Originally Posted by ladyislingering

Tonight I'm going to chronicle my feelings while listening to Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" for the first time in its entirety. I'm not going to edit anything in this post; everything I'm thinking and feeling while listening to the music will be freely expressed as it comes.

I've been meaning to understand why everyone with a liking for the strange and unusual has always praised this album as being some sort of groundbreaking work of wonder. I've read that this group had been in partnership with Frank Zappa, so I expect great things out of this experience.

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (1969)

Track listing:

1. "Frownland"
2. "The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back"
3. "Dachau Blues"
4. "Ella Guru"
5. "Hair Pie: Bake 1"
6. "Moonlight on Vermont"
7. "Pachuco Cadaver"
8. "Bills Corpse"
9. "Sweet Sweet Bulbs"
10. "Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish"
11. "China Pig"
12. "My Human Gets Me Blues"
13. "Dali's Car"
14. "Hair Pie: Bake 2"
15. "Pena"
16. "Well"
17. "When Big Joan Sets Up"
18. "Fallin' Ditch"
19. "Sugar 'n Spikes"
20. "Ant Man Bee"
21. "Orange Claw Hammer"
22. "Wild Life"
23. "She's Too Much for My Mirror"
24. "Hobo Chang Ba"
25. "The Blimp (mousetrapreplica)"
26. "Steal Softly thru Snow"
27. "Old Fart at Play"
28. "Veteran's Day Poppy"

To save on space I'll only be posting videos for the tracks I really, really dig.

Frownland

Lead vocalist's voice is a lot rougher than what I was expecting. There's a lot of clumsy percussive noises almost directly clashing with the lyrical content, which, in a different context would hold a little more weight (as they do sound very nice). The song ends abruptly.

The Dust Blows Forward n' The Dust Blows Back

I hear a needle drop on a record; the way I'm understanding this it sounds like a style pastiche of a blues/country record of days passed. There are no other sounds than constant white noise and a needle drop against some strange vocals with ridiculous, Zappa-esque (duh) lyrics. I'd almost say this was improvisational...

Dachau Blues



What the actual **** am I hearing right now? This isn't unpleasant or anything, just... strange, very strange. It's the first track with a slightly decent groove so far. The vocals are growing on me. Wasn't Dachau a concentration camp...?

Dyin' in the ovens...

Oh, yes... yes it was. Oh. Well this became just a little more disturbing. I actually think I can get into this. I can dig this. There's some speech at the end of the song. I wish I knew where it came from because it sounds pretty disturbing.

Ella Guru



I can dig this. It has a psychedelic bend to it. There's some kind of weird noise/vocals that remind me of early T. Rex recordings. There's a solid groove to this song that is actually rather enjoyable if you can stand the bizarre **** that's going on all around it.

Hair Pie: Bake 1



Saxophones. Just saxophones. Maybe an oboe? They sound like geese now. Maracas in the distance? Sort of Roxy Music-esque in a weird way (I don't think it'd be far fetched to say that Brian Eno was touched by Beefheart). Cymbals and bass. Oh, this is over 4 minutes long.

About 2 minutes in, this becomes slightly more interesting. There's a sort of groove that reminds me of a cross between Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix, though ultimately... experimental but not necessarily melodic enough to be psychedelic. I think I like this track best of all so far, actually.

There's a lull about 4 minutes in and I'm a little apprehensive. I think I hear Frank Zappa speaking. Ok, well, that was strange.

Moonlight on Vermont

It would take a few more listens before I could understand these lyrics; the way they're delivered is so unlike many others of the time. There's a lot going on, lyrically. I don't think I can take this in all at once but I'm really trying. There's a really simplistic bassline but I think that might just be the point of this whole thing. Simplicity delivered to the point of musical complexity. Pleasant percussion on this track. Not crazy about this one (yet).

Pachuco Cadaver

A squid eating dough in a polyethelene bag is fast and bulbous. Got me?

Uh... I... um. I ... I'm not sure if I do but I'm gonna try. Digging this groove so far. It's kind of funky but there is such a contrast between the vocals and the music. I'm picturing the lead vocalist as some sort of really chubby bearded guy who hasn't taken a shower in a couple weeks at the time of recording. It might just be me, but I don't think the lyrics make a lot of sense in some places. Where are these guys from? This doesn't sound like some kind of west coast thing.

Bills Corpse

How funny that this should follow a song about a cadaver. Ok, here comes the clumsy percussive noises, as uniform throughout the entire album thus far. I think this might be a song about a woman that killed someone and now she's at the gates of hell, but I can't tell. The delivery of the lyrics makes them difficult to understand. An ending that would seem abrupt but I don't think there's much more to go on beyond a minute and half.

Sweet Sweet Bulbs

I'm not drunk (yet) so I believe I'm thoroughly lost due to the sheer amount of elements a person has to embrace to enjoy this or begin to learn what it's all about. Another song about a strange woman. At least a third mentioning of something "bulb" related. I suspect this was an intelligent bunch of guys and a part of me sort of doubts the usage of drugs during the recording of this, but every part of me is saying "what the hell were these guys on?"

Neon Meate Dream of A Octafish



...A... a octafish? A? Oh god. No. This track is actually structurally similar to the 2nd track on the album. The lyrics definitely sound improvised, as if composed through word association or beat poetry. I'm rather enjoying this. There's a pretty solid groove of strange mellotronic stuff.

China Pig

Sounds like a lost basement tape so far. I'm hearing a typical guitar tune. And a typewriter? Is that a typewriter? Nice bluesy track, sort of reminds me of Janis Joplin's "Trouble in Mind" with that typewriter in the background. It's got a nice, soft feel to it. I'm not sure if this was intentional but it just seems to work (even with the strange cackling sounds at about the 2 minute mark). It all seems to work, just because you really don't know what you're expecting with Trout Mask Replica, but you're definitely not expecting anything you can actually imagine.

My Human Gets Me Blues

...So there's a dude staring down Jesus or some sort of ...

I'm not sure what's going on with this song. I'm trying. There's a few changes in dynamics throughout (that I can tell so far). About 2 and a half minutes in, there's a nice drum and bass groove that really pleases me.

Dali's Car



Digging this track so far. Sort of sounds like something you'd expect from Jefferson Airplane at the time. This song almost represents something similar to what any normal person would be used to. There isn't just one melody. There are many melodies. But they work. That ended more abruptly than I was prepared for. I actually wanted to hear more.

Hair Pie: Bake 2



I've heard this before. This track actually sounds a lot more psychedelic than the rest of the album, almost similar to 13th Floor Elevators. A nice instrumental so far. Several shifts in the song's dynamic keep it interesting without being too long. Love the end most of all. That's so weird.

4th mentioning of bulbous.

Pena

Here we go again with "fast and bulbous". Vocals in this song ... are... disturbing. Frantic.

"Made me vomit beautifully"...? Wh...at????

What the hell is going on?? This is weird, even for Zappa. This is inexplicably bizarre. This is beyond bizarre. I'm almost a little frightened.

Well

I suppose this is a nice palate cleanser. It's mainly just vocals for now. It sort of reminds me of something you'd hear from a homeless street musician. It's infinitely more pleasant than the track that came before (though honestly I sort of enjoyed it).

When Big Joan Sets Up



This track is actually somehow more pleasant than the one that came before. Again with the bizarre, frantic lyrics (though not as high-pitched as those heard in Pena) about 45 seconds in, it's just saxophone and drums. Ok. And the saxophone just goes ... on.... and on.... and on. It's not even melodic. Leads into a lot more noise. I guess this song is about a really large woman. I'm cracking up a little. I guess the narrator is too fat, too? But her "hands are too small". This is actually sort of funny. The main problem of Joan's is that her hands are too small.

...Is this groove going to go on for the remainder of the song?

...I guess it is?

Fallin' Ditch

Frank Zappa making weird noises. Ok, I can deal with this.

...Laser beans? What the hell are laser beans?

Never mind, more abrasive vocals. Again with the strangely pleasant changes of direction. What do these lyrics even mean?

Sugar n' Spikes



I think I'm liking this. The sound is fully digestible. Really love the drums in this track. Similar to what you'd hear in a popular garage rock tune. The sound is similar to what you'd expect from The Seeds. I think this ended sooner than I would have liked.

Ant Man Bee



Is that supposed to be an anagram of something?

No, I think it's just a song about ants. I don't think anything on this album is meant to be pulled apart and analyzed in any way at all. Ant...man...bee. Oh, boy, here comes the weird brass again. I actually really like this one.

Orange Claw Hammer

Sounds similar to China Pig in that it sounds like a basement tape of some sort, vocals only. Strange. Not hearing that typewriter sound, but I do think I hear a clicking sound (a reel to reel?). Seriously, where the hell are these guys from? I need to look this up.

Glendale, CA. Well. I'll be damned.

Wild Life

I like this one quite a bit better. I actually think my brain has completely shut down and caved to this sound, accepted it as one of my own. I'm on track 22/28 and I'm sort of feeling like this is going on a lot longer than it really needs to. Part of me is wondering what the point of this album is/was, and part of me is just really enjoying this bizarre barrage of sound.

She's Too Much For My Mirror



She howl like the wind...make my heart grow cold.


I'm actually enjoying this track. I don't understand the lyrical content just yet and I don't know why I'm so damn fixated on it, but this one's cool.

Hobo Chang Ba

Well, this is... sort of irritating, actually. And there's some sort of Christmas bells to be heard. Ugh. What is the purpose of this track? Seriously.

Just kind of waiting for this song to be over.

The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica)

The intro to this song is similar to what you'd almost expect out of the Mothers of Invention.

Distorted radio-esque vocals are enjoyable. Sounds like some dude freaking out about an alien invasion. Like they've come to take him to his home planet. It's actually kind of funny.

Steal Softly thru Snow

Sort of a pleasant melody. If you could call anything a melody in this madness.

Not terribly impressed or pleased, but not displeased. I like the bassline most of all. Does this band have die-hard fans? What kind of people are they?

Old Fart at Play

...Is that Frank Zappa? Another track that just sort of sounds like beat poetry (though more deliberate than Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish). This is actually beautiful in a way.

Veteran's Day Poppy



Last song. Remember earlier how I said the album just seemed to go on a lot longer than necessary? I take that back now. I sort of want to hear more. How is this already over? What a great song this is. This is brilliant. Some real rock music can be heard on this track. Heavy lyrics, too.

It's over now... well, that's disappointing.

Final thoughts: I need to listen to this again. It's weird, and confusing at face value but there's more to this album than what I know I'm hearing. There's always more to the things Frank Zappa has touched. I'll listen again soon. I almost feel like I have to, to fully appreciate whatever the hell I just listened to.

Overall rating: 6.5/10, would recommend to anyone who's fond of experimental/"different" sounds.