i still don't understand how people can be so belabored under the impression that there were ANY pretensions to Beefheart's music, let alone culling him under the same garbage banner that's befitting of 99% of prog banRAB.
i liken TMR to other material Frank Zappa's produced with the underlying difference that it's entirely devoid of cynicism and sarcasm. there's still the trademark Beefheart humor that makes him such a heartwarming character. and it seems overtly cynical to challenge him with being showy when TMR represents the same acute character that created it.
as for his status as a musician, no, i don't consider Van Vliet a musical "genius." but at the same time there was hardly any virtuosity imposed upon his music; he eschewed traditional technique and structure for his own peculiar brand of delivery. and that, perhaps, is why so many artists look upon him with fond eyes; that he learned to create a world unto himself without resorting to limit himself within socially acceptable norms.
i liken TMR to other material Frank Zappa's produced with the underlying difference that it's entirely devoid of cynicism and sarcasm. there's still the trademark Beefheart humor that makes him such a heartwarming character. and it seems overtly cynical to challenge him with being showy when TMR represents the same acute character that created it.
as for his status as a musician, no, i don't consider Van Vliet a musical "genius." but at the same time there was hardly any virtuosity imposed upon his music; he eschewed traditional technique and structure for his own peculiar brand of delivery. and that, perhaps, is why so many artists look upon him with fond eyes; that he learned to create a world unto himself without resorting to limit himself within socially acceptable norms.
