[TSBA - 60s - Qualifiers Round 3] BEST CAPT. BEEFHEART ALBUM

I doubt anyone would have voted for it, but Strictly Personal deserves to be listed too. Overlooked for a reason, it's a complete transition record but definitely worth peoples time.

It has to be Trout Mask. I remember thinking it sounded like an actual joke the first time I heard it & couldn't believe anybody would actually enjoy it. As time went on it slowly revealed itself bit by bit. It's a complete one-off piece of art, nobody has ever come close to making anything similar in scope. The debut is bloody good, full of great tunes but its basically a band doing a bit of blues-rock/garage with a singer doing a Howling Wolf impression. it's fucking great, but it isn't Trout Mask.

I can also understand Trout Mask not being to everyone's tastes. Safe as Milk IS the safe option... JUST LIKE ALL THOSE FUCKS THAT VOTED FOR ABBEY ROAD.

Trout Mask.
Safe as Milk is one of the greatest albums of the 60s, no doubt, but Trout Mask exists on a level of its own and it was something that was never done before. Free Jazz had hinted at the possibility of doing something that wasn't restrained by canonical musical rules, but Trout Mask is completely different, it's not free - it's actually painstakingly written and meticolously rehearsed to be performed as is, repeatedly.
I still remember the moment it clicked, for me. It was when, in my head, Ella Guru and The Coral's Skeleton Key overlapped. It was then that I started realising that the musical elements were there, it was up to me to find them and connect them.

I think it made me a better music listener. Well either that, or it fried my brain.

I quite enjoy Trout Mask but it's simply too bloody long for what it is. It could have been half its length and all those points you mention would still be valid. So...

Any of you guys into Captain Beefheart?

This one interests me as I know nothing of Captain Beefheart.

I am glad I only have to listen to two albums.

Yeah, only five people voted, one third of the people who voted in the Beatles poll - that's strange, most of us should be familiar with these two albums at least enough to cast a vote

I can honestly say i've never listened to either.

Beefheart has completely passed me by. And i'm ok with that.

I'm not OK with it!

I feel like i've gone too far in life now to spend time getting to know Beefheart.

He's near the bottom of a long list of older stuff I want to explore.

Hold on in there mate, you've so much left to give!

I'm devoting my remaining 30 years to become an absolute jazz bore.

I think this is where I will eventually head. Though I don't think I'll last another 30 years, especially if they start making 4 fingered chunky kitkats.

I'm excited for the next poll. These threads are essential since our leader & moderator has turned his back on the forum.

This basically. I assume most people have a similar experience with Trout Mask, it's impenetrable on first listen, in fact probably on the first ten listens, but there is something there that brings you back if you're of a certain disposition, took me years but basically every other musician you grow to love keep telling you that they love it so it forces you back. I think probably the Coral referencing it early made me initially try it and then the Fall and so on.

When it eventually reveals itself, it's a whole other experience to your initial listens which makes it extremely unique in that sense. it's obviously designed to do that, with all the polyrhythms and polymeters going on, as your brain starts to hear this, you're literally experiencing something completely different to what you first heard. Incredible.

are we getting a new poll today? please don't do one for anything shit like pink floyd!

Yeah we're getting a new poll tonight.
We're having a couple more qualifiers and then we can move on to the real playoff thingy.
I've come up with a list of 32 albums that I think will make most people happy (or piss off everybody - we shall see). We could easily get to 48, but there will be too many records most people won't be that familiar with.
I'm planning a Champions League-style draw, with the winning albums getting shuffled each round so there's no rigging and no tactical voting.

TROUT MASK REPLICA as been voted the best Captain Beefheart album of the 60s and will advance to the knockout stages.