Safe as Milk

expected this to be older, but this is their debut. never assume anything when it comes to CB&HMB is the lesson here I guess.

Safe As Milk is a pretty weird and wacky album but it actually handles that pretty well. I can definitely admit that this is an album that absolutely belongs on this list as it seems to have influenced quite a bit of other artists with one notable one being Tom Waits who sited Captain Beefheart as a major influence. The album itself has this large psych-rock style on it much like a lot of it's other contemporaries with this one definitely being as weird as a lot of the others but not doing anything too differently from them. I guess one unique thing i will say about it is that little sample from the beginning of Yellow Brick Road which i thought was an ad at first. Definitely a good album but i can't justify giving it higher than 3 stars.
Best Song: Sure Nuff 'N Yes I Do
Worst Song: Zig Zag Wanderer

😍😍😍😍😍😍

Honestly way more normal than I was expecting. Pretty much a standard 60s blues rock album. Nothing like what little I’ve heard from Trout Mask Replica

I'm ill, so I've not been able to finish this one. I've heard about Trout Mask Replica (haven't listened to it yet) and how out there it is, so I was expecting something experimental or something like that. This was more conventional Blues/Garage Rock that was pretty good and fun to listen to. I didn't think it was anything groundbreaking, and the length is a bit of an issue. A high 3

Trotz einiger interessanter Momente – etwa der eigenwilligen Stimme von Beefheart und der rohen Energie der Band – wirkt das Album insgesamt unausgereift. Die Produktion ist dünn, die Songs schwanken zwischen ambitioniert und unausgegoren, und die Mischung aus Blues-Riffs und psychedelischen Ideen bleibt oft holprig.

Fantastic set of songs that are much more accessible compared to Trout Mask Replica. There is still great musicianship and weirdness to be found here. Beefheart’s growl really works with the bluesy style.

Blues rock that doesn't take itself seriously, like Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (3.5)

blues r&b mei experimental né. achei o trout mask replica bem mais legal e interessante, mas esse aqui não eh ruim não.

i'm glad e electricity são BEM boas hein

Maan i loved this so much. I miss iconic shit like fast n bulbous, but this one is one of the best records from 67 that's for sure.

Pretty off-kilter stuff that feels like it led to butthole surfers later. I liked it fine.

It’s fun and grimy and bluesy, and sounds precisely like the kind of music someone named Captain Beefheart would write. I’m not sure what it is that I love about this, but I do love it. It was an era where people were writing goofy shit, and it was cool.

It’s far from a perfect album, but it far exceeded my expectations.

The original psychedelic blues band, with great originality, vocally unique, and a surprising amount of propulsion in its rhythm section. The extended jams are noisy and somewhat enervating, but undeniably innovative for their time

Really nice! First half was much easier to listen to and second half got experimental, without ever being Trout Mask Replica.

A lot better than I expected — blues roots, bursts of psychedelia, and a streak of delightful weirdness. “I’m Glad” could sit next to a soul ballad, and “Electricity” feels like it’s from another dimension. It’s uneven but undeniably original. I respect it more than I love it, and that’s enough for a solid 3-star rating.

Better than Coldplay

I read in the liner notes that Captain Beefheart (aka Don Van Vliet) had difficulty finding a label to release “Safe As Milk” because it was too unconventional. That surprises me, because to me it sounds like a normal blues rock album with great guitar sound (Ry Cooder!) and poorly produced vocals. The experimental elements I expected are few and far between and, for my taste, not well placed. You could probably describe the Captain's singing style as “experimental,” but in my opinion, that would just be a nice way of saying that he doesn't measure up to the Magic Band and their songs. As for the latter, the relatively well-known “Yellow Brick Road” stands out slightly for me.

Much better than Trout Mask Replica. Still nothing I would return to. 2.5/5

Well its not Trout mask replica so that is a positive and the first track gave me some hope with it’s bluesy feel.

From there it is either boring standard blues rock or the occasional foray into something that points to their more experimental future. Better than the experimental guff, but still not for me

To set out my stall early here, I hated Trout Mask Replica. To date, it is the second worst thing this Generator has subjected me to. So I was dreading this.

It's sort of normal? Of all the things I could have expected, it sounding like The Doors or someone of that ilk was not ever going to be my guess. I'm Glad feels like it should be playing at a school dance in the early 60's and the the idea of playing anything from Trout Mask Replica at a school dance suggests a *very* different kind of event (maybe one run by a psychopath).

I quite enjoyed this (though I did stop at Autumn's Child where the original album ended and ignored the bonus tracks). Clearly my tastes are too pedestrian for where Captain Beefheart was going to take his music in later albums.

2.5 would be my rating with half stars, but its going to get a 3. It's been bumped up due to all the theremin.

3/5

Side note: I discovered today that every time I mentioned Captain Beefheart to my child previously, they thought I was saying his name was Captain Bee Fart, so that's nice.