sommar@enea.se (Erland Sommarskog) (06/13/91)
So we have come to volume four of six in this series. The last edition left us quite disappointed. Some good stuff, but too much which were featured only because of funny incidents. Volume 4 takes revenge. At least on disc 1. Lot of really good material. Disc 2 is distinctively weaker, and if were to rate them separately they would get +3 and 0/+1 respectively. But let's look at it in detail: Disc 1 starts weakly. "Little Rubber Girl" is a greasy love song, and "Stick Together" feels unnecessary. But then. "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" in yet another interesting re-arrangement. A very fun *and* good version of "Willie the Pimp" from 1984. Two versions of "Montana", from 1984 and 1974 merged into one. "Brown Moses" and "The Evil Prince" both come from "Thing-Fish" an album I never play, but maybe I should. These tracks are both very good. "Approximate" is one of the halves in "The Purple Lagoon" and this version from 1982 is quite crazy, but less crazy on vol 2. "Love of My Life" is lame. "Let's Move to Cleveland" from 1984, but only a sax and a piano solo. Since there is no sax solo on this track on "Does Humour Belong in Music" from the same year, and Alan Zavod's piano always is good, this is a nice feature. "You Call That Music?" is really a speaking title. The 1969 band which you find on "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" are weireder then ever. "Pound For a Brown" is another highlight. Two synth solos from the 1978 band. This time I think it's a pity he didn't include the whole number. I caught Zappa in Malm| that year, and I recall that there were long instrumental passage were FZ just sat and let the band do the job. These passages were among the best. "The Black Page" from 1984 may sound like a bore, but this version has some new twitches too it. "Let Me Take You to the Ball Game" is a joke number from the 1988 tour and is maybe not so hot, "Filthy Habits" from the same tour comes off OK. And, "The Torture Never Stops" with Beefheart, the orginal version. Quite different from got on "Zoot Allures". Almost minimalistic. Valuable. Disc two is as I said much less interesting. "Church Chat" is an introduction to "Stevie's Spanking". The chat is tire- some after a while; it's not very fun. "Stevie's Spanking", "Outside Now", "Disco Boy", "Teen-Age Wind" and "Truck- Driver Divorce" are from 1982 and 84. Most quite dull, even if "Disco Boy" is played with a little. "Stevie's Spanking" is the most worthwhile after all, though. "Florentine Pogen" follows in a 1979 version which adds little new. The next couple of tracks are the most interesting on this disc. "Tiny Sick Tears" is a teenage story from 1969 narrated by Frank. "Smell My Beard" and "The Booger Man" is another edition of the first 6-7 minutes from what is called "Dupree's Paradise" on Stage 2. This is improvised, so it is no repe- tition. But it's more fun than good music. "Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy" from 1984 is would you could expect. Decent, but not hot. "Are You Upset" is the last 1969 item and is at least a change to all the 1984 stuff. The disc closes with six non-Zappa songs. Some which have appeared on studio albums, some which have not. Fifties style. I care less for these, but maybe some find them worthwhile. To conclude: Stage 4 *is* worth getting, but all the value is on one disc only. -- Erland Sommarskog - ENEA Data, Stockholm - sommar@enea.se