Cranium Classics.............
dukenotes | Athens, GA United States | 01/27/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I finally got this thing on CD. I don't want to reveal my age but I've had this thing since it came out. I upgraded from a cassette that was played too much and sat in hot cars too much. I prefer this album and "Doc at Radar.." over just about anything Beef and the MB did.Everyone talks about "Trout Mask" so much so I will too: To me, these later works by CB and the MB are superior. The band is tighter, the production is better, the Captain had refined his song poem style to perfection and studio/equipment was of higher quality."Trout Mask" by comparrison has dubious sound quality, lack of variation, and some writing which is not of this calibur, but perhaps that's just me. "Trout Mask" is a good bargain however and I rate it 5 stars also. What else besides other Beefheart albums can you compare these records to? None.... so these have to be 5 star albums.A few people have said they can hear his voice failing him on this record. I beg to differ. It's true he talks his way through alot of tracks, but he always did. Just listen to "Trout Mask" again and confirm it.Anyway, he sings most songs here, "Ice Cream", "Ink Mathmatics", "The Witch Doctor Life" "The Past Sure is Tense", etc. He's in tune, his voice is powerful, the tunes are catchy, the band is on fire. It's really some of the most realized work of his career.About the only songs that aren't as realized by the band are "Cardboard Cutout", "SKeleton" and "Hey Garland" but that's just because the band doesn't appear to have hashed out what they are doing as much. His lyrics of course are cool on all songs and "Poop Hatch" is one of his best spoken pieces ever.Highly recommended!"
Way way out there....
Gerth Mirthful | 08/30/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"And yes, that is what a human totem pole actually sounds like. That said, this is probably a lot easier to get into than Trout Mask, as in it's got more songs resembling what most people consider music, but its still very "inaccessible" music for the most part. To me though, its a logical progression from the two proceeding albums, Doc at the Radar Station and Shiny Beast. I wouldn't try tackling this one without having exhausted these two brilliant albums first. I will say, this one is very interesting, like just about anything Beefheart's done, and it is growing on me. What would the music world be like without him..."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
