Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 06/01/1999
Beefheart's first proper studio album is a much more accessible, pop-inflected brand of blues-rock than the efforts that followed in the late '60s -- which isn't to say that it's exactly normal and straightforward. Featuring
Ry Cooder on guitar, this is blues-rock gone slightly askew, with jagged, fractured rhythms, soulful, twisting vocals from
Van Vliet, and more doo wop, soul, straight blues, and folk-rock influences than he would employ on his more avant-garde outings.
"Zig Zag Wanderer," "Call on Me," and
"Yellow Brick Road" are some of his most enduring and riff-driven songs, although there's plenty of weirdness on tracks like
"Electricity" and
"Abba Zaba." [
Buddha's 1999 reissue of
Safe as Milk contained restored artwork and seven bonus tracks.]
~Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
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