Even among his most trenchant supporters, Captain Beefheart divides opinion: are you Safe As Milk (wild, accessible) or Trout Mask Replica (wild, impenetrable)?
The ideal compromise is 1970’s stunning Lick My Decals Off, Baby, which married his surreal brand of post-Delta blues to the free jazz of Ornette Coleman. Bursting with Beefheartian oddness like I Love You, You Big Dummy and Japan In A Dishpan, said album’s the first of three remasters that make up the bulk of this essential reissue. 1972’s The Spotlight Kid saw him reining in his more outré impulses on a downbeat set designed to give people “something to hang their hat on”. As such it’s only partly successful, but the same year’s Clear Spot is a pure blast, from the gruff boogaloo of Big Eyed Beans From Venus to the relative subtlety of Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles. Aficionados should head straight to disc four: 14 unissued outtakes from the same era. Of particular interest are prototype versions of late-period gems like Dirty Blue Gene and The Witch Doctor Life.
