A strange article. Seems like the author just wanted to name drop, and let out some frustration at the less critical listener. The 'Top 20' in both categories are nearly completely random (you could replace Robert Wyatt's 'Dondestan' with any other album in his catalog! Are ANY Beefheart albums 'popular'?).
Someone should write an article about 'Trout Mask' being the album everyone points to when it comes to making a comment on Beefheart, while 'Lick My Decals', or any of his other great albums, are just as compelling and worthy of the same amount of attention!
'Trout Mask' is like 'Sgt. Pepper' - - overrated, and not REALLY the artist's greatest work (let alone easiest to listen to). - My opinion of course!!!
-PM

To the poster above, rather than TMR being over-rated, I think it's just less under-rated than most other Beefheart music ;o)

Can the Sunday Times explain, with their rationalism, the time about a decade ago when shoppers at UK high street store HMV were asked to name their top albums: and Trout Mask Replica came in at a healthy 40something in the top 100?

I could not understand why the guy wrote this piece. I assume he was committed to filling a space in his paper but had nothing prepared. Smacks of lazy journalism.