For some artists, exposure of self inspires empathy or affection in the listener. Tim Buckley's progressive opening up, on the other hand, has been so manic as to kill much of the positive feeling his early work had generated.

Look At The Fool may be slightly easier to take than the last two or three albums, but I still find the combination of hyper-speedy funk and Buckley's octave-spanning howls all but unbearable.

It's as if Buckley had borrowed the primal scream of Lennon's Plastic Ono Band in order to mock and punish himself, as the title implies. With music like this, he mocks and punishes the listener as well.

The irony is that Buckley remains an impressive singer and skilled songwriter, but these virtues are drowned out in the general din.

The title song, at least, is done with enough restraint to give it some attractive moments.

Circus was a monthly US magazine devoted to rock music. It was published from 1966 to 2006