News

Glenn Hughes has announced the rescheduled tour dates after postponing for health reasons . Truly glad to hear Glenn is on a good track and I hope the fans who go to those shows enjoy their time there. And as a matter of fact, I have a Glenn Hughes review coming up. So all the best to The Voice Of Rock

Roger Daltrey has cursed out pot smokers at a recent Who show. I will say this; I don’t give a shit if you smoke pot. That said, if Roger wants no smoke in the crowd (which makes him sick and affects his voice), then respect his wishes. And I know Bruce Dickinson has a huge issue with smoking at venues as well, and I get it; it’s already hard enough to sing a Who tune or a Maiden tune, especially if you’re getting up there in age, and you need to be in as good of shape as possible. So I take Roger’s side on this issue.

Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band’s Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), released in October 1978 on Warner Bros Records.

The album was originally derived from Bat Chain Puller, which Frank Zappa produced, but then Zappa found out that his manager Herb Cohen was using his royalties to fund the record and the label, leading to a dispute between the two. This put the album in jeopardy, resulting in Beefheart re-recording the album as we now know it. On this album, the Magic Band consists of Bruce Lambone Fowler (Zappa and The Mothers) on trombone, Jeff Moris Tepper on guitar, Richard Redus on guitar/bass/accordion, Eric Drew Feldman on bass/piano/synthesizer, Robert Williams on drums, and helping out is ex-member Ed Marimba or Dr. Art Tripp III With The Green Mustache on percussion. Now let’s kick this motherfucker off, starting off with…

1. “The Floppy Boot Stomp” (Don Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H9liRgXAFGU

“The Floppy Boot Stomp”. You got that stinging slide guitar with Beefheart’s vocals delivering some very abstract lyrics. The thing with the Good Captain’s lyrics is that you usually can’t make sense of them at first, but they can gradually reveal themselves over time. And let’s talk about the band on here, the groove is very sick yet very sick at the same time, there’s something not quite right about it, but it’s just unreliable about it. The little guitar interplay is fantastic, and the rhythm section is so on point, this is a way to open the album, kickass song.

2. “Tropical Hot Dog” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c0uqyjGuxyA

“Tropical Hot Dog”, God I love this song. You have a sweet little lick to kick it off, Art’s percussion gives it the right spunk, Bruce’s trombone is just awesome, and Beefheart is so wonderfully eccentric on this song, his vocals stretching with the music on here. The guitars ring throughout the track along with some stellar drumming by Robert Williams. And the song goes light hearted and fun and does it RIGHT! Fun is serious business!

It’s a fun ass song, and makes me want to hear more. If these first two tracks are so kickass, then let’s hope we get more of that!

3. “Ice Rose” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fG0YagwzO18

Now the band gets to show what badasses they are with “Ice Rose”.

The band kicks off in dramatic show stopping fashion, with a stellar horn line by Bruce as well as some sweet ass marimba work by The Man With The Green Mustache. It ends up being a really nice piece, really great melody line, and the guitarists do some really nice interplay. And again, Robert Williams was a motherfucker on the drums and this track shows it.

“Ice Rose”, a kickass song, and what a 1-2-3 punch.

4. “Harry Irene” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P4u0dCFqaNc

Harry Irene, a couple that lived in the green. Here, the Good Captain and crew deliver a left turn, a really pretty song. It starts off being like a love song, with Redus’s accordion giving this that French cafe vibe, and I love the part where Beefheart goes And by the way folks it’s Dusty, not Harry. That part always cracked me up. Beefheart really knows how to set up and subvert something in a way that not even Frank can.

I love this song, one of the highlights of the album.

5. “You Know You’re A Man” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kLRntctkRa0

Hell Yeah, “You Know You’re A Man”.

You got some really stellar guitar work on here, particularly the slide work, and the good Captain belting it out. This is a pretty slamming tune compared to what came before it, and it’s awesome. And that bass solo followed by Teper’s slide solo, Goddamn this song kicks a ton of ass.

6. “Bat Chain Puller” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fkzC8RYT1vY

The quasi-Title track of the album, this one more of a weird groove track than previous ones, coming from the sound that Beefheart’s windshield wipers made. Teper and Redus perform some really killer guitar work, as they do throughout the album, while Beefheart delivers some very abstract lyrics and harmonica. Let’s talk about Beefheart’s

It has a very textured feel overall, and is very addictive, a total gem of the record.

7. “When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TmlwNrA7RfY

“When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy”, holy hot duck jumping up to get the tatering tots do I love this one.

You get the offbeat slide guitar by Morís with the fantastic interplay between him and Redus, Bruce’s excellent trombone playing along with Dr Tripp being Dr Tripp. That chorus which sounds almost zombie like and yet it’s so catchy and the Beefheart is just killing it on here, singing of how he’s gonna wrap up his lady friend the way only he can.

By far the best track on this album.

8. “Owed T’Alex” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QQEmdAiEnQc

“Owed T’Alex”, which was originally called “Carson City”, and is as I’ve recently learned was about original guitarist Alex St. Clair’s trips to visit his mother. Though only released in 1978, this song has its origins in the sixties.

This is some prime avant blues rock. This is a tale of a traveler of some kind going from time to time as a drifter, probably high. And based on the first verse, it seems the speaker grew up in this life, and is now locked tight into it. And musically the band is just so dirty yet so together that it hurts my balls.

This was sort of a grower for me but now I absolutely love the song.

9. “Candle Mambo” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hvvZN98ggoY

This starts out with the trombone and marimba to give it a sort of a symphonic feel while contrasting with the remaining members’ herky jerky rhythm, before getting a little smoother.

This is actually kind of a love song done the way that only the Good Captain and crew can do. It’s a really cool song overall, I dig it.

10. “Love Lies” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cyzYtIG3Q8g

From a love song to a breakup song, this one is also the last to feature Art.

The song is pretty straightforward for Beefheart but it’s so effective in conveying pain and heartbreak and Beefheart truly brings that sense of pain and failure to his vocal, and he does some great lyrics in this song like the street lamps flutter like fireflies and then

I miss you more hour by hour

The roses seem to smell sour

God this is just a fantastic song and one of the Captain’s best.

11. “Suction Prints” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VmsM2WCJtp8

We now get the second instrumental of the album, featuring Beefheart himself on soprano sax.

This is controlled chaos right here, it’s so chaotic and sporadic and yet so tight. I can still remember listening to Trout Mask for the first time as a little kid and just being absolutely horrified by what I was hearing but as I got older I got more into the experimental and avant garde, and lore into music that was not your typical 4/4 radio shit, and as I listened more and more I finally “got it”. It’s the same here and it’s easily the closest to Trout in spirit. And this is a kickass track to add to the album.

12. “Apes-Ma” (Van Vliet):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KsKlxZQEbqc

We end the album with a short spoken word piece by Beefheart and it’s just….kind of there. It’s somewhat amusing but I wouldn’t complain too much if it left the album.

FINAL VERDICT

And that is Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), a very strong return to form after the Tragic Band Albums. With a new band as well as aid by Arthur Tripp With The Green Moustache, Beefheart delivers a rather enjoyable effort overall. I can definitely recommend this album, particularly to Beefheart fans.