Generally acclaimed as the strongest album of his comeback, and by some as his best since Trout Mask Replica,
Doc at the Radar Station had a tough, lean sound owing partly to the virtuosic new version of
the Magic Band (featuring future
Pixies sideman Eric Drew Feldman, New York downtown-scene guitarist
Gary Lucas, and a returning
John "Drumbo" French, among others) and partly to the clear, stripped-down production, which augmented
the Captain's basic dual-guitar interplay and jumpy rhythms with extra percussion instruments and touches of
Shiny Beast's synths and trombones. Many of the songs on
Doc either reworked or fully developed unused material composed around the time of the creatively fertile Trout Mask sessions, which adds to the spirited performances. Even if
the Captain's voice isn't quite what it once was,
Doc at the Radar Station is an excellent, focused consolidation of
Beefheart's past and then-present. ~ Steve Huey