PIQUANTIQUE - STOCKHOLM 1973

If the recording quality of this album had been better, this might be a five star release. This was recorded from a TV broadcast, and not very well. The sound is flat, and in mono. But the band was one of Zappa's best, at a time when Frank's musical composition skills were at their peak. With George Duke, Ruth Underwood, Tom and Bruce Fowler, Ralph Humphrey and Jean-Luc Ponty, this was an incredible lineup.

The material for the (originally bootleg) release was selected out of the concert set. It seems to have been chosen well. At the time, and for years to come, only RDNZL would be available on official Zappa releases. All of the tracks are instrumental fusion pieces, all with that Zappa complexity.

The song listed as Father Oblivion is actually a blend of the Big Swifty musical arrangement used in The Adventures Of Greggary peccary and The Be-Bop Tango.

For the Zappaphile, this gets four stars. For the general prog fan, alas, only three (because of the sound quality).