Captain Beefheart Albums (15)
'Captain's Last Live Concert'
Release Date 4/24/2006
Tracks 23
Label Ozit
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Magnetic Hands: Live in the UK'
Release Date 9/10/2002
Tracks 18
Label Import
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What The Critics Say
This live recording of Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band was taken from a London date during one of the more fierce peaks of the band's existence, the same period that produced the overlooked classic masterpiece Clear Spot. Though the session was intended to produce a live album for Virgin, the release never materialized, though the versions of "Mirror Man" and "Upon the Me Oh My" came out of the 1975 Virgin sampler V. Thanks to the obscure Portuguese imprint Movie Play Gold, highlights from the concert made it onto CD at a concise 40 minutes. The disc features nine tracks of full-tilt Magic Band mayhem on "Full Moon Hot Sun," "Sugar Bowl," "Crazy Little Thing," "This Is the Day," "New Electric Ride," as well as older '60s classics like "Abba Zabba" and "Peaches." The CD has exceptional sound quality, while some other live Captain Beefheart from the same period fares a little rough in recording quality. This comes highly recommended as an opportunity to hear the Magic Band at an all-time high. ~ Skip Jansen, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
With yet one final Magic Band lineup in place, featuring Richard Snyder on bass and Cliff Martinez on drums alongside returning vets Jeff Moris Tepper and Gary Lucas, Beefheart put the final touch on his recording career to date with Ice Cream for Crow. It's a last entertaining blast of wigginess from one of the few truly independent artists in late 20th century pop music, with humor, skill, and style all still intact (as even the song titles like "Semi-Multicoloured Caucasian" and "Cardboard Cutout Sundown" show). With the Magic Band turning out more choppy rhythms, unexpected guitar lines, and outré arrangements, Captain Beefheart lets everything run wild as always, with successful results. Sometimes he sounds less like the blues shouter of lore and more of a spoken word artist with an attitude, thus the stuttering flow of "The Host the Ghost the Most Holy." "Hey Garland, I Dig Your Tweed Coat" is even more entertainingly outrageous, Beefheart's addictive if near impenetrable ramble about tobacco juice and straw hats and more backed by an insanely great arrangement. Magic Band members each get chances to shine one way or another -- "Evening Bell" in particular demonstrates why Lucas went on to later solo renown, a complex, suddenly shifting solo instrumental that sits somewhere between background music and head-scratching "how did he do that?" intrigue. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
'Doc at the Radar Station'
Release Date 1/1/1980
Tracks 12
Label Virgin
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What The Critics Say
Generally acclaimed as the strongest album of his comeback, and by some as his best since Trout Mask Replica, Doc at the Radar Station had a tough, lean sound owing partly to the virtuosic new version of the Magic Band (featuring future Pixies sideman Eric Drew Feldman, New York downtown-scene guitarist Gary Lucas, and a returning John "Drumbo" French, among others) and partly to the clear, stripped-down production, which augmented the Captain's basic dual-guitar interplay and jumpy rhythms with extra percussion instruments and touches of Shiny Beast's synths and trombones. Many of the songs on Doc either reworked or fully developed unused material composed around the time of the creatively fertile Trout Mask sessions, which adds to the spirited performances. Even if the Captain's voice isn't quite what it once was, Doc at the Radar Station is an excellent, focused consolidation of Beefheart's past and then-present. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
'Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)'
Release Date 1/1/1978
Tracks 12
Label Warner Bros.
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What The Critics Say
So titled because the original album, simply titled Bat Chain Puller, had to be ditched and rerecorded after a legal tuzzle involving Frank Zappa's manager, Shiny Beast turned out to be manna from heaven for those feeling Beefheart had lost his way on his two Mercury albums. Then again, what else could be assumed with a song titled "Tropical Hot Dog Night" that sounds like what happened when Beefheart encountered Miami disco and decided to make something of it? When it comes to singing, though, he's still the atypical growler, snarler and more of lore, conjuring up more wonderfully odd lyrical stories than can easily be measured, while the album as a whole gets steadily more and more bent. "You Know You're a Man" is at once straightforward and incredibly weird when it comes to love and gender, while other standouts include "Bat Chain Puller," a steady chugger that feels like a goofy death march, and the nervy freak of "Owed T'Alex." As for the Magic Band in general, keyboardist Eric Drew Feldman, guitarists Jeff Tepper and Richard Redus and drummer Robert Williams lay down the business with appropriately gone aplomb, as a listen to "Suction Prints" will demonstrate. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
'Unconditionally Guaranteed'
Release Date 1/1/1974
Tracks 10
Label Mercury
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What The Critics Say
A single-minded vision is watered down as the songwriting is shared with wife Jane Van Vliet and producer Andy DiMartino. One of two 1974 Beefheart albums produced by DiMartino, this one has a slight edge over Bluejeans and Moonbeams. The difference is that this release features four longtime Magic Band members, led by guitarists Zoot Horn Rollo and Alex St. Claire. ~ Mark Allan, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
About the best one can say about 1974's Bluejeans & Moonbeams is that it's not as bad as his other release of the year, Unconditionally Guaranteed. In fact, there are two tracks, the pretty reverie "Observatory Crest" and the stomping blues-rocker "Party of Special Things to Do," that are actually quite good. The rest of the album, however, is fairly dire. Recorded with anonymous studio musicians who are clearly out of their league and glossed to a soul-less polish by producer Andy DiMartino, Bluejeans & Moonbeams never catches fire even at its best, and its worst tracks -- those would be "Pompadour Swamp" and the utterly wretched proto-disco "Captain's Holiday" -- are the worst things that have ever borne the Captain Beefheart name. Captain Beefheart would eventually return with the revitalized Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) in 1978, but Bluejeans & Moonbeams sounds like a tired and cynical make-work project. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
On Spotlight Beefheart took over full production duties. Rather than returning to the artistic aggro of Trout Mask/Decals days, Spotlight takes things lower and looser, with a lot of typical Beefheart fun crawling around in weird, strange ways. Consider the ominous opening cut "I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby" -it isn't just the title and Beefheart's breathy growl, but Rockette Morton's purring bass, Zoot Horn Rollo's snarling guitar, Ed Marimba's brisk fade on the cymbals again and again, and more. The overall atmosphere is definitely relaxed and fun, maybe one step up from a jam. Marimba's vibes and other percussion work -- including, of course, the marimba itself -- stand out quite a bit here as a result, perhaps, brought out from behind the drums and the more straightforward work on Clear Spot. Consider "When It Blows Its Stacks," with its unexpected breaks into more playful parts, or "Alice in Blunderland"'s admittedly more aimless approach, but vibing along well nonetheless. Sometimes things do sound maybe just a little too blasé, but Beefheart at his worst still has something more than most groups at their best. Spotlight does have one stone-cold Beefheart classic -- "Grow Fins," an understated number with fine harmonica and a brilliant lyric about getting so tired of his woman that the best option is to take to the sea and fall in love with a mermaid. Another song, though, does have an all-time great title -- "There Ain't No Santa Claus on the Evenin' Stage." Definite fun touch -- the cover photo of Beefheart looking great in a classic Nudie suit, outlined in yellow light to boot. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
