OPO: Beefheart's Final Triad

Dammer, this pic was supposed to go up here too:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/juicyfrt/CaptainBeefheartHisMagicBand_zps28ffd394.jpg

I scream, you scream, we all scream for crow

the past sure is tense!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqRHr5pEIFU

^ love this so much

Semi Multicoloured Caucasian has a cool peak-era Meat Puppets vibe to it

When I see mommy I feel like a mummy!

"Run Paint Run Run" is also epic.

totally

Doc was the second Beefheart record I ever heard, so it's got much more of a grip on me than the other two. Plus, Shiny Beast has some of the CB songs I hate the most - "Harry Irene," "Tropical Hot Dog Night."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQEmdAiEnQc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQEmdAiEnQc

Doc at the Radar Station - i used to have this tape of an interview he did about time of its release, so obtuse but with warmth & such a mischievous sense of humour

Doc

"Shiny Beast" for me - I've come to appreciate the orchestrations of it all.

"Ice Cream For Crow" kinda depresses me - the material's great but I hate hearing that voice deteriorate. That moment in "81 Poop Hatch" where he runs out of breath halfway through a line.

Doc >>> Beast >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ice Cream

it really feels like his prog apotheosis

Uhhhhh, what?

"Ice Cream For Crow" kinda depresses me - the material's great but I hate hearing that voice deteriorate. That moment in "81 Poop Hatch" where he runs out of breath halfway through a line.

OTM except that "81 Poop Hatch" was recorded before both "Shiny Beast" and "Doc"! His voice was on the wane on those two albums too imo.

Shiny Beast is his best sounding album, and I love, love "Tropical Hot Dog Night," it's so lush and vivid you can feel the humidity and hear the colors of the flamingos in a fruit fight. A few tracks feel kind of throwaway making it seem relatively lightweight, but I suspect the illusion is intentional.

Doc is all hard edges and fits well in the post-punk landscape with Pere Ubu, P.i.L., Pop Group, etc. without giving away any sort of evidence that he'd ever heard those bands let alone heard of them. Really it was just good timing that his influence was finally being heard. Probably the most easily impressive and likely winner of this little poll, but also harder to love than Clear Spot or Shiny Beast.

Ice Cream is often my favorite simply because it has the most songs that I enjoy in repeated listenings. The dry, brittle, autumnal sound is brilliant, his cracked voice obviously intentional, as is the melancholia. Also, it's his most subversively catchy guitar music since Clear Spot. Listen to the dualing guitar lines from Gary Lucas and Jeff Moris Tepper on "The Witch Doctor Life" and the heartbreaking melody at :46 in "Skeleton Makes Good," most of "Cardboard Cutout Sundown" and the riffs near the end of "The Past Sure Is Tense." Maybe some people don't like how the Captain has dispensed with most vocal melodies by this point. I have to think that too was intentional, to focus attention on his amazing band, and some of the most emotionally powerful lyrics of his career.

I really don't think it was intentional, just think his voice was in decline. Production on "Ice Cream" is kind of flat too. Agree that it has great music on it though!

It's possible he was already experiencing symptoms of MS back in '81, but from some live footage I've seen at the time, his voice seemed as powerful as ever. If he did not want his voice to crack, I do not think he would have chosen that take.

Doc is all hard edges and fits well in the post-punk landscape with Pere Ubu, P.i.L., Pop Group, etc. without giving away any sort of evidence that he'd ever heard those bands let alone heard of them.

his band would have though

I discovered the Captain through his legendary SNL performance so Doc was the obvious entry point for me. In the end Hot Head and Ashtray Heart are probably the least interesting songs in it. "Sue Egypt" is my all time fave.

"Dirty Blue Gene" is such a great song.

Hey now, "Sheriff of Hong Kong"!!!!

Voted "shiny beast", but "Dirty Blue Gene" may be the best thing he ever did.

I'm sure everyone reading this thread has heard it, but just in case:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt75lxDooP0

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Doc in non-shocka

Bit surprised it won so easily and Shiny Beast was 3rd