Post by Kapitan on Jul 6, 2021 19:23:59 GMT
Captain Beefheart
Last Great - Trout Mask Replica. I actually like most of the Captain's output, but "great" is a strong word, and I'd argue Beefheart only hit it twice: once with his debut, Safe as Milk, and again with his best known album, the infamous Trout Mask Replica. Why is it great? Because it's a joyful, chaotic, noisy bundle of fun. However, I also gave some very serious consideration to...
Last Good - Bat Chain Puller. This the last one in terms of release date, though not recording date: the album was recorded in 1976 by Frank Zappa's DiscReet Records, but financial finagling led Zappa to withhold the master tapes. Beefheart re-recorded much of the material for his Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) in 1978. But I'm talking about the original, the one that was unreleased for decades, finally officially released in 2012. That 1976 album--his last studio album released, though not recorded--is very, very good. But I didn't quite go with great. For what it's worth, I would have selected the previous "last studio album," Ice Cream For Crow (1982) as the last good album if BCP were considered by recording instead of release date.
First Bad - Unconditionally Guaranteed. Coincidentally, when this 1974 album was much maligned by Beefheart's hardcore fans but still didn't make any impression on casual pop fans, Beefheart was quoted as telling fans to return the albums and request refunds. I guess that would be an unconditional guarantee. But the spirit of the thing is more in the cover, showing the Cap'n holding wads of cash. Alas, the sellout failed (as did its successor, his second bad album, Bluejeans and Moonbeams), as it peaked at #192 on the Billboard charts.