Misc - Captain Beefheart,The Magic Band Album Review
Album shots
Album Review
- Unconditionally Guaranteed (1974)
- Rating:3/5
- Bluejeans & Moonbeams (1974)
- Rating: Rating- ***
- Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (1978)
- Rating:0/5
- Doc At The Radar Station (1980)
- Rating:0/5
- Ice Cram For Crow (1982)
- Rating:0/5
- Live In London (Drury Lane 1974) (Previously unavailable)
- Rating:1/5
Only one of these titles, Ice Cream For Crow, charted in the UK charts in 1982 (no.90) and it’s pretty easy to see why. Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart has always been a cult figure rather than a commercial success in the UK, though it’s thought that his subsequent influence on Punk and New Wave was ‘incalculable’. That is open to question. A simultaneous release of the above albums is guaranteed to bring the spotlight once again on the 1982 ‘retired’ troubadour. Nowadays preferring to paint at his Mojave Desert home( making few public appearances possibly due to his reported multiple sclerosis ) , Beefheart, who had a rotating choice of musicians under the banner of The Magic Band (which one-time included Ry Cooder ) was a singer and capable harmonica player, along with some adventurous sax playing, described as ‘untrained free jazz’. These albums span eight years of eclectic music, few accessible and some down right weird and annoyingly grating. Ultimately, it was his grand experimentation that would prove to be his commercial downfall, though he has to be credited for not selling-out. In a nutshell, he’s an acquired taste. Disc 1, has some effective alt-blues like Sugar Bowl, through to the mellower Magic Be, the harmonica fuelled Full Moon Hot Sun and country rocker Peaches. Highlights of Bluejeans and Moonbeams range from the divinely simplistic Observatory Crest, dripping with pedal steel sojourns, to the floaty mid-paced Further Than We’ve Gone. Closer, Bluejeans and Moonbeams, is a graceful synth-driven gem. Third disc Shiny Beast opens with a cacophonous blast – The Floppy Boot Stomp, endorsing his outrageous experimentation along with turgid Ice Rose and You Know You’re A Man. Bat Chain Puller and Owed T’Alex are nothing short of musical disasters, with the exception of slow-stomper Harry Irene, without doubt the Captain’s best song ever. Spoken word Apes-Ma beggars belief.
Doc At The Radar Station and Ice Cream For Crow sound like a man who’s totally lost the plot, containing mostly bizarre musak.The live album recorded at Drury Lane in ’74 is hardly a thrilling experience, with Peaches proving the only highlight.
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