THE YELLOW SHARK

This is one of the first Zappa CDs I was able to acquire and was a real disappointment as it did not feature any of his complexity or humour, at least not in the vein of his reputable catalogue during the "You Can't do that on Stage" oeuvre of work. In any case there is still the Zappa classic material here such as Uncle Meat, The Girl in the Magnesium Dress, Ruth Is Sleeping, Dog Breath Variations and Pound for a Brown.

The music is rather subdued and laid back in many portions and Zappa works best when he spirals wildly out of control and veers into zany territory. The orchestral approach is really designed for die hard Zappaholics. It is too classical for its own good and really tedious in places. There are a few good tracks and the wind section is beautiful, but I rarely return to this album, he is capable of so much more. This is really a collectors album.