Safe As Milk
by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

This is quite a challenging listen first time around. On vinyl, a double album, to listen to all four sides in one go is not something I can do. I may start with a side or two as part of a vinyl listening session. The music is psychedelic but not at the dreamy end of the spectrum, it is at the snarly, gritty end. I am not over keen on his (Do Van Vilet) vocal style but it is made up for by the musicianship.

A wild fusion of sounds that create a strange experience for the listener but if it is given time it will become one of the most interesting, unique and fun records you know. This is because Beefheart walks the line between being extremely catchy and being zany and crazy. He maintains the balance between the two brilliantly which makes for an even listen with several tracks getting stuck in your head. After a few more listens you start to notice the more eccentric moments of the record and begin to love them as well even though they might have deterred you from the record originally. This makes for a satisfying experience as we are rewarded for patience and it gives us a lot to look forward to on revisits as there is so much to discover. Instrumentally it is brilliant as well and it only adds to the depth of the record. Overall, this is an album I have a blast with every time I play it and even though it might not be his best record musically it is probably the one I revisit the most.

Crazy blues album, I like it.

Quite inconsistent because of the commercial tracks which sound second rate, but the rockier tracks or more unconventional tracks like Zig Zag Wanderer, Dropout Boogie, Abba Zaba, Electricity and Autumn Child are perfect.

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From seb7 12/15/2020 18:09 | #262740

Not groundbreaking, but a very cool album.

Really good from beginning to end, solid debut album.

Beefheart tries to be mainstream on a few tracks especially" So Sad" conjuring up a motown style doo wop ballad but somehow the weirdness always creeps in. His vocals are a lot of the time great. Lots of outrageous stuff in spite of some attempts to be commercial. Best tracks: Electricity, Safe as Milk, Abba Zabba, Autumn's Child. Ry Cooder provides some excellent blues guitar and that theremin!

From teague 06/20/2020 21:54 | #254008

Safe as Milk is easily the most accessible Beefheart album that's worth listening to, there's not really an experimental bone in its proverbial body. It's not a masterpiece, but it's actually really good. This album sounds a bit like Cream, a bit of early Mothers of Invention (specifically the first half of Freak Out!), a bit like The 13th Floor Elevators.

This is almost the ultimate border of creativity, only few steps below "Trout Mask Replica". Great album!