Released: 1976
Tracks: Wind Up Workin’ in a Gas Station; Black Napkins; The Torture Never Stops; Ms. Pinky; Find Her Finer; Friendly Little Finger; Wonderful Wino; Zoot Allures; Disco Boy
Best track: Black Napkins
Tracks to skip: Torture Never Stops, Ms. Pinky, Find Her Finer, Disco Boy
This is another one of those Frank Zappa albums that pisses me off. On one hand, you have two of the greatest guitar songs he ever wrote in Black Napkins and Zoot Allures (which is an English corruption of the French phase meaning “Damn it”), while on the other there’s the total lack of energy and enthusiasm and overall
boredom of most of the rest of the tracks. The four tracks listed above as skippers (more than half the album since Torture is a LONG and plodding song) are in themselves good compositions, but the versions Frank recorded for this album are just slow and boring. SOOO boring. I’ve wanted to make my own version of songs from this album using live versions of the songs I skip. I need to do that, mostly so I don’t always have such a sour taste about these songs. For instance, there’s the Torture from You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 1, Find Her Finer from Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life, Disco Boy from Baby Snakes, Ms. Pinky from YCDTOSA 6, and to some extent the Workin’ in a Gas Station also from YCDTOSA 6. If you could substitute those tracks, then this album would be WAY different. As it stands in this 1976 studio version, most of the songs are lifeless. I actually like the version of Gas Station on here; it’s more upbeat and actually fun (but I still prefer the YCDTOSA 6 version).
I think the overall determining factor is live vs. studio. Black Napkins, Zoot Allures and the solo from Friendly Little Finger are all recorded live with a full band. For the rest of the album, the ‘band’ is mostly just Terry Bozzio on drums and Frank Zappa on everything else. A few guests here and there, but it’s mostly Zappa and Bozzio. And it’s so frustrating, because Terry Bozzio is an AMAZING drummer, but the tempos of most of these songs are SO SLOW that even Terry can’t do much to liven them up. Although Patrick O’Hearn & Eddie Jobson are on the cover, they don’t play on the album. If they would’ve, and sped up the tempos, then we’d have a totally different album. *That* album would be great. Unfortunately, we don’t get that one. Wanna hear what Zappa-Bozzio-O’Hearn-Jobson sounds like (with guests)? Get Zappa in New York, the album following this. Now that’s good stuff. This, ugh, isn’t. And I hate badmouthing an album with something as incredible and beautiful as Black Napkins on it. The thing is, I have to take this album as it is. There’s some really good, but also a lot of really bad. Unfortunately it’s “essential” for Black Napkins and Zoot Allures, but the rest will make you wonder why he even bothered.
Rating: 73
Write a comment