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From The Desk Of The Jesus Lizard: Captain Beyond

In the early ’90s, the Jesus Lizard—vocalist David Yow, guitarist Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims and drummer Mac McNeilly—was untouchable. Not literally, of course—if you were at one of its hundreds of shows in that era, you could very easily touch ’em. And given the amount of time Yow spent slithering on top of the audience, you probably didn’t have a choice in the matter. Denison and McNeilly will be guest editing. Read our new MAGNET Classics feature on the band’s Liar album, one of the most important LPs of the ’90s.

CaptainBeyond

McNeilly: This band‘s self-titled first album is near-perfect. There was no fluff, no filler—just hard rock played by guys who felt it. Every once in a while an album comes along like this, where you hear it, you are hooked, and then you can’t imagine that it hasn’t been here for all time. I wish I could have been there when they were recording this monster. One of my favorite drummers, Bobby Caldwell, is electric here; poor old snare drum, I feel sorry for ya. Also, odd time-signatures that flat-out rock like a moving mountain. Rhino plays guitar, and throughout this record, he shows his sense of restrained muscle. Creative riffs, and energy to burn, this train doesn’t slow down. Rod Evans, the original Deep Purple vocalist, is in perfect form here, sounding like he grew up in the deep south with the snakes and alligators. If you’ve heard this, you already know what I’m going on about. If you haven’t, just find this and use it to lift off when you need a boost.