Why Trout Mask Replica By Captain Beefheart Is A Masterpiece, But A REALLY Tough Listen

Trout Mask Replica, by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band was inducted into the Library of Congress’ national recording registry in 2010 – nearly 40 years after it’s release. The album has been widely cited by artists of all kinds as a shining point of creativity and original thought – it also is very very hard to listen to. It’s the musical equivalent of a Jackson Pollock painting. Its discordant rhythms and motifs sound made up on the spot by a child, but every sound and riff you hear on the album was arduously rehearsed over the course of a year by a group of young musicians who were remarkable in their own right.