Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band – Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (1978)

Was Captain Beefheart a spent force by the late 1970s? Certainly, this and subsequent albums are referred to as a "late resurgence". This album, released in USA in 1978, but not until the following year in UK (I own the 1986 CD re-release), doesn't get taken from the shelves that much, so we'll let it have its place.

I often feel that if you get / like a Beefheart album on the first listening, you haven't really listened. There's a Beefheart way of doing things which takes a while to get your head around. And this album is no exception to that.

It starts off with two great songs, The Floppy Boot Stomp, almost exactly what you'd expect from the Captain, his alternately restrained and frantic lyrical offerings with a sparse guitar and drum accompaniment, followed by the horn rich, Caribbean feel of Tropical Hot Dog Night. Ice Rose is a pretty ordinary instrumental, using the horn section, followed by the almost music hall Harry Irene.

You Know You're A Man is a solid rocking number, but the first half ends with the fantastically repetitive Bat Chain Puller, Beefheart's trademark delivery over a thumping theme.

And the madness continues with the superb When I See A Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy, the discordant guitars and horns underpinning Beefheart's vocals. Owed T'Alex feels like a weaker song, not quite going anywhere, but it's followed by the glorious Candle Mambo, perhaps my favourite thing on the album. Love Lies takes the pace down a bit, with a very bluesy number, a great song, before we conclude with Suction Prints, a strong and enjoyable instrumental, and the odd spoken short Apes-Ma.

It's a fine album, gathering together songs which hadn't been released over the previous couple of years due to contractual difficulties and adding a few new ones. Well worth a listen.

Link to album tracks

4* - I was going to say a return to form for the Captain, but did he ever lose it?