LUMPY GRAVY

Suffice to say, 'Lumpy Gravy' should not have been my first experience with Frank Zappa, or anyones, for that matter. While alot of Frank Zappas music is considered 'weird' (and for good reason,) it would be a stretch to call anything here songwriting, perse. 'Lumpy Gravy' is for all intents and purposes, a sonic collage, as if Frank had some great musical ideas and concepts that he wanted to use, but couldn't find a cohesive way to put them together.

Being more or less one continuous song, don't think for a second this is an epic like '2112' or 'A Change of Seasons.' I made that assumption before listening to it, and was pretty dissapointed. For the first minute or so, things seem to be going pretty well, and I'm excited to see what lies beyond. After some actual music, the sonic chaos starts as if to be sadistic and snatch the what-was pleasant music away for the stay of pig oinks, fart sounds and every immature, 'bathroom' sound under the sun. While I'm definately not an adherent to the school that thinks 'prog' should be completely serious and technical 100% of the time, novelty gags are in no way a replacement for actual, solid music.

For a few times however, the dialogue can (at times) be a bit entertaining, I'll admit. Talk of unicorns attacking people made me laugh, and there are some philosophical statements that are actually pretty profound, if you dig through all of the whimsicality.

Probably the most interesting thing about 'Lumpy Gravy' is actually the intention behind it, and how it was made. To my knowledge, Zappa ignored the concept of 'genres' and only saw things in black and white; 'good' and 'bad' music. For the music that's actually present on the album, there are many styles represented, including surf music, dissonant neoclassical, and jazz... It is a sonic mess indeed, but a sonic mess thats riddled with good intentions.

While for the 1960s, this is groundbreaking and theres certainly alot of thought that Zappa put into this half-hour project, most of it is simply unlistenable, especially for someone who doesn't consider himself a dedicated fan of the artist.

'Lumpy Gravy' suceeds in the sense that I want to explore more of this man's discography, but as a work itself, its really not an enjoyable venture. Frank Zappa has said that 'Lumpy Gravy' rates among his most proud acheivements, and despite the obvious good intention and thought put into this, it's not something you're going to want to listen to more than a few listens.

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