For me, TroutMaskReplica is a great album, one of many by this true maverick. I can totally understand it hitting most people upside the head. It certainly did that for me at first. It's arty party music; which is my cuppa tea.

Lol, “Anyway, it’s not a big penis”, the words I always look for in an album review 😂

There is no way that Captain Beefheart and his magical band didn't practice that album over and over because they wouldn't have been able to have played it at all. You can find some of their live performances of some of the songs and yes, they play note for note (they dance around too). I dig the album but I wouldn't castrate anyone for not liking this insane album.

There are recordings out there of some of the Trout Mask Replica rehearsals and demos. Believe it or not, they're pretty much note for note identical to what went onto the album. Plus the Magic Band played some of this material live for many years. It's hard to believe I suppose, but that album is a very finely tuned monstrosity. I personally love it, but I wouldn't fault anyone for not enjoying it.

I'd never heard of The Shaggs before, thanks for letting me know about them. Their story sounds really interesting. They really have their place in history.

I love Trout Mask but i love weird stuff. I also love that most people hate it.

Captain Beefheart's band played large parts of Troutmask Replica live, so those parts were almost certainly composed and rehearsed many times. Dolly Parton famously said, " It costs me a lot of money to look this cheap". Similarly, it took a lot of hard work and practice by some very good musicians to sound as bad as Trout Mask Replica. Although I actually love the album. I bought it back in about 1973, when I was fifteen. I've always liked non-mainstream stuff.

Great video. I actually love Trout Mask, I've got a lot out of it over the years. Having said that, I can totally understand why normal people wouldn't like it. Love The Shaggs record too.

"An evening with Wild Man Fischer" is another weird one you might want to check out

I love "Trout Mask Replica" I love it so much that I got on a factory PA system and yelled "Tits! Tits! The Mother ship! The Mother ship! Yes, I got away with it.

Neil Young's ARC is a 1-track collage of snippets from live recordings on the "Ragged Glory" tour...and it was Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth who inspired the idea, they toured with Neil & Crazy Horse on that tour...i personally like it...Weld is a killer live album & this is a good companion piece...yes it's various starts pieced together, but that's the point...its a feedback collage from various performances...good for background music & it flows surprisingly well i think...

While it is an awkward album, “Philosophy Of The World” is also an album you must hear before you die. I do listen to in in full on occasion because does fall under the “so bad it’s good” category.

I will have to watch again as i missed lots due to laughing so much at your sound effects. Brilliant😂

Hey Robert, that was hilarious. I'd heard of The Shaggs, but had never taken the time to check them out. I went on Spotify just to hear My Pal Foot Foot and this is truly some remarkably bad stuff.. you are completely right about its authenticity. I don't think there's anyone out there that could truly represent this and actually keep a straight face. Thanks for the laughs on this one!

We have to say it: You are EXACTLY the right guy to do this video....I haven't laughed this hard since your April Fool's joke of 2023..Bravo!!! Peace and Love, Terry and Julia Tutor

Great ! Very funny stuff Robert, thanks for the comedy gold 😅

Trout Mask is a masterpiece. I love it and all of his records.

Dude always comes through with the great shirt

This is the funniest thing I’ve seen for a long time. Bravo! 😂

I like the way you talked about Yoko - with respect while still pointing out that sometimes, her contributions were unlistenable. The Internet is full of haters, its crazy. Most people dont know anything about her work, that she already was an accomplished (non-musical) artist when she met John. Anyway, the video is hilarious haha.

Trout Mask is a masterpiece, everyone's opinion is to some extent valid, however there are reasons why Trout Mask is so important. It's probably the first attempt by anyone inside rock or popular music to make a deschooled album. The Captain (Don) wrote the entire album on piano, an instrument he couldn't play, making notes about his finger positions in order to notated the discordancy of what he was composing and then rehearsing the Magic Band for weeks until they got the songs perfect for recording. It's not an easy listen, it's not really meant to be enjoyable but it's one hell of statement. You don't have to be an intellectual or a critic to get this record, it really is just a different way of writing and performing and the influence of Trout Mask on artists as varied as Scott Walker and Tom Waits. At pretty much the same time as Trout Mask Tim Buckley recorded 'Starsailor' also for Frank Zappa's Straight label, but Buckley made the decision to break up the discordancy of `Starsailor with a couple of more accessible songs. Perhaps the great thing Robert is that bought a copy and gave it a go, but I wouldn't put Trout Mask along with the other records in this list, Trout Mask really is something different and it should be seen in that context.

This video is really fun. Thank you! There is a record called "The glory (?) of the human voice" from a rich lady, who believed she had the voice of an opera star and was wrong. It shakes you to the bone. They made even a movie of her story. Her name was Florence Foster Jenkins. Didn't Frank Zappa like the Shaggs?

I love trout mask replica and I'd give it 6 stars if i could. Don't give me any shit, some of you guys like Kiss.

I agree with just about everything in this video except for Trout Mask Replica. I completely understand that you don't like it, but I love the album and have been listening to it for decades. OMG that Sam Sacks is repulsive!

I suspect that a lot of the people who like Trout Mask also have a few albums by The Residents in their collection.

This had me rolling!! Amazing upload.

That Metal Machine Music sounds interesting. Music like that is normal to me, so I'll have to check it out. Even Brian Eno has a drone album that's an hour long "song" and only has a slight variation of sounds throughout. Trout Mask Replica is great, and I don't say that based on the shallow reasons why you say someone would like it. It's fine if you don't get it though. I've been listening to "out there" music since I was around 12 or 14 years old, back in the 80s and greatly enjoy it. It's funny because I don't really like Revolution 9. I think it's a little amateurish, but I give them props for putting it on the album.

The hilarious book WORST ROCK N ROLL RECORDS OF ALL TIME agrees with you and should be read after seeing this, another great video from you!!!

Hey Robert Fithen! As it Should Be brought me here to you, and I just want to say that you are hilarious and wonderful! Subscribed!! 😊

Hey, Robert. That was fantastic. I was laughing out loud; especially about 'Metal Machine Music'. I don't have time right now to watch the whole clip. But I shall return. You have a very engaging and wonderful style of communicating your passion. I've liked and subscribed. Thank you.

This was a great video Robert, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only LP in my collection I could think of that could possibly be on this video is Tony Conrad & Faust's 'Outside The Dream Syndicate", but I actually love that album. If you've never heard it, check it out! It's mesmerizing.

Trout Mask Replica is my 2nd favorite album, such a crazy and weird experimental record. I think it got me into Avant-Garde Jazz As for your review, I accept your review, but we can agree to disagree 😏

I just listened to Sing It Again, Sam! FANTASTIC! I haven't laughed for 18 minutes straight in a long time! It's a keeper. Thanks for the recommendation!😂

I love how you find the actual (if specialized) value of MMM, you're making me want to finally check out Trout Mask Replica. I've had chances for forty years, but put it off because I wanted to hear someone with great taste express an honest opinion about it. Now I'm intrigued enough to check out, but doubt I'll buy, Great reviews! ... Your support of "Revolution #9" proves you know exactly what you're talking about, btw.

Great video. All of the stories are fantastic. That Shaggs story is crazy. I never heard that many Beatles songs as a kid. I knew more about John Lennon than the Beatles due to his assassin. The first song I sat down to listen to by the Beatles was “Revolution 9” after going to a Jerry Garcia concert. I couldn’t believe they could make a song like that. Been a fan of them ever since. That song will always be in my top ten of their songs. I’m so glad you brought the shirt up. I was wondering, “Why does Robert look like he’s been hit by shrapnel after a golfer and Rastafarian jumped on a grenade?” “TALKiN’ REKKEDS!”

In the early 80s I often played the Shaggs album in my record store. My regular customers either loved it, and sometimes actually sang along with it, or hated it with a passion. I recently played it for my wife. Her resulting therapy session fees informed me of my mistake.

The first Shaggs album was recorded shortly after their formation, while their second was done when they'd gotten a better grasp on what they were doing. The naive innocence was still there, but they were playing better constructed songs. They used to play after school dances up the road from where I was living at the time. The Sing It Again, Sam album sounds like a good mescaline record.

Sad story with no baby: Hemmingway (so the story goes) was asked how short he could make a story and he came back with... "For sale. Baby's shoes. Never worn"

1. I love your shirt. 2. You need to hear Yoko's APPROXIMATELY INFINITE UNIVERSE from 1973. It truly is a five star album - and it will give you a whole new perspective of Yoko and just how misunderstood she was (is). 3. I'm surprised there's no mention of Lou Reed's album with Metallica, LULU. Quite possibly even worse than METAL MACHINE MUSIC, considering the talent involved. 4. Van Morrison's CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION album, which he recorded to close out his contract with Bert Berns for Bang! Records, is quite hilarious. Needs a listen. 5. Elton John's VICTIM OF LOVE is notoriously bad, yet campy fun at the same time. I'm actually one of the few who like LEATHER JACKETS and do not fully understand the hate towards it - it's better than ICE ON FIRE and REG STRIKES BACK (and WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT, which was awful).

I agree with you, your shirt could be described as a cash grab. But your hair is looking fine. And another fun video from you once again.

When you talked about having fun with Elvis. “Oh look honey I gotta talkin record!” Oh my gosh I haven’t laughed that hard in a while.

I'm not smarter than anyone, really, and I don't mind if anyone else likes, or dislikes Captain Beefheart. I bought Trout Mask Replica in 1972, after I had heard Lick My Decals Off Baby. I was like 17 years old. I had never heard anything even close to these records musically in my life. My friends and I studied these albums. We would listen to TMR and LMDOB over, and over and over again, trying to divine the lyrics, and follow the music as it zig-zagged along way out there, like nothing any of us were aware of, anyway. Of course, I was into Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, Michael Bloomfield, Butterfield Blues Band, etc. The point being I was familiar with the blues, I was familiar with a lot of music, but this, this was just so different, daring. It was definitely chaos magic. I love your channel, and I appreciate your views, Robert, thanks for your honest opinions. PS - Two Virgins was murder! That said, I do have several of Yoko's albums, (check out Fly and Approximately Infinite Universe, for her earlier work, as well as Between My Head and the Sky for later stuff) and well she was so far ahead of John it's not funny, and I love John! But that's another argument/discussion for later.

Props for the Brainticket reference, "White Noise - Electric Storm, was one i thought might make the list. It's notorious as a party killer in the UK.

Excellent video. I had no idea that some of these albums existed.

Very interesting vid! Great shirt. Your hair looks great that way. 👍

I’m here for Duran Duran, Notorious, which I love!

Great job! Never heard of Shaggs or Sacks. More please!

A couple of WTF songs you should definitely hear once are “Invasion Of The Polaroid People” and “Fred Loves Betty”. Both tracks are from Kim Fowley. I enjoyed your vid!

Excellent video! Thank you Robert for calling out "Trout Mask Replica" for the steaming pile that it really is. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Behave yourself, Trout Mask Replica is a genuine work of genius. I’m not saying it doesn’t feel you’ve been put through the ringer but like coming home from war, you survived! I’ll buy it from you but I bet you don’t want to lose it cos deep down, you know Robert, you know. Yoko love was justified and appreciated, to say she’s patchy is an understatement but when she’s good, man Yes, The Wedding Album & Life With the Lions don’t depart too much. There’s no Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da!

The Shaggs are Rock Goddesses

This was a really fun post to listen to and watch ... i love your humour an take on these ridiculous releases.. Don t Play it again Sam 😂

Just started the video buzzed up. This is gold! Not sure if you will discuss legend guitarist Pat Metheny "Zero Tolerance for Silence" but it's definitely a head shaker. Keep on rockin Mr Fithen!

I first came across a lot of this stuff via Lester Bangs. Thanks Lester! 😵‍💫

Hey Robert! There are 4 Yoko songs I actually like: "Walking On Thin Ice" of which actually charted, "Kiss Kiss Kiss" was a dance hit I think, "Who has seen the wind" flip side of "Instant Karma" and finally " Remember Love" flip side of "Give peace a chance". I was really young when I heard these but, I do like them.

Ooooooh, love the new haircut! Looks so nice 🥰

I had heard a story years ago that Reed released Metal Machine Music just because he owed a recording to his record label, a label that he apparently wasn't happy with. As far as Trout Mask Replica, Van Vliet apparently had no musical talent, and the directions that he would give to his bandmates as to how he wanted them to perform were somewhat similar to the type of directions that Erik Satie would sometimes give vis-a-vis how his compositions should be performed; for example; "Play like a nightingale with a toothache."

I had a sealed quad version of metal machine music on 8 track tape. Sold it for $600!! That was the most valuable 8 track ever produced in quantity... I got to listen to it years later... and a was like "this??? This??? Really??" Lol

Robert, Another John and Yoko record that is awful was Life with the Lions/ Cambridge 1969. The only Yoko record I could get through was a later one called Walking on Thin Ice. Great shirt!

I enjoyed Frank Zappa on CSPAN defending El Duce & The Mentors & their classic You Axed 🪓 For It album before the PRMC .. They were appalled by the behavior of Darling Nikki as well ..

Ya the look on chuck berrys face during that jam where yoko goes nuts. Classic! 😂😂

You really should listen to The Shaggs again. It has a way of getting under your skin and staying there. I bought The 1980 Red Rooster reissue on the strength of NRBQs Terry Adams recommendation and it is one of my all time favorite recordings. The original 1969 release on Third World Recordings is nearly impossible to find. Fascinating indeed.

I'm familiar with most of your selections, but only own two of them. The only way I can listen to Trout Mask Replica is one side per listening session. That's usually enough to just get me interested before getting too annoyed. My favorite element of the Shaggs is the drumming, which in a weird way is almost Keith Moon-like. Not rhythmic, but an attempt to follow the melody. Genius!

that shirt is ridiculous and spot on for the topic of your video...nice work Robert Fithen

I feel that Spudloks album BIH as promoted by Bill on the channel Bill's Box Of Sound deserves an honorable mention here. Bought it, had it shipped all the way to Greenland, just to hear what it was all about, and honestly guys, I loved it. Yeah Yeah, go ahead and pigeonhole me with all those artsy fartsy music experts that Robert rightly puts down as the elitist snobs they are. I loved it for all its strangeness and weird sounds. Thank you Robert for yet another great, interesting and very entertaining video.

This video literally had me peeing pants!! I remember getting Two Virgins as a kid and thinking it was cool to have an album with naked John Lennon on it. Listened to it only once!!😂 I loved Why and Why Not, because I used to get high and listen to those with my friends!! I would love to hear The Shags!! Have you heard Mrs. Miller?! Absolutely hilarious!!! Robert, thank you! Killer video!!🤣🤣

Good video. The Shaggs album is a classic. I recently got it on CD. Yoko Ono’s Apple Records albums have some great tracks on them. “Greenfield Morning” is awesome. 😊

Lou reeds record executives were probably a bunch of music dilettantes who were convinced they were rubbing shoulders with greatness of-something. They didn’t know what. They just thought everyone else did. Kudos to Lou for giving them all an audio middle finger

Bravo, Robert! Your review of Two Virgins had me cracking up. Ditto on the Elvis disc. "Its a talkin' record!" LOL I havent listened to Trout Mask Replica, but I'm aware of its reputation. I might like it, but I might not. Guess I'll find out. Don't know if you've listened to Safe as Milk yet, but I found it it to be a faurky accessible album.

"It's Halloween" from The Shaggs always makes my Halloween playlist.

Wonder if Lennon had a professional fluffer at the photo shoot.

Composer Samuel Andreyev (has a youtube channel) not only has a thorough review of Trout Mask Replica but analysis of some tracks and looooong interviews with all the musicians. You HAVE TO LIKE THE ALBUM to want to sit through it all, but if you do LIKE THE ALBUM it's fascinating. You have been warned. And that comes from someone who actually met Captain Beefheart.

You missed the boat on Trout Mask. (Surprise there’s someone who disagrees..). Watch any of the interviews with the former band members. They literally learned the songs but by bit, and someone actually spent time notating the songs. It’s also an acquired taste And you have to have an ear for the avant- garde and can tolerate dissonance. Love the lyrics… I can see why people don’t like it but there’s some nice stuff on here if you take the time. I mean, it takes effort to get a lot of modern jazz too. You mentioned Ornette Coleman and he’s often blamed as a precursor to jazz losing its way in the post-bop era…Remember the Rites of Spring was also considered noise at first. There is a level of pretentiousness here though that is both naive and cacophonous but I think when they hit the mark, it’s stellar. It’s not easy listening. I agree with all of your other takes…

At last! Been waiting for this one. And you managed to get Sam Sacks in there. Was completely unaware of the Elvis album which sounds like sort of a precursor to the great KZfaq release of Paul Stanley's "People, Let Me Get This Off My Chest!"....though probably far less funny.

I agree about the critics. I've gotten to the point where if a critic likes something I immediately know not to bother with it, and vice versa. BTW, your hair is looking rather lovely with the new cut.👍🏻🙂

I thoroughly enjoyed this video. I like your style. Way back when i actually bought Two Virgins on 8-track mainly for the naked album cover & because I was a Beatles fan. Big mistake--have hated Yoko ever since. I'm interested to hear the Shaggs now.

Thank You for keeping the cover on with Two Virgins.....No one needs to see that! Gordon photo was hysterical.

I really enjoy your videos

Great video on these unnecessary albums!! Especially loved the review of Lou’s Metal Machine I applaud you for listening to this train wreck 2 times! I took it off after 5 minutes and gave it away to a friend!!!

Hey Robert, great video. With regards to ARC, have you heard Half Man Half Biscuit’s wonderful song, “Look Dad no tunes” with the line, “And I’ve seen him walk through the park a lot, And I bet he listens to Arc a lot”? Makes me smile every time, as my big bro had the album ARC

That shirt! Wow ! Love it!

I love this! Clearly he’s not a fan of noise, experimental music, or outsider music. Which actually makes this great. Was unfamiliar with the Elvis album but I think I need that to go with my Co Star albums and suchlike. ETA - dude listened to Metal Machine Music twice. Even though he knew it wasn’t his thing. So much respect for that. (That was the first album that came to mind when he was giving his intro.).

And then there was the sequel “Elvis having fun farting on stage”

The Shags were genuinely terrible... they were also genuinely TEN YEARS AHEAD OF THEIR TIME!! Starting roughly 1979 there were several UK post-punk/art-punk bands who where INTENTIONALLY sounding like "Philosophy of the World": The Raincoats, Delta 5, Essential Logic, Kleenex (aka Lilliput), the Slits... these bands got on the Euro Top 40 and developed small-but-loyal American cult followings! (Dorothy Wiggin even recorded a solo album for Alternative Tentacles Records!)

I had TMR on vinyl and could not get into it until I got it on CD. Not having to get up and change the record over and suddenly I got it. Love it.

"Metal Machine Music" is an experience, for sure. Also, I recommend "European Son", the last track on "Velvet Underground And Nico". And, there's "The Murder Mystery", on side two of the self-titled "Velvet Underground" album. As for Captain Beefheart, I like "Ice Cream For Crow". As for Frank Zappa, try "Help! I'm A Rock!" from his Mothers Of Invention days.

Nice fresh cut Robert!

Hilarious and on the money Robert. Trout Mask Replica is dreadful, I've given it a try on several occasions and can't bear listening to it for more than a few seconds at a time.Rare for such a revered record to have nothing to enjoy whatsoever. I've never listened to the wedding album and have no intention to. I have to admit that Revolution 9 doesn't really do it for me, but it's preferable to most of what you showed here. Plastic Ono Band is fantastic, my favourite Lennon solo album and John at his most cathartic.

If you want to understand and enjoy Captain Beefheart "Safe as Milk" would be the album to begin with not Trout Mask. Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot are good Beefheart albums too .

"Metal machine music" by accident, created many genres and influence. It can be quite hypnotic and it is like an aural magic eye puzzle. But like ambient Eno, this just irritates after 15 mins. Literally like a migraine headache to music. Cpt Beefheart did great albums like "Clear Spot", and "Doc at the Radar Station" but yes "Trout Mask Replica" is exactly what is described here, noodling with tape machines, being weird and random for the hell of it. "Neon meate dream of an Octofish" and "Pena" is pure mind disintegrating weird to the point of possible mental patient admission. The Shaggs album is kinda cute, and likeable. They were oddly cohesive in an extreme amateur kind of way. A bit overexposed attention wise , but the story behind it is pure crazy.

Three reasons I thoroughly enjoyed your video… 1. Your information and delivery is interesting and fun. 2. Your shirt is awesome! 3. You could literally be Mark Hamill’s brother 😂 You have a new subscriber. Thank you for the awesome content!

I agree with you about avant-garde pretensions - no one is obliged to like any particular album. That said, Trout-Mask is very musical. The material was composed, and performed repeatedly. Samuel Andreyev, a classically -trained composer, has made an interesting analysis of the song Frownland (on KZfaq). It's musical, but no one is obliged to like it for that reason. The Rolling Stones for example are very musical, but they do nothing for me. Same with Zep. 🙂 On Elvis: There are some hilarious recordings of him railing against tabloids. Well worth a listen

I love watching you tube Trout Mask reactions !!!! I have friends who say its the greatest album ever. Its the same for me with people who say their first ever gig was life changing (its always The Clash/Joy Division/Smiths etc) the first gig was never Kajagoogoo

Metal Machine Music is AWESOME i love it its one of the best/my favorite albums ever its just so cool that it exists like you said, i may have put my own personifications onto it by imagining the feedback as like EVERY sound any guitar has ever made and will ever make onto one record like BIBLICAL proportions but its not that deep i know but its still awesome to wonder at and lou looks SO COOL on the cover... Also I forgot about Yoko's Plastic Ono Band "Why" is really great

Trout Mask Replica is a gem. I sincerely think it's a five star album and I'm hardly a pretentious snob. But to each his own. However, it's not really in dispute that all that "chaos" on the record was actually very carefully planned out. The Magic Band were extremely talented. I do agree with you that a lot of people who would give TMR five stars do grandstand like you say. I think that's annoying too. People do it with movies quite a bit too.

I loved Metal Machine Music and even bought it on DVD. Unfortunately the blu-ray was sold out.

WHY............. Gordon ain't a Beefheart fan? Thought all Cool Cats loved beef! You never disappoint! You are a hoot! love yourreviews~ keep em coming! Beatles seeing Johns album "Yeah that's John.".............. Lines like "There is a complete disregard for any kind of tempo or rhythm!" and "TV Shit" keepme coming back, yes you are "Hoot" You have a great attitude!

I don't want to promote drug use among teens but if you are an adult the consumption of beer or hashish can make listening to Trout Mask Replica more enjoyable. The first and second listening was difficult but discovered that it was decent and some parts a truly hilarious. Seeing people's reaction to the album is also a blast.

There are many horrible ones in the "comedy" category. Some I own for the irony of having found them, some for laughing at, some heard on 80s Sunday night radio shows, and some to perversely enjoy when times are rough. (Btw seriously Robert, if you need a dumping ground for comedy-novelty records, let me know.)

The first side of John and Yoko's Life With the Lions is worth at least one listen, 26 minutes of guitar feedback like Metal Machine Music with Yoko screaming along. The feedback and screaming actually go well together and it's impressive that Yoko can scream for so long!