I was listening to Safe as Milk for the first time in a while recently, and was reminded just how fucking
incredible that album is. Simply amazing. It's just one of the tightest rock albums ever recorded. 12 tracks in under 34 minutes, all of them stone cold classics. Just 12 (mostly less than 3 minute) slices of total perfection, that manage to have all that Beefheartian depth and weridness within what are effectively pop songs. Exactly the kind of album you so rarely get these days. I adore Beefheart's more 'out' stuff too, but there's still always a special place in my heart for Safe.
Also, the bit where the bass switches to that fucking amazing heavy riff at 1:35 of Zig Zag Wanderer just might be the greatest single moment in the history of music.