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Teflon Peter Christ (talk | contribs) →Reception and legacy: + more from Bangs and Christgau |
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{{Short description|American rock album}} |
{{Short description|American rock album}} |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2019}} |
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| rev3score = 10/10<ref>{{cite web|title=Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/captain-beefheart-and-his-magic-band-trout-mask-replica/|work=Pitchfork|accessdate=April 28, 2018}}</ref> |
| rev3score = 10/10<ref>{{cite web|title=Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/captain-beefheart-and-his-magic-band-trout-mask-replica/|work=Pitchfork|accessdate=April 28, 2018}}</ref> |
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| rev4 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' |
| rev4 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' |
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| rev4Score = {{Rating |
| rev4Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|title= Q|date= November 1994|url= http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=60266257&loc=109&PageFormat=7|magazine= [[Q (magazine)|Q]]|page= 136|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130102044719/http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=60266257&loc=109&PageFormat=7|archive-date= January 2, 2013|access-date= February 5, 2018|url-status= dead}}</ref> |
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| rev5 = [[Rolling Stone]] |
| rev5 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' |
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| rev5Score = |
| rev5Score = {{Rating |5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Rolling Stone Album Guide – 5 Star Record List 1983|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rs5star_ed1.htm|work=Rocklist.net|accessdate=July 10, 2013}}</ref> |
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| rev6 = ''[[ |
| rev6 = ''[[The Village Voice]]'' |
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| rev6Score = B+<ref name="VV"/> |
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| rev6Score = {{Rating |5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Rolling Stone Album Guide – 5 Star Record List 1983|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rs5star_ed1.htm|work=Rocklist.net|accessdate=July 10, 2013}}</ref> |
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''Trout Mask Replica'' is considered to be Captain Beefheart's [[Masterpiece|''magnum opus'']],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&pg=PT177|title=The Rough Guide to Rock|last=Buckley|first=Peter|date=2003|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=9781843531050|language=en}}</ref> and has appeared on lists of the greatest albums of all time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://acclaimedmusic.net/album/A154.htm|title=Acclaimed Music|website=acclaimedmusic.net|access-date=October 6, 2018}}</ref> [[BBC]] [[disc jockey]] [[John Peel]] said of the album, "If there has been anything in the history of popular music which could be described as a work of art in a way that people who are involved in other areas of art would understand, then ''Trout Mask Replica'' is probably that work."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.furious.com/Perfect/beefheart/troutmaskreplica3.html |title=Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band: ''Trout Mask Replica'' |accessdate=December 9, 2007 |last=Barnes |first=Mike |date=February 1999 |publisher=Perfect Sound Forever |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120133945/http://www.furious.com/Perfect/beefheart/troutmaskreplica3.html |archive-date=November 20, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Lester Bangs]] wrote that "it was not even 'ahead' of its time in 1969. Then and now, it stands outside time, trends, fads, hypes, the rise and fall of whole genres eclectic as walking Christmas trees, constituting a genre unto itself: truly, a musical Monolith if ever there was one."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEeovH2wN9kC&pg=PA188|title=Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader|last=Bangs|first=Lester|date=December 10, 2008|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=9780307487896|language=en}}</ref> Steve Huey of [[AllMusic]] lauded the album as "stunningly imaginative", and wrote that its influence "was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point. However, its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless experiments in rock surrealism to follow, especially during the [[punk rock|punk]]/[[New wave music|new wave]] era."<ref name="Allmusic">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/trout-mask-replica-mw0000202766 |author=Steve Huey |title=Trout Mask Replica > Review |accessdate=May 16, 2016 |website=AllMusic }}</ref> |
''Trout Mask Replica'' is considered to be Captain Beefheart's [[Masterpiece|''magnum opus'']],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&pg=PT177|title=The Rough Guide to Rock|last=Buckley|first=Peter|date=2003|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=9781843531050|language=en}}</ref> and has appeared on lists of the greatest albums of all time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://acclaimedmusic.net/album/A154.htm|title=Acclaimed Music|website=acclaimedmusic.net|access-date=October 6, 2018}}</ref> [[BBC]] [[disc jockey]] [[John Peel]] said of the album, "If there has been anything in the history of popular music which could be described as a work of art in a way that people who are involved in other areas of art would understand, then ''Trout Mask Replica'' is probably that work."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.furious.com/Perfect/beefheart/troutmaskreplica3.html |title=Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band: ''Trout Mask Replica'' |accessdate=December 9, 2007 |last=Barnes |first=Mike |date=February 1999 |publisher=Perfect Sound Forever |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120133945/http://www.furious.com/Perfect/beefheart/troutmaskreplica3.html |archive-date=November 20, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Lester Bangs]], in his original review for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' in 1969, hailed the album as "a total success, a brilliant, stunning enlargement and clarification of [Captain Beefheart's] art", and said that, on "a purely verbal level", it is "an explosion of maniacal free-association incantations".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bangs |first=Lester |date=July 26, 1969 |title=Trout Mask Replica |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/trout-mask-replica-19690726 |journal=[[Rolling Stone]] |issue=38 |pages=37 |location=San Francisco |publisher=Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. |accessdate=September 10, 2015 }}</ref> Years later, he wrote that "it was not even 'ahead' of its time in 1969. Then and now, it stands outside time, trends, fads, hypes, the rise and fall of whole genres eclectic as walking Christmas trees, constituting a genre unto itself: truly, a musical Monolith if ever there was one."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEeovH2wN9kC&pg=PA188|title=Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader|last=Bangs|first=Lester|date=December 10, 2008|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=9780307487896|language=en}}</ref> Steve Huey of [[AllMusic]] lauded the album as "stunningly imaginative", and wrote that its influence "was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point. However, its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless experiments in rock surrealism to follow, especially during the [[punk rock|punk]]/[[New wave music|new wave]] era."<ref name="Allmusic">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/trout-mask-replica-mw0000202766 |author=Steve Huey |title=Trout Mask Replica > Review |accessdate=May 16, 2016 |website=AllMusic }}</ref> |
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The album's unconventional nature often alienates new listeners. Cartoonist and writer [[Matt Groening]] tells of listening to ''Trout Mask Replica'' at the age of fifteen: "I thought it was the worst thing I'd ever heard. I said to myself, they're not even trying! It was just a sloppy cacophony. Then I listened to it a couple more times, because I couldn't believe Frank Zappa could do this to me – and because a double album cost a lot of money. About the third time, I realised they were doing it on purpose; they meant it to sound exactly this way. About the sixth or seventh time, it clicked in, and I thought it was the greatest album I'd ever heard".<ref name="artist formerly known"/><ref>{{cite web |author=Graham Johnston |url=http://www.beefheart.com/datharp/groening.htm |title=The Captain Beefheart Radar Station – Plastic Factory |publisher=Beefheart.com |accessdate=June 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014064327/http://www.beefheart.com/datharp/groening.htm |archivedate=October 14, 2009 }}</ref> John Harris of ''[[The Guardian]]'' later discussed the idea that the album requires several listens to "get it", concluding it still sounded "awful" after six listens.<ref name="guardian1">{{cite news |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1836207,00.html |title=Mission: unlistenable |last= Harris|first=John | work=The Guardian | location=London | date=August 4, 2006 | accessdate=May 26, 2010}}</ref> Critic [[Robert Christgau]] |
The album's unconventional nature often alienates new listeners. Cartoonist and writer [[Matt Groening]] tells of listening to ''Trout Mask Replica'' at the age of fifteen: "I thought it was the worst thing I'd ever heard. I said to myself, they're not even trying! It was just a sloppy cacophony. Then I listened to it a couple more times, because I couldn't believe Frank Zappa could do this to me – and because a double album cost a lot of money. About the third time, I realised they were doing it on purpose; they meant it to sound exactly this way. About the sixth or seventh time, it clicked in, and I thought it was the greatest album I'd ever heard".<ref name="artist formerly known"/><ref>{{cite web |author=Graham Johnston |url=http://www.beefheart.com/datharp/groening.htm |title=The Captain Beefheart Radar Station – Plastic Factory |publisher=Beefheart.com |accessdate=June 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014064327/http://www.beefheart.com/datharp/groening.htm |archivedate=October 14, 2009 }}</ref> John Harris of ''[[The Guardian]]'' later discussed the idea that the album requires several listens to "get it", concluding it still sounded "awful" after six listens.<ref name="guardian1">{{cite news |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1836207,00.html |title=Mission: unlistenable |last= Harris|first=John | work=The Guardian | location=London | date=August 4, 2006 | accessdate=May 26, 2010}}</ref> Critic [[Robert Christgau]], in his 1969 "Consumer Guide" for ''[[The Village Voice]]'', said that its "weirdness" prevented him from granting it a higher grade, even though it is "great played at high volume when you're feeling shitty, because you'll never feel as shitty as this record".<ref name="VV">{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Christgau|date=December 11, 1969|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cg5.php|title=Consumer Guide (5)|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|accessdate=October 5, 2020|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref> Filmmaker [[David Lynch]] has called ''Trout Mask Replica'' his favorite album of all time<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/david-lynch-angelo-badalamenti-talk-experimental-album-thought-gang-749688/ David Lynch, Angelo Badalamenti Talk Lost Thought Gang Album - Rolling Stone]</ref><ref>[https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-lynch-captain-beefheart-pena-song/ David Lynch reciting Captain Beefheart track 'Pena'|Far Out Magazine]</ref> and [[John Lydon]] has also listed it as one of the albums that shaped him, arguing, "It was anti-music in the most interesting and insane way ... all the bum notes I was being told off for by the teachers were finally being released by well-known artists. That was my confirmation. From then on, there was room for everything."<ref>{{Cite web|first=Daniel Dylan|last=Wray|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/5-10-15-20/9995-john-lydon-on-the-music-that-made-him/|title=John Lydon on the Music That Made Him|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=December 15, 2016|access-date=October 6, 2018}}</ref> Academic [[Langdon Winner]] referred to it as "the most astounding and important work of art ever to appear on a phonograph record".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8212544/Captain-Beefheart.html|title=Captain Beefheart|date=December 19, 2010|access-date=October 6, 2018|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> |
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Included in [[the Mothers of Invention]]'s ''[[Uncle Meat]]'' gatefold was a small book including references to the songs "Pachuco Cadaver" and "Moonlight on Vermont". In an October 1991 interview with ''[[Guitar Player]]'' magazine, when asked about his influences, guitarist [[John Frusciante]] of [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] said, "the most important inspiration is undoubtedly [[Zoot Horn Rollo]]’s playing on Captain Beefheart's ''Trout Mask Replica''. If I listen to it first thing in the morning, I’m assured of a day of unbridled creativity."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gore|first1=Joe|title=The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Gods of Sex Funk|journal=[[Guitar Player]]|date=October 1991|url=http://thechilisource.com/guitar-player-october-1991/|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref> |
Included in [[the Mothers of Invention]]'s ''[[Uncle Meat]]'' gatefold was a small book including references to the songs "Pachuco Cadaver" and "Moonlight on Vermont". In an October 1991 interview with ''[[Guitar Player]]'' magazine, when asked about his influences, guitarist [[John Frusciante]] of [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] said, "the most important inspiration is undoubtedly [[Zoot Horn Rollo]]’s playing on Captain Beefheart's ''Trout Mask Replica''. If I listen to it first thing in the morning, I’m assured of a day of unbridled creativity."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gore|first1=Joe|title=The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Gods of Sex Funk|journal=[[Guitar Player]]|date=October 1991|url=http://thechilisource.com/guitar-player-october-1991/|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref> |