Captain Beefheart - Safe As Milk
As the title implies, this album certainly isn't Captain Beefheart's most adventurous or experimental. But that doesn't mean all the songs are plain and straightforward, either, certainly a lot of them have a very "classic rock" feel to them, with bluesy riffs and basic drum beats, but some certainly do venture into the avant-garde, notably Abba Zabba, Drop-Out Boogie, and Electricity. When one considers the release date of 1967, Safe As Milk does stand out as an album that was "ahead of its time," and it certainly matched Frank Zappa's efforts at the time. Today, the album still sounds as strange and challenging as it must have in the sixties, and even traditional blues rock songs, albeit with Beefheart's somewhat unorthodox jagged rhythms, like Yellow Brick Road, still make for a good listen.
Great album, though it does give the feeling that they are being held back- in this case by their record label. They would reach their peak when given full creative control on Zappa's label two years later with Trout Mask Replica. Still, incredibly debut. 8/10
|