Not my album of 1978, I have changed my mind. I started writing on it as if it was though. Here is the beginning of that futile attempt.

This is definitely not the most adventurous album by Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart. That would probably be the mythic double album Trout Mask Replica from 1969. Where the delta blues meets the avantgarde. I have never passed the litmus test of listening to that album attentively in one sitting. It's very far out, I did appreciate 1970's Lick My Decals off, Baby more. Maybe because of the shorter songs. Shiny Beast is more varied and more listener friendly than both these innovative experimental albums.

Why did I choose the Captain over Pere Ubu who debuted in 1978 with The Modern Dance? First there is the voice. It is extroverted. And it has got the blues. A blues rooted in the deep sunny south. Don van Vliet sings like a demon on acid coming from the desert. Whereas David Thomas muted vocals sound like from outer space. Someone (in the Spin record guide) compared his voice to a cry of a bird. It must be a huge bird. An albatross who has landed in the industrial winter landscape of Cleveland.

Then there is the music. Shiny Beast is full of trombones, slide guitar and percussion. The songs are ragged, change direction in the middle, stop and go on somewhere else. The Modern Dance is dominated by that powerful sound of the bass. Which I like but which hasn't got the life-affirming sprawling playful energy.

And the lyrics. Something like

on the wonderful calypsoish Tropical Hot Dog Night - a perfect song for a summer party - is a bold statement I cannot not love.

What else? On the instrumental Ice Rose the trombone and the marimbas meet for an impressionist still which turns into an expressionist havoc. The almost conventional ballad Harry Irene is the starting point for many successful Tom Waits songs. Sorry Tom but the Captain was first. And he could whistle as well! When I See Mommy I Feel Like a Mummy is rocking this house.

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