappa was also doing, albeit with more musical coherence. This album got a false rep from people who tries to psychoanalyze memes and feel smart (Well, either that or, idk seeing a video of one brave guy breakdancing in a library and trying to analyze his mental state? It's a REACH is what I'm tryna say) (All of the above, just my opinion idk)
dude trust me just read about his 'magic band.' its pure crazy. it kind of almost makes you appreciate the fact that they were able to make music at all 🤣side note: also read about how this album was recorded. if anything this band was waaayyy OVER Rehearsed. I think the story goes that Van Vliet had these dudes rehearsing for like 16 hours at a time
I can't get over how this album keeps getting better the more I listen. What also contributed to my taste for this album was by listening to more jazz pioneers. John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman etc. Learn to listen to sound as it is instead of trying to expect it to be something you're used to. It won't be. It never will be.
Listening to a lot of early free jazz pioneers certainly makes this album sound a lot more tame, so when I come back to it it actually feels relatively danceable in comparison.
I think the most distinct effect music like this has on me is that it makes all the music I listen to after sound so satisfying. That's not even a joke, like I think this kind of music is just so antithetical to my brain's pattern seeking behavior, or its making patterns in all the wrong intervals, that when I listen to a normal, traditionally pretty sounding song it feels like a massive relief. Although, to be fair, I do have OCD? so my brain is literally not wired the same as most, but maybe you can get what I mean.
Weird because it has the other effect on me. After I listen to Trout Mask or maybe something like Michael Finnissy, and then switch to more mainstream music it feels like the music is boring and missing something
Mini ramble, but I think people who hate this album and people who praise it as some boundary-breaking masterpiece both have the same problem: they're overthinking it. I'm all for music criticism and discussion obv, but I've never felt the need to over-intellectualize this album like that. I think this album is just fun. Simple as that. People call it "pretentious" but I sometimes I just wanna listen to something crazy and off-the-wall because it has a good energy. That's probably the least pretentious way to listen to music imo. Just listen to shit that makes you feel good. Plenty of classic punk rock objectively sounds like shit too btw, but that doesn't mean it can't bang. Just my two cents. 🤷♂
You make a good point. Way too many people feel the need to rationalise what they like in the context of everyone else because they're insecure about how toxic people are about music taste. Sometimes when people ask "why do people like this?" about something I like I just go "because I like it :) hope that helps" I think this album is pretty poor but I don't need to pretend to psychoanalyze the people who like it just to feel good about myself because I've already accepted I don't like any of the shit I'm "supposed to" like MBDTF, Cavalcade, F# A#, Silk Sonic, The Strokes, Eminem, Pinkerton, Arcade Fire, The Weeknd, Nirvana.
What I said goes just as much for people who spend time insisting something popular is only liked by pretentious people as those who browse sites like RYM and go "wtf why is this lower than X album it should totally be top 100" like it fucking matters or that anyone cares what you think. No one cares what you think so stop caring about what others think
I agree. There isn't too much going on with this album apart that it is fun tbh. If you don't feel it is fun, it is just normal. There's a lot of things that are fun for a group of people and other group that feel it is the most atrocious thing they have witnessed.
My issue with this album is largely that most of the lyrics are just a bunch of random words. It feels like a predecessor to the worst kind of internet humour and it gets on my nerves to no end.
This album was like a meme shitpost before meme shitposts were a thing. It's like designed to be a 0/10 album. I think it's a parody of avante garde music and people actually enjoyed it because drugs. And they probably also made it because drugs. And its considered a classic due to the nostalgic memories people have of thinking they enjoyed it while on drugs.
That’s what everyone thinks but if you watch the captain Beefheart documentary on RUclips you’ll see that is not what they had in mind and very much were into the music that they were making. To me this album isn’t SO extreme especially when compared to stuff like free jazz and other music pushing genres.
Why do people always say really experimental albums are “bad on purpose to be a parody of experimental albums” or some shit like that lol? Literally no one has ever done that (outside of that 1 vaporwave album I guess). You can hate it, but deriding it as a meaningless shitpost is straight up untrue
I love the album Bongo Fury to death, which is Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart with Frank's band, and I've never heard Trout Mask before, so I assumed it would be more of the same. I was wrong :(
I spoke to The Captain after one o' his shows 'n told him I believed his best album o' all was Lick My Decals Off, Baby...the follow up to Trout Mask Replica. He got really excited 'n enthusiastically agreed! If you have any interest in explorin' Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band any further this is essential listenin'. Slightly more sophisticated but ever so weird 'n wondrous.
You're right. It's both a classic and unlistenable junk. Red headphones all the way. I've owned a copy for decades, but never got further than 10 minutes either. All his other albums are much more fun. Start with "Safe As Milk" instead.
I do happen to like the album and I have liked it from the first listen. I was 17 and this was playing my my best friend's car and somehow it just clicked. It sounded like something so familiar and so alien. For those who are listening to it to learn to like it, you may just not like it, that's ok.
I suggest you to check out "Not Available" by The Residents. I'd call this album the most closest thing to "Trout Mask Replica" in terms of being alien, freaky and beautifully ugly.
Well there is a reason that a genre of music exists called avant-garde, experimental music like this is certainly an acquired taste since it is weird, chaotic, doesn't follow the rules of music and musical structure. I like giving most experimental artists a listen since it is interesting to see what they can do with the music and what it sounds like. In the end though I think experimental music is the best example of music as art rather than just entertainment.
@@man4437 Whether or not music is good is subjective, I think experimental music is more interesting than a lot of the cookie cutter music that is out there because it looks at music as a form of art and tries to create something unique with that art. Tell me this kind of music is not unique. It is very unique and it is not for everyone and music is not made for everyone. I imagine Captain Beefheart makes music for artsy types and I'm betting you are not an artsy type of person.
@@lordjustinian2913 Listen, I'm not some doofus who only listens to the top 40. If anything I think it doesn't go far enough. A lot of it is just quirky lyrics and rock music played weirdly which is the same problem I have with Black Midi. I've heard it before and it feels like you're putting lipstick on the pig. I wouldn't listen to these songs if they were played "normally" so I don't wanna listen to them just because there's no discernible rhythm either My comment was kind of tongue-in-cheek btw
TMR is a great album. It just takes several listens to "get" it. And the last minute of "Pachuco Cadaver" is pure gold. That's where the Magic Band proves they can boogie down! 😂
I loved this album the first time I heard it back when I was 19, but I’ve never felt anywhere close to that much enjoyment listening to it any subsequent time. I like Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) and Doc At the Radar Station a lot more.
I love Ella Guru (edit: I actually thought he might like it lol) Also, best thing is the fish on the album isn't even a Trout, it's a Koi 35:30 well, Captain Beefheart couldn't even read notes. He told someone how it should sound and that someone wrote it down. He didn't even care about rhytmns lol. Pretty sure he'll like Veterans Days Poppy. Also, when will you react to Meet the Residents?
My theory of this album is that it's kind of like different voices competing; which represents the increasing fragmentation of later stages of civilization. As he sings in "Bill's Corpse": "Various species grouped together according to their past beliefs"; that song, to me, represents the aftermath of a great war - when it's all over. Everybody died with the ones who believed in what they did. And in a way, the instruments remind me of competing factions, too - somebody even said it was like they were trying not to play together, or to lock into a groove; it's like they were always at odds. To me, this album is the naked sound of the apocalypse, to put it succinctly.
If you do not listen at least ten times this album from start to finish then I argue one should not judge the album at all. Of course it sounds unbearable before you start to "get" it.
There's also more easy way: just by listening Beefheart's later stuff. It sounds less anarchic and more conventional. "Shiny Beast", "Doc at the Radar Station", "Ice Cream for Crow" - these will help newbies to get into Van Vliet's art. Scaruffi's analysis does teach a little bit how to perceive Beefheart's masterpieces, too.
I came to this album because I was bored of any other music, that night I listened front to back and loved it, ever since i've never been able to get it like I did then and it saddens me
The real hero of the band is John French. AKA Drumbo. Captain Beefheart came up with the ideas the tracks should sound by tapping on a piano. The captain was not trained playing instruments or reading notes. Mr French had the task of "translating" sounds into entire compositions and let the band rehearse them in a cult like setting. It is like you have to translate an alien conversation into English and all you have are clicks and whispers and nothing else. Bleeding fingers from playing too much, not eating for days, stealing food and being bailed out of jail. And when they were ready they recorde the entire album in one go of 90 minutes or so.
i unironically love this album so much i was one of the 0.01% of listeners. I hammer this album when i drive through the country. there are NO skips on this for me. it's deifnitely one of those albums that just has to click for you immediately. although some of the songs i love because they make me laugh in a way, i like how unserious it is. It did not take me 12 times, anyone who says that in my opinion is forcing it. some of the songs didnt immediately click for me like i think Pena made me feel like i was being murdered but i do like it now because it's so ridiculous.
This sh*t is math rock but they did the math wrong
underrated comment
Nope it's closer to art rock rather than math rock.
@@lordjustinian2913 I feel like it’s both of Art Rock and Math Rock mixed together. Also feel like the track “Pena” reminds me of something Ween would put on one of their albums at one point
Love that
@@lordjustinian2913 you and your dumb labels smh
The character progression from absolutely hating it for, like, 90% of its length to genuinely enjoying it is wild
that is the magic of this album
it will for sure be one of his favorite albums if he listens to it a few more times.
I swear brad always does this lol. He’s always so pessimistic when going into albums and then comes out the other side loving it
@@surprisinglyroomy I would imagine when everyone is saying 'yo, check *insert name* out, it's the best thing ever man', your expectations might not be so high
@@muzikkification sure, if it’s some random obscure stuff, but he’s done this with freaking OK Computer
"I had a gay sex dream at least once this month" is the kinda stuff that only ever comes up while trout mask replica is playing
💀💀💀
33:54 "this album right now feels like the equivalent of a carp out of water moments before it dies. just brainless flapping around until time ends. and you're just watching and waiting, but it just keeps flapping and it just never dies. it never goes away. then it jumps back into the ocean. all that suffering was for nothing."
really profound
this album sounds awful until you realize that they charted this. on sheets. and rehearsed it. numerous times. THIS WAS WHAT THEY WANTED.
Awful music made on purpose still sounds awful.
@@brandonm949 it’s not awful on purpose, it’s chaotic on purpose.
@@brandonm949 yesssss
I never really thought it sounded awful. Shocking and weird at first yeah, but no harder to listen to than a lot of other stuff. After dozens of listens it just sounds awesome
I don’t agree with this line of thinking. It doesn’t matter if it was intended or not. It either sounds good or it doesn’t. I love this album btw
7:20 the face he makes when the sax comes in its like he's witnessing a car accident
That's a bass clarinet
His face is the reason why this video is so hilarious.
This album is the saying "There's a method to the madness" taken to the absolute extreme
This album is a certified hood classic
Me and the boys burn down GARS to this!!!!
This album beats you into submission and convinces you it's good.
Just like what Beefheart supposedly did to his bandmates
like, that is actually the album's intent lol. i really like the songs that are fun like ella guru and frownland
I say it’s good because I’m pretentious and want to impress the local art hoe 🙃
1:05:16
Beefheart: "HUWITE"
Brad: "ohmygod"
@@moloch8473 he kinda sounded like Korn for a sec
As somebody who loves this album. One of the things I love most is seeing people listen to it for the first time. I adore every single song on the album. There is live footage of these songs and it’s insane that they can just whip these out at random. They even reformed the magic band recently and can still play these songs. I think it’s an incredible experience. Captain Beefheart Da Goat No Cap!
Dude come on, its literally a musical shitpost
@@ileutur6863 Not really, maybe if you don't engage with it
@@ileutur6863 Hence why it’s so great!
@@ileutur6863 Which is why it's influential lol
@@ileutur6863 it may be the 1st one in its species 😂
but seriously tho, and I said this lots of times to friends and strangers on the internet: if you would play an instrument and tried to learn one of this songs you would think differently
this is like watching a guy tell you the sky is blue for like an hour
Amazing comparison
10:52 the way the Brad dancing gif popped up just as the chorus started was perfect. Even some of the mouth movements lined up
There are actually conversations about whether this album is "overrated" which just goes to show how influential it is lol.
One of my favorite albums! It was an acquired taste, though. But I eventually became so enmeshed in the Beefheart universe that I met several Magic Band members and even drove to the Trout House in Woodland Hills, where this was recorded, to see it up close & in person.
Did Mr.Bee Fart beat you upon arrival?
@@SirArthurTheGreat Ha, no, he was long gone by the time I got there. I'm not THAT old!😂
@@SirArthurTheGreat He only abused his band lol. He was very nice to his fans I’ve heard. He remembered names crazy well. Kinda like how Sun Ra was just Ra never abused his band like the captain lol
This is what Primus sounds like to people who don't like it
Spoiler alert: it's a ten
Genuinely unironically one of the greatest albums of all time
This album is S tier classic amazingness.
based jeremy
The way that Jeremy is so contrarian most of the time makes it hard to tell if he’s sincere or not💀
common jeremy W
@@Kondomonium I am sincere.
Rare Jeremy W
Dream Collab: DemonDice rapping over samples entirely pulled from Trout Mask Replica. 50/10.
Captain Demondice and her Mori Calliope Band
If anyone has the vocal files for a demon dice album I will make this right now
Okay I'm gonna try to find the stems to do this
I'm devoted to this cause
@@Lunar_Atronachdid you do it?
This is what black midi sounds like to normal people
This is one of my favorite albums, but because of the memories attached to it. I know it doesn’t sound great- but because of the history behind it/the madness, it was one of my dad’s favorites. It was one of the only albums he showed to me directly, even though we talked about music all the time. After losing him last year, this LP just makes me smile. Lots of fond memories of him and ingrained into this album for me :)
❤❤❤
R.I.P. to your dad.
Brad at one point compared this to a fish flopping out of water refusing to die, and I think that runs parallel to my experience with the album. It sounds like a grubby, slovenly dead-end job gas station in the middle of the Nevada desert refusing to go under. It also kind of reminds me of the games Barn Finders and The Neverhood, in their clumsy, unintentional bluegrass jazz sort of energy. The point where I deviate from Brad is that I think this album is such a perfect encapsulation of the trope that frankly I really love it.
Another game the music reminds me is the first Hylics game. The music, specifically the enemy/boss fight music, is very chaotic and weird. It’s an extreme juxtaposition from its sequel, which is way more cohesive, partially in due to Mason’s collaboration with Chuck Salamone.
I wore my Trout Mask Replica shirt today (the day this was streamed). I feel like it was a good omen.
This album sounds like if Deerhoof was fronted by Tom Waits and had Mr. Bungle's horn section
Veterans day poppy is one of my favorite songs of all time. The lyrics drop the bizarre schtick and is really straight forward and depressing, about how flowers on the grave of a dead soldier can't help, it only remind the parents of the son they lost in a selfish war. Also the guitar work is absolutely stunning and really sounds like it heavily inspired post rock and slowcore bands of the 90s (which are 2 of my favorite sounds in music). Just a stunning track
@@quagtwo I agree with both of you.'Poppy' is currently my fave tune on the record, and like you say, the guitar parts near the end are just bedazzling. Amazing that a human brain(s) could come up with it.
@@ronniechilds2002 yes yes!! It feels like a track that rubbed off on bands like u.s. maple (all time favorite band of mine), June of 44 and in a lot of ways, slint!
the guitar passage near the end of that song was insane, reminded me of Slint and it came out like 40 years earlier.
@@dilbophagginz absolutely agree. If u dig slint, check out everything Jason Nobel has been a part of. He was also from Louisville and played with the slint dudes a lot. His bands Rodan, June of 44 and shipping news I feel picked up where they left off
@@doomsdaydanceparty7646 thanks for the rec, I'll check it out
This album makes me appreciate Disco Volante even more…that album has the same level of insane avant-garde experimentation, except each song has a distinct (and listenable) character, and the album is jam packed with memorable moments that you’ll catch yourself whistling five years down the road when you’re in a rest stop bathroom
Disco Volante is on a whole other level. You could listen to that album casually or even on shuffle with every other Mr. Bungle album. Listening to Disco Volante is just listening to a weird but cool album. Listening to Trout Mask Replica is like an event in and of itself.
You make the conscious decision to listen to Trout Mask Replica. You put that shit on your calendar a week in advance. You close the curtains and put your phone on silent when it’s time to listen to Trout Mask Replica.
Disco Volante is truly the masterpiece of Mr Bungle. California is coherent but more watered down (not bad in any way) even still crazy in its own way and the Self Titled is also pretty good but it is excessively juvenile. Disco Volante is the perfect balance between seriousness and humour; it has comedy (After School Special for example) but in a more darker and subtle way (thing that I think they carried to California) and its darker without needing to be straight up " haha scat porn and asphyxia autoerotica ". Pieces like Violenza Domestica (my fav song from it), Platypus, The Bends or Merry Go Bye Bye are just so utterly insane and unsettling in a wonderful way (and the whole album also is. Carry Stress, Phlegmatic, Desert Allah, Everyone You Went To High School With Is Dead, Chemical Marriage). It is truly their magnum opus.
mane fuck naw disco volante suck!!!1 mr bungle 1991 album best mr bugnlebr albumg......... REAL!!!!
This is the best review of the album I dearly love. Ok, I'm 60 right now, so... But, when I heard it first in 1980 I was confused beyond... Now, I treasure this album to an extend that is almost non-human like. From the Netherlands, I loved your remarks and get it.
I never realized this album had such a following or that anyone would really dislike it this much. I grew up listening to it from my dad as a kid, so I guess it grew on me from being in the background all the time. I guess they're right, you have to listen to it over and over to make it click.
This album got to No. 21 on the UK album charts in 1969, but didn't even land anywhere on the US charts.
mad
I love this album 🤘🤘
What's your problem
@@DEAKY0921 why can't you let people enjoy things?
@@DEAKY0921 Cursed with amazing taste
@@Conar. what are your favorite songs on it?
The track Pena is an absolute masterpiece
This is my favorite album of all time nothing will ever come close
Zappa's production is aces and is the secret sauce.
It really is the cocaine in the stew that is this album
1:20:02 the funny part is that after this point brad starts to come around on this album
A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous
I can crack open a dictionary and drop my fingers on random words too. It's not that deep
it's so bulbous chuck you don't even know
Got me
This album makes Einstürzende Neubauten sound sane.
I have this album on vinyl. I paid $80 for it. No regerts
Some parts of this album are WAY ahead of their time. Like 20 years ahead
There is a really nice version of Orange Claw Hammer floating around on RUclips that is just Beefheart on vocal and Zappa on acoustic guitar that is excellent.
out of 2 jesuses, i give this album a japanesus.
The guy who said you should’ve done “I’m glad” off safe as milk is totally right. You should’ve done a song like that which displays they can EASILY craft like a super amazing conventional song. I think he actually would be BLOWN AWAY by the difference like that song is literally so conventional you’ll see it like put over corny romance movie clips with 15 year old girls commenting how good it is, which is sort of funny Bc I know there’s an amount of them that have gone to check out the rest of that album or his other albums to find more songs like that, and they were in for a shock lmao
Here we see an instance of the Beefheart effect taking place
one of my professors last semester played Frownland for a minute straight during class...
I don't know whether your professor is the best teacher ever or the worst teacher ever
this record change my way to ear the music
RIP captain
Took me about 5 listens until the light bulb went off and I finally heard it as a masterpiece. People can't hear it because it obscure, as soon as the brain gets familiar with it its a badass album. (also for 1969 this album was an absolute pioneer, it contains 3 decades influence -70's,80's, and 90's)
If you listen to the album again 3 more times. You’ll rate it a 10/10
This ain't math rock, this is crack rock 💯
If you hate blues, this album is a bliss! To me it is, anyway... Helps if you're baked to no end. It's no dinner with your family music, but perfect for the opposite mood..
I don’t think anyone is advocating for this album as casual listening lol. But it’s still a classic that pioneered a lot of shit in experimental sound and inspired a lot of musicians in it’s wake. I’ve only listened to it once and I still love it as an experience of art. It’s kind of like seeing a movie with a twist or a big moment for the first time. That moment in the movie is never gonna hit like that first time you saw it.
Trout Mask is Bertolt Brecht but the actors are musical instruments
this album's like the icedancer of music
The more I think about this, the more I agree. I can’t tell if this is an insult or a compliment to this or to icedancer, and I kinda think it’s both to both.
Don doesn't sing like there's a frog in his throat, he's one of the best blues singers the world has ever heard. I must admit, this album is a little bit difficult to listen to but Moonlight on Vermont is my jam! I love it. Also, their earlier work, such as Dropout Boogie is pretty awesome as well.
This album is the definition of an acquired taste
It's the fucking critics' fault that brad is reacting with an attitude like this honestly
I think this album is quite entertaining when the listener gets used to it, and I agree that it's a classic like other critics, but that's the POINT.
Overtime pretentious music critics have hyped up this album as this 'pinnacle of music' deep experimental philosophical album that stood the test of time 'cause of its musical inquiries, when I imagine even Captain Beefheart ultimately approached this album as a more artistically viable way of trolling. It is groundbreaking, but the whole point is that the ground that it breaks will never be stepped on in the first place. Outside of the lyrical 'themes', the statement pretty much ends on 'seriously approaching the art of KEKW'
It's truly & honestly not a classic because it is an avant-garde masterpiece but because it shattered the irony of 'making a point with music', something dudes like Frank Zappa was also doing, albeit with more musical coherence. This album got a false rep from people who tries to psychoanalyze memes and feel smart (Well, either that or, idk seeing a video of one brave guy breakdancing in a library and trying to analyze his mental state? It's a REACH is what I'm tryna say)
(All of the above, just my opinion idk)
11:36 the phrase "this shit ripping off swans" lmaooooo
dude trust me just read about his 'magic band.' its pure crazy. it kind of almost makes you appreciate the fact that they were able to make music at all 🤣side note: also read about how this album was recorded. if anything this band was waaayyy OVER Rehearsed. I think the story goes that Van Vliet had these dudes rehearsing for like 16 hours at a time
14 hours
I can't get over how this album keeps getting better the more I listen. What also contributed to my taste for this album was by listening to more jazz pioneers. John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman etc. Learn to listen to sound as it is instead of trying to expect it to be something you're used to. It won't be. It never will be.
Listening to a lot of early free jazz pioneers certainly makes this album sound a lot more tame, so when I come back to it it actually feels relatively danceable in comparison.
Ornette Coleman was a madlad
Yeah I hear a ton of Ornette Coleman and Cecil in it.
'Bongo Fury' is a must listen. Zappa and Beefheart.
Love that record
God he should react to more zappa
The drug abuse that must of took place
This is what I thought Trout Mask Replica was gonna be like, as it was my only other Beefheart project I've heard.
I was wrong :(
dachau blues is so good. all the dissonance makes it feel disturbing and scary in exactly the right way for the subject
I think the most distinct effect music like this has on me is that it makes all the music I listen to after sound so satisfying.
That's not even a joke, like I think this kind of music is just so antithetical to my brain's pattern seeking behavior, or its making patterns in all the wrong intervals, that when I listen to a normal, traditionally pretty sounding song it feels like a massive relief. Although, to be fair, I do have OCD? so my brain is literally not wired the same as most, but maybe you can get what I mean.
Weird because it has the other effect on me. After I listen to Trout Mask or maybe something like Michael Finnissy, and then switch to more mainstream music it feels like the music is boring and missing something
Mini ramble, but I think people who hate this album and people who praise it as some boundary-breaking masterpiece both have the same problem: they're overthinking it. I'm all for music criticism and discussion obv, but I've never felt the need to over-intellectualize this album like that. I think this album is just fun. Simple as that. People call it "pretentious" but I sometimes I just wanna listen to something crazy and off-the-wall because it has a good energy. That's probably the least pretentious way to listen to music imo. Just listen to shit that makes you feel good. Plenty of classic punk rock objectively sounds like shit too btw, but that doesn't mean it can't bang. Just my two cents. 🤷♂
None of what you said you enjoy conflicts with it being a boundary breaking masterpiece.
You make a good point. Way too many people feel the need to rationalise what they like in the context of everyone else because they're insecure about how toxic people are about music taste. Sometimes when people ask "why do people like this?" about something I like I just go "because I like it :) hope that helps"
I think this album is pretty poor but I don't need to pretend to psychoanalyze the people who like it just to feel good about myself because I've already accepted I don't like any of the shit I'm "supposed to" like MBDTF, Cavalcade, F# A#, Silk Sonic, The Strokes, Eminem, Pinkerton, Arcade Fire, The Weeknd, Nirvana.
What I said goes just as much for people who spend time insisting something popular is only liked by pretentious people as those who browse sites like RYM and go "wtf why is this lower than X album it should totally be top 100" like it fucking matters or that anyone cares what you think. No one cares what you think so stop caring about what others think
I agree. There isn't too much going on with this album apart that it is fun tbh. If you don't feel it is fun, it is just normal. There's a lot of things that are fun for a group of people and other group that feel it is the most atrocious thing they have witnessed.
My issue with this album is largely that most of the lyrics are just a bunch of random words. It feels like a predecessor to the worst kind of internet humour and it gets on my nerves to no end.
I wanted this album on vinyl for such a long time and I'm glad to say that I got it last Christmas from my father
And I now own it on cassette as well
This album was like a meme shitpost before meme shitposts were a thing. It's like designed to be a 0/10 album. I think it's a parody of avante garde music and people actually enjoyed it because drugs. And they probably also made it because drugs. And its considered a classic due to the nostalgic memories people have of thinking they enjoyed it while on drugs.
Best take
I don't think I dare listening to this on acid.
That’s what everyone thinks but if you watch the captain Beefheart documentary on RUclips you’ll see that is not what they had in mind and very much were into the music that they were making. To me this album isn’t SO extreme especially when compared to stuff like free jazz and other music pushing genres.
Why do people always say really experimental albums are “bad on purpose to be a parody of experimental albums” or some shit like that lol? Literally no one has ever done that (outside of that 1 vaporwave album I guess). You can hate it, but deriding it as a meaningless shitpost is straight up untrue
Literally just untrue
I love the album Bongo Fury to death, which is Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart with Frank's band, and I've never heard Trout Mask before, so I assumed it would be more of the same.
I was wrong :(
I would love to see your reaction to Faust- self titled 1971 or frank zappa- lumpy gravy
I would KILL for a lumpy gravy review
Dont forget meet the residents and in praise of learning
@@Nicohoho I agree, both great choices
He should do Scott Walker's Bish Boch next, that one is at least really entertaining because of the lyrics
I spoke to The Captain after one o' his shows 'n told him I believed his best album o' all was Lick My Decals Off, Baby...the follow up to Trout Mask Replica. He got really excited 'n enthusiastically agreed! If you have any interest in explorin' Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band any further this is essential listenin'. Slightly more sophisticated but ever so weird 'n wondrous.
Peon is such a wonderful song
You're right. It's both a classic and unlistenable junk. Red headphones all the way. I've owned a copy for decades, but never got further than 10 minutes either. All his other albums are much more fun. Start with "Safe As Milk" instead.
I do happen to like the album and I have liked it from the first listen. I was 17 and this was playing my my best friend's car and somehow it just clicked. It sounded like something so familiar and so alien. For those who are listening to it to learn to like it, you may just not like it, that's ok.
I suggest you to check out "Not Available" by The Residents. I'd call this album the most closest thing to "Trout Mask Replica" in terms of being alien, freaky and beautifully ugly.
One of the best albums of all time.
Well there is a reason that a genre of music exists called avant-garde, experimental music like this is certainly an acquired taste since it is weird, chaotic, doesn't follow the rules of music and musical structure. I like giving most experimental artists a listen since it is interesting to see what they can do with the music and what it sounds like. In the end though I think experimental music is the best example of music as art rather than just entertainment.
Art is pretty entertaining 🤪
How about he experiments with making good music
@@man4437 Whether or not music is good is subjective, I think experimental music is more interesting than a lot of the cookie cutter music that is out there because it looks at music as a form of art and tries to create something unique with that art. Tell me this kind of music is not unique.
It is very unique and it is not for everyone and music is not made for everyone. I imagine Captain Beefheart makes music for artsy types and I'm betting you are not an artsy type of person.
@@lordjustinian2913 i think there's some good tracks on here but so much of it comes of as pretentious
@@lordjustinian2913 Listen, I'm not some doofus who only listens to the top 40. If anything I think it doesn't go far enough. A lot of it is just quirky lyrics and rock music played weirdly which is the same problem I have with Black Midi. I've heard it before and it feels like you're putting lipstick on the pig. I wouldn't listen to these songs if they were played "normally" so I don't wanna listen to them just because there's no discernible rhythm either
My comment was kind of tongue-in-cheek btw
8:53
“Okay, this has got an actual groove”
15 seconds later
“Oh god, this is awful.”
Comparing this to mountain climbing is kinda apt cause I love this album and one of my big goals in life is to climb the 7 summits
when brad hasn’t heard free jazz
I friggin love this record! I have the album art tattooed on my leg.
This is exactly how you’re supposed to listen to this album
All that's missing is Yoko Ono
no but this is good
i sat here this whole time genuinely laughing like 60% of the time due to witnessing your torture
Hey I really appreciate you being a good sport and giving this album a fair chance.
Hey brad, remember when you gave MCR’s best album a 1/10
No way hi Billy
holy fuck this is the most ive laughed at a video like ever
TMR is a great album. It just takes several listens to "get" it. And the last minute of "Pachuco Cadaver" is pure gold. That's where the Magic Band proves they can boogie down! 😂
I could write pages on the technical brilliance of this thing
This album is so good that it’s so bad that it’s good.
I loved this album the first time I heard it back when I was 19, but I’ve never felt anywhere close to that much enjoyment listening to it any subsequent time. I like Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) and Doc At the Radar Station a lot more.
I love Ella Guru (edit: I actually thought he might like it lol)
Also, best thing is the fish on the album isn't even a Trout, it's a Koi
35:30 well, Captain Beefheart couldn't even read notes. He told someone how it should sound and that someone wrote it down. He didn't even care about rhytmns lol.
Pretty sure he'll like Veterans Days Poppy.
Also, when will you react to Meet the Residents?
My theory of this album is that it's kind of like different voices competing; which represents the increasing fragmentation of later stages of civilization. As he sings in "Bill's Corpse": "Various species grouped together according to their past beliefs"; that song, to me, represents the aftermath of a great war - when it's all over. Everybody died with the ones who believed in what they did. And in a way, the instruments remind me of competing factions, too - somebody even said it was like they were trying not to play together, or to lock into a groove; it's like they were always at odds. To me, this album is the naked sound of the apocalypse, to put it succinctly.
You gotta go back and listen to frowland after the end. You will love it then, its a weird effect
Best album ever made
If you do not listen at least ten times this album from start to finish then I argue one should not judge the album at all. Of course it sounds unbearable before you start to "get" it.
There's also more easy way: just by listening Beefheart's later stuff. It sounds less anarchic and more conventional. "Shiny Beast", "Doc at the Radar Station", "Ice Cream for Crow" - these will help newbies to get into Van Vliet's art. Scaruffi's analysis does teach a little bit how to perceive Beefheart's masterpieces, too.
I came to this album because I was bored of any other music, that night I listened front to back and loved it, ever since i've never been able to get it like I did then and it saddens me
GREATEST FUCKING ALBUM EVER FUCKING MADE
The real hero of the band is John French. AKA Drumbo.
Captain Beefheart came up with the ideas the tracks should sound by tapping on a piano. The captain was not trained playing instruments or reading notes. Mr French had the task of "translating" sounds into entire compositions and let the band rehearse them in a cult like setting.
It is like you have to translate an alien conversation into English and all you have are clicks and whispers and nothing else.
Bleeding fingers from playing too much, not eating for days, stealing food and being bailed out of jail. And when they were ready they recorde the entire album in one go of 90 minutes or so.
Hearing brad get it in real time is great
The welcome to the madhouse of the 60s
I don't get all the people complaining about this album, it's not that out there. a lot of the songs are just plain bangers
highly recommend everyone watch samuel andreyev's video about frownland. makes the whole record make sense
i unironically love this album so much i was one of the 0.01% of listeners. I hammer this album when i drive through the country. there are NO skips on this for me. it's deifnitely one of those albums that just has to click for you immediately. although some of the songs i love because they make me laugh in a way, i like how unserious it is. It did not take me 12 times, anyone who says that in my opinion is forcing it. some of the songs didnt immediately click for me like i think Pena made me feel like i was being murdered but i do like it now because it's so ridiculous.
My smile is stuck! I will not go back to your frownland!
I do appreciate this album more than I like it, it’s very out there musically and I don’t like all of the experiments.
Starting to notice all the inspirations that fed into the Neverhood and Atomicrops OST