[2][3] Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) was recorded from July 6 to August 27, 1978 at the Automatt in San Francisco.

Four new songs completed the album, these being "You Know You're A Man", "When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy", "Love Lies" and "Tropical Hot Dog Night", the latter being based on a riff of the Bat Chain Puller song "Odd Jobs", which was otherwise not re-recorded.

[1] The song "Bat Chain Puller" was based upon the rhythm of Van Vliet's windshield wipers.

Robert Christgau declared Shiny Beast to be better than all Van Vliet's previous albums, writing, "Without any loss of angularity or thickness, the new compositions achieve a flow worthy of Weill or Monk or Robert Johnson, and his lyrics aren't as willful as they used to be.

"[5] The Globe and Mail determined that Beefheart "is distinguished by the surprising poetic strength of his lyrics.