TROUT MASK REPLICA

If there was ever a more enigmatic recording in rock history than Trout Mask Replica, I certainly haven't heard it. It's the one recording that you either get from the word go, or you don't get. It has been described as an acquired taste, but I disagree. You either get it, or you don't. Period. Trout Mask Replica is to rock music what Kandinsky's post-Blue Rider abstract paintings were to fine art, and what Stravinsky's riot-inciting Rte of Spring was to ballet.

To most listeners, Trout Mask Replica sounds like pure noise. This surely can't be music. Can it? From the opening bars of "Frownland", it sounds like each musician is playing a different tune than the other musicians. Where is the beat? Where is the melody? It's there, but if your idea of good music is a hook and good beat, you certianly won't be able to hear it. The beat and melody are a little more prevalent on the more "accessible" songs like "When Big Joan Sets Up", "Ant Man Bee", and "Moonlight On Vermont".

The rest of the double album is pure avente garde blues & free jazz magic. "Hair Pie Bake 1" and "Hair Pie Bake 2" are darn fine instrumental tracks, and they feature the amazing guitar work of one or rock's truly underrated guitarists, Zoot Horn Rollo. "The Blimp" is a hilarious track with producer Frank Zappa declaring, "it's beautiful!". Other highlights include "Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish", "Dacchau Blues", "She's Too Much for My Mirror", and "Pachuco Cadaver".