Description

There are a couple of reasons why this album is unfairly overlooked. One is the poor reputation of Zappa's synclavier music, which occupies a considerable amount of time here; the other is the familiarity of the `rock' songs on the album, in-concert staples which any Zappa-ologist is likely to have heard many times before they ever get around to buying this album.They should be aware that those overfamiliar songs - notorious anti-'60s-nostalgia rant "We're Turning Again", instrumental "Alien Orifice", quasi-instrumental "What's New In Baltimore" and anti-session-musicianmore…-diatribe "Yo Cats" (not exactly a live staple, but performed in 1988) - are all present in slightly different arrangements. "Turning" even has different lyrics to the standard-issue version, with Ike Willis (using his Thing-Fish voice) occupying the last verse."Yo Cats", which speculates (often lewdly) about how session musicians really earn their meager crust, is a fine vehicle for Willis's so-called `Sammy Davis Junior' voice. "Baltimore" (here lacking a vocal) merges high energy full-ensemble complexity to slow-paced stadium rock (for its guitar solo). "Orifice" is more characteristically Zappa, with its deliberately monotonous initial theme statement, guitar solo not in keeping with the jazzy sound of the band, and final eruption of tuned percussion.The synclavier compositions are an improvement on Zappa's previous efforts - mainly because the technology has improved, liberating his imagination, enabling him to recreate the sound of a gamelan ensemble playing at warp speed for "Little Beige Sambo", or an early '80s Zappa band for "Aerobics In Bondage".Unfortunately fifteen minutes of the album are occupied by failed experiments - the Johnny Guitar Watson showcase "I Don't Even Care" turns out to be an overly repetitive jam, but the epic-length track "Porn Wars" is far more disappointing. It's a collage of soundbites from Zappa's struggle with the PMRC at the so-called "porn rock" senatorial hearings - where the PMRC lobbied for a new system of music-censorship involving cinema-style "content ratings" imposed on albums). But it fails to work as a piece of musical journalism because of its overt editorial bias. Much as a tabloid editor misquotes reports and manipulates statistics to further an agenda, Zappa The Reporter takes quotes out of context, then repeats them, then speeds them up and slows them down to imbue them with a suitable "lunatic" quality...does everything possible to slur the speakers. Not very good!Fortunately the musical component of "Porn Wars" is reprised as "HR 2911" to close the album and is of course best appreciated in this form.In conclusion, the album is recommended to experienced Zappa collectors - but even to obsessive fans its flaws are apparent!

Tracks

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Info:

Category:

Music > Albums

Case Type:

CD

Release Type:

Retail

Comments:

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Cover Info:

Title:

Frank Zappa - Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention (2002) Retail CD

Part:

Inside

Dimensions:

1395 x 1413 px

Size:

551 KB

Downloads:

211 (0 today)

Uploaded:

Report a Problem Wrong Cover Duplicate Image Bad Quality Wrong Info

24/05/08 by paragong

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