TROUT MASK REPLICA

This is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. I bought a copy in June 2003, because I was really into Frank Zappa at that time and when I saw that he produced this album, I knew this was an opportunity not to be missed. I owned this album for about a year before I finally fell in love with it...and that's because I had the patience to sit through several listens until I could finally see what the hubbub was all about! In fact, you might even call this album the musical equivalent of a Magic Eye. Simple explanation: when you look at a Magic Eye puzzle, it just looks like a bunch of meaningless sh*t, but if you cross your eyes and keep staring, a beautiful image appears. Just do the same thing with your ears and that's how you will enjoy this album. I can't possibly describe all the tracks in detail (after all, there are so many of them!!!), but the sounds range several sounds, including avant-garde jazz, Delta blues, country blues, jazz-rock, blues-rock, and jam rock. The Captain manages to change his voice for many of the tracks, the best of them being his Howlin' Wolf growl and his Hoy! Hoy! call at the beginning of "When Big Joan Sets Up" (one of my favorites on this album). This music may sound improvised, but it really isn't. It took Don Van Vliet almost a year to think up the lyrics and compose the music. The players on this album are actually playing WRITTEN sheet music, and it took the Magic Band almost ANOTHER year to learn how to play the songs properly. In fact, Van Vliet was so serious about how the album sounded, he actually put wooden covers on the windows to make the sessions run the way he wanted. So, basically, what sounds like a bunch of improvised bullsh*t is actually great jazz and blues flavored rock done VERY professionally.