Record Reviews

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART / MAGIC BAND ~ SHINY BEAST (BAT CHAIN PULLER) VIRGIN 365517 (Barcode: 094636551722) ~ USA ~ Classic Rock Recorded: 1978 Released: 2006 Following the release of Bluejeans & Moonbeams and the lack of success of his last two albums, Vliet joined forces with his old buddy Frank Zappa, becoming a guest vocalist with Mothers of Invention during their 1975 tour (as captured on the live Bongo Fury album). He then borrowed some of Zappa’s players to revamp his Magic Band. In 1976 he and his group recorded an album of completely new material, called Bat Chain Puller, which was stylistically much closer to his earlier works. Unfortunately that album was never released as a result of legal battles between his record label (Virgin) and a new record label (Warner Bros.) he tried to sign with. Soon after the studio tapes leaked to the bootleg industry, which flooded the market with illegal copies of the album, making Vliet quite unhappy. To resolve this mess Vliet recorded in 1978 a new version of the album (using a different line-up of the Magic Band), this time called Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) for Warner Bros., who tried to release it the same year, but alas again it was legally bulldozed by Virgin. Fortunately Virgin eventually released the album in 1980 (after a settlement with Warner Bros. was reached). Musically the album is a triumphant return to Vliet’s idiosyncratic, magical mix of originality and genius (rivaled only by his friend Zappa and often quite similar to his music). The album also featured Vliet’s original paintings used for the cover art, revealing his other (apart from music) artistic vocation. This is a masterpiece of rock music and a timeless classic.

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend