Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Frank Zappa - Roxy: The Movie CD (album) cover

ROXY: THE MOVIE

Frank Zappa

RIO/Avant-Prog


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Bookmark and Share
rdtprog
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Heavy, RPI, Symph, JR/F Canterbury Teams
4 stars It took a lot of work to synchronize the audio and the video of those concerts from those 3 nights at the Roxy in 1973. Don't expect a very clear picture, but who really cares when you can have a Zappa performance on video from the 70's. There is no big visuals effects on a Zappa concert. The music is what it counts. It's kind of funny to see Tom Fowler with a big cigar in the mouth for a long period of time and Frank smoking his cigarette sitting on a chair when he is not busy. The rhythm section with 3 musicians is solid including the young Chester Thompson. They play a important role in the show. As usual no music of Frank Zappa can be without flute, trumpet and xylophone. It is always impressive to hear how much the music here was original with some adventurous time signatures mixing prog, jazz and avant-garde.

But i personally never enjoyed the Zappa guitar's solo and at the end of the show when Frank invites people from the crowd on stage to dance during some insane improvised music. It was maybe fun for the audience, but watch this for 20 minutes on video is not my kind of thing. The editing of those shows was made to keep the cameras long enough on each members to enjoy the solos. The audio is nice for a concert that took place 40 year ago and acceptable considering the technical issues they had to overcome. This is not a perfect product, but a rare and precious thing to have in your prog collection. It comes with a single cd that contains 6 of the 11 songs on video.

Report this review (#1539800)
Posted Tuesday, March 15, 2016 | Review Permalink
fuxi
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars The more I watch this blu-ray, the more I get the impression this has to be the best 1970s prog film of all. I can think of only a few rival films of classic prog bands at the top of their game. There's YESSONGS, which has terrible sound and far too many silly graphics. There's that live recording of PG-era Genesis you will find on YouTube, but the sound doesn't really match the images, so properly speaking it doesn't count. There's JETHRO TULL LIVE AT MSG 1978 but it's not very long and the editing is terrible: we hardly see Martin Barre, even when he is soloing his heart out. No, if you long to see an eclectic, avant-garde, jazzy and at times highly symphonic prog ensemble in full flight, ROXY THE MOVIE is the real deal! And let's not beat around the bush. Frank Zappa on lead guitar, vocals and occasional percussion; George Duke on keyboards and vocals; Napoleon Murphy Brock on sax and vocals; Ruth Underwood on vibraphone, marimba and other percussion; Tom Fowler on bass and Bruce Fowler on trombone; with both Ralph Humphrey and Chester Thompson on drums - well, together they give most of the classic British prog bands a run for their money. (And I say this as someone who grew up on Yes, Genesis & tutti quanti and who dearly loves them still.) Zappa's band are simply more accomplished, more virtuosic, more spontaneous AND more ecstatic than any other 1970s rock act. (Purely as multi-instrumentalists, perhaps only Gentle Giant come close, as the GENTLE GIANT ON THE BOX DVD will demonstrate, but the Giant never had the crazy audience interaction that Frank Zappa so clearly encourages.) Let's just face it. In spite of its technical deficiencies (e.g. why is the entire programme performed against a background of cheap silver paper?) this has to be the best possible recording of some of FZ's best music by (most likely) his most accomplished and most likeable band. Lovers of Zappa's classic ROXY AND ELSEWHERE album waited for decades to be able to watch this. A progressive rock masterpiece, no doubt about it.
Report this review (#2040257)
Posted Monday, October 1, 2018 | Review Permalink
Chicapah
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars I've had the vinyl double album of this performance in heavy rotation on my turntable since it came out in the 70s. I still consider it one of the best live LPs I've ever heard. I won't go too far into the music end of things because you can just read my glowing review of it for yourself. But recently I came across the film version on Amazon Prime and, impossible as it seems, made me even more appreciative of what Frank and his band accomplished that particular night. What the record wasn't able to convey was the pure joy the musicians were exuding while playing some of the most complex material imaginable purely from memory. You'd think they were playing something akin to "Gloria" by their casual mien when, in fact, it's obvious throughout the show they're having the time of their lives. If you are of the younger set and have often wondered what all the fuss is about Mr. Zappa I highly recommend you dial this movie up soon and get ready to pick your jaw up from the floor often. No fancy light show or special effects needed for this uber-talented bunch. In my estimation there's never been anything quite like it in the history of progressive music and I'm tickled pink that it's been preserved for all time to come.
Report this review (#2461830)
Posted Saturday, October 31, 2020 | Review Permalink

FRANK ZAPPA Roxy: The Movie ratings only


chronological order | showing rating only

Post a review of FRANK ZAPPA Roxy: The Movie


You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.