DOC AT THE RADAR STATION

The thing is, Captain Beefheart was never really a man of his time other than his earliest career phase (and I really like his debut, SAFE AS MILK, despite the 60's overtones). If you haven't been initiated with Captain Beefheart, he has a music style that is rough, jagged, avant-garde and seemingly difficult to digest, yet there's always a fine line underneath the chaos that keeps the music together. Stomping beats, swinging tempos, bluesy rock guitars, the occasional delve into abstract poetry; it's all here for Beefheart fans to soak up and enjoy.

Some of what is familiar Beefheart territory is best described in ''Hot Head'', ''Sheriff of Hong Kong'', ''Best Batch Yet'' and ''Run Paint Run Run'' (my overall favourite cut). There are a few others can get a little dicey. ''Making Love to a Vampire with a Monkey on My Knee'' is as weird as the title suggests as it's nothing more than mellotron washes underneath unusual fantasies. ''A Carrot is as Close as a Rabbit Gets to a Diamond'' sounds a little out of place concerning the overall style of the album (in contrast, this song is a restrained piano/guitar interlude), but warranted given that it's slotted between two rough-and-tumble numbers. And the Beefheart voice of Mr. Hyde and Mr. Hyde is in full throttle going from constipated old man to ''out-of-breath-after- getting-punched-in-the-stomach'' vocals, and yet Beefheart still makes those sound plausible.

DOC AT THE RADAR STATION is one of the more digestible Captain Beefheart albums I have come across, and considering that his trademark style is splattered all over the album, I'd say this is a good starting point for the uninitiated. This album proves that you can base yourself in avant- garde overtones and still have hooks in your music.

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