CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND – Trout Mask Replica (2022 Reissue) – 2LP – Gatefold 180g Vinyl

2LP – Limited Edition 180g Black Vinyl housed in a Gatefold Stoughton Tip on Jacket with Booklet Insert.

Trout Mask Replica is a touchstone in the history of recorded music. The mix of dada absurdist blues and previously unexplored experimental avenues has long been praised as one of the greatest albums of all time. As so eloquently put by John Peel, “If there has been anything in the history of popular music which could be described as a work of art in a way that people who are involved in other areas of art would understand, then Trout Mask Replica is probably that work.

Out of print on vinyl for nearly ten years, this remaster was helmed by industry legend Bob Ludwig and cut by the estimable Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Utilizing crystalline-quality safety masters kept in the Zappa family vault for decades by the trustworthy Joe Travers, the audio here is positively glorious. Every last skronk breathes full life into the room. Every twisted guitar figure uncurls onto paths previously unpaved. Every last bark and howl shines resolute through the vast emptiness of your mind.

Previous countless Trout Mask Replica repressings used scans of scans of scans of the cover image, but the original Cal Schenkel cover photo has been tracked down and reproduced here at its clearest its resolution from the original release in 1969. If youve only ever seen a jpg online or fuzzy, smeared-looking CD issues from the 90s, be prepared to be wowed by the fully engaging spectrum this iconic image casts.

Tracklist:

Side A
1. Frownland
2. The Dust Blows Forward ‘N The Dust Blows Back
3. Dachau Blues
4. Ella Guru
5. Hair Pie: Bake 1
6. Moonlight On Vermont

Side B
1. Pachuco Cadaver
2. Bills Corpse
3. Sweet Sweet Bulbs
4. Neon Meate Dream Of A Octafish
5. China Pig
6. My Human Gets Me Blues
7. Dali’s Car

Side C
1. Hair Pie: Bake 2
2. Pena
3. Well
4. When Big Joan Sets Up
5. Fallin’ Ditch
6. Sugar ‘N Spikes
7. Ant Man Bee

Side D
1. Orange Claw Hammer
2. Wild Life
3. She’s Too Much For My Mirror
4. Hobo Chang Ba
5. The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica)
6. Steal Softly Thru Snow
7. Old Fart At Play
8. Veteran’s Day Poppy