FAUST

The soundtrack for when you're on a merry-go-round and just about to throw up.

The crazed world of Faust began with this stimulating oddity from '71. A bit like Stockhausen jamming with Can where an assembly of cacophonous sound effects mixed with tortured guitars and vocals make this an album you won't forget.

Clearly the kind of music your mum and dad would loathe even though they're the same age as these guys. Commendably uninspired by American and British music of the same period Faust set out on a path untramelled by any of their predecessors. Isolating themselves in a converted schoolhouse in Wümme probably helped the album along no end, but certainly not their sanity.

The lyrics are meaningless and would have been better off left in German, but the sheer weight of ideas present are enough to fill three albums. Plainly speaking, this makes Beefheart sound top 40.

The strange thing is that it doesn't sound weird for weirdness sake, just genuinely unhinged.