TINSEL TOWN REBELLION

i've never been Frank Zappa fan, i don't know all his albums , actually i know only few, this one appears really good, Easy Meat is the best song here and i'm finding real pleasure in listening to the others. Leisure mess, for ones who are little bit spun.

Let's hear it for another glimpse of occasional greatness: a live set by turns inspired, stupid, nostalgic, forward-looking, cruel, funny, and so on. This double album leads with its lone studio track, "Fine Girl", the kind of funked-up music that appeared on Ship Arriving Too Late, "included", in Frank's words, "so that conservative radio stations can play something on the air." From there, it's a mix of golden oldies ("Love Of My Life", "I Ain't Got No Heart") and new material performed live and recorded cleanly enough to warrant the live label moot. Typical of Frank's music from this period, the highs are very high, the lows very low. "Easy Meat", "The Blue Light", "Pick Me, I'm Clean" and ""Tinsel Town Rebellion"" are fine additions to the FZ canon. However, "Panty Rap" and "Dance Contest" find Frank playing to the groundlings as he collects female underwear for a quilt and tries to get drunk people to dance (remember the Be-Bop Tango?). The performances are drawn from a few different venues, primarily the Hammersmith Odeon and Berkeley Community Theater. Honestly, I could have survived without the first two "Sides" of music: swap "Easy Meat" for "Dance Contest" and you've got the makings of a great single elpee. From "The Blue Light" to "Peaches III" (another reinvention of the old "Peaches En Regalia" tune) this is great stuff. Whether he's ripping apart the social fabric with the Absolutely Free entry "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" or attacking the Hollywood music scene in ""Tinsel Town Rebellion"", ZAPPA's fury is a force to be reckoned with. Such heavy fare makes the lighter moments seem flimsy, but by now most ZAPPA fans have learned to accept the composer's irregular genius as a glass half full. "Tinsel Town Rebellion" is definitely half full, no worse (and no better) than "Sheik Yerbouti".

Frank Zappa is much better live than in the studio, and this is just one more album that proves it. If you compare the studio versions of "Brown Shoes..." and "Tinsletown Rebellion" to the live versions on this record, you'll hear that live the songs just sound more exciting and not as forced. The musicians are all so good that they fiddle around with the music at will and improve on it spontaneously. Tracks like "Panty Rap" and "Dance Contest" are fun to listen to once in a while, but get old very quick. Other than those two, the album is superb and has some of the best live Zappa stuff I've heard so far. As always there is amazing Zappa guitar, so you can always at least just listen to "Easy Meat" and "Now You See It- Now You Don't" over and over again.

This double LP is one of my favorite Zappa's albums: 6 guitarists, 3 keyboardists, a good half dozen of backing vocalists, and TONS of crazy drums! Again, Zappa demonstrates his ability on guitar by performing crazy solos: "Now You See It- Now You Don't" has such a monolithic solo, but the sound is good. This record is, like "You are what you is", a party album. The difference is that here the tracks are quite more sophisticated and complex. Strongly rhythmic, the tracks are really catchy and addictive: IMO this album is one of his best for quality backing vocals. I like the anthemic trumpets & keyboards on "Easy meet": this anthemic combination of trumpet + keyboards is the real trademark of this album. The percussions on "Young sophisticated" are cute! "Love of my life" is a mellow retro jewel, followed by the catchy & rhythmic rock "I ain't got no heart". "Panty rap" and "Dance contest" are interactive entertainment by Frank Zappa himself in front of an animated crowd, while other musicians play discreetly in the background. Another reprise is the intense "Tell me you love me", definitely faster and more loaded than the original. "Tinsel Town Rebellion" is an outstanding retro rhythmic track: you go back 50 years behind with it; it is nicely followed by the 2 speeds "Pick me I'm clean". "Bamboozled by Love" sounds like the rhythmic part of Pink Floyd's Money. The last 2 tracks are the best parts of the album: "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" is VERY rhythm changing, catchy, addictive and complex, it must be listened entirely to appreciate. Finally, a reprise of "Peaches en regalia", absolutely better: the sound is perfect, the synchronization is excellent, all the instruments are very well played, and the complexity of the track is clearly shown here.

EXTREMELY RECOMMENDED!

Tinseltown Rebellion finds Zappa's late 70's band during a period of transition; a couple of the old guard are still there (Tommy Mars, Patrick O'Hearn, Denney Whalley), but we start to see the faces who defined the 1980's band too, with Ike Willis supplementing Ray White's backing guitar/vocal, and Ed Mann in on percussion. It's also nice to hear a live recording of the Barrow/Colauita rhythm section - in my opinion, one of the most under- rated in the Zappa canon.

The album itself is generally Zappa-lite, concentrating on the shorter pieces, and the crowd pleasers (occasionally embarrassingly so, as in 'Panty Rap' and 'Dance Contest'); notwithstanding this, however, there are some fine instrumental workouts, especially during 'Easy Meat' and a strangely twisted version of 'Peaches III'.

As always with Zappa's live recordings, humour & satire are to the fore; Zappa's rant against the music industry, 'Tinseltown Rebellion' is as relevant now as it was then (perhaps more so), and the blues parody 'Bamboozled By Love' contains the inspired line "Oh Lord, the [&*!#] done hit the fan" (Robert Johnson would be proud.).

In conclusion, then, this is by no means an essential Zappa album, but it is certainly one of his most entertaining - now if it could only be re-released without 'Panty Rap' & 'Dance Contest' (please don't tell me those bought up on stage are representative of your average American Zappa fan.), there would be an extra star in the offing.

In 1977 I watched a TV programme at 6pm on one sorry evening. That night decent Rock music was abandoned forever more. Only one man stood in the way of Idiots taking over completely. His name Frank Zappa, & the title track of this album is just what he thought of the Idiots.

1977 programme featured the Sex Pistols - amongst their childish language they even had a go at Beethoven. If you're wondering why music is so rubbish now here's your answer. Music cannot progress if it's been flawed (floored) by people who believe low standards achieve success.

Zappa started music that is adventurous. It's ironic that he was the only one left standing when everyone else, cowardly, abandoned ship.

This album is by far one of his more disappointing albums. However, 'to get a record dea you should NOT have to be more Punk'. Buy this album as a tribute to a true hero in the history of real musicians throughout the world.

For the Sophisticated Zappa Fan?

1981 was a big year for Frank Zappa, not only did he release this album, but he also released entire Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar trilogy as well as the slightly underwhelming You Are What You Is. This album in my opinion has all the things You Are What You Is didn't have, but it still doesn't compare at all to his earlier more commercial efforts like Sheik Yerbouti. This album has a very live feel to it (most of Zappa's albums during this period were mostly taken from live shows where he'd premiere most of his songs anyway), and it really comes to a head with the two songs Panty Rap and The Dance Contest.

Anywho, rather than describe all the tracks, I'll give you a rundown of the ones that really made an impression on me. The first is the opener, the simplistic yet effective Fine Girl, which is a silly track about the girl of your dreams. Following that is the 9 minute Easy Meat, which is filled with Tommy Mars' lush synthesizers and a rollicking Zappa solo that, while a bit long, is terribly effective and makes the song probably the best on the album. For the Young Sophisticate has Zappa repeating the phrase "dear heart, dear heart". It's another song in the vein of Fine Girl, but none the less it's an effective piece. The Blue Light segues from The Dance Contest (one of the songs that really hurts the album), and it has some great synthesizers as well as some catchy Zappa vocals.

Tinseltown Rebellion is another favorite of mine on the album, with it's rapid fire bassline and it's cynical and very humorous lyrics about the music industry. It's probably second to Easy Meat in my opinion. Brown Shoes Don't Make it is a more modern version of the Absolutely Free song, and it still has all the bitter social commentary that the original version contained with a slightly newer edge musically (in terms of instrumentation). The concluding piece of the album is an updated version of Peaches en Regalia, which has Warren Cuccurrullo giving a great overall performance on the intricate melodies.

Overall, Tinseltown Rebellion would be a good album, but there are only 5 or 6 songs amongst the 15 total that really impressed me. For fans of 80s Zappa like You Are What You Is and Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch, you may find much to like these albums. For those who enjoyed Sheik Yerbouti and to a lesser extent Joe's Garage, you'll find things here and there that are captivating, but not to the extent of those two albums.

Underwhelming might be a fairly accurate word for this.

Tinseltown Rebellion and You Are What You Is are mostly parallel in my mind. Both are long and meandering and featuring a lot of average Zappa tunes. Truth be told, by this point, the commercial leanings of Zappa's late 70s work has overtaken the fluency of his music. Rather than writing tunes with the wild instrumentation and random interludes, we have a mostly vocal-oriented setup, which isn't horrible. However, twelve or thirteen similar songs of standard lyrics and mostly unremarkable music constitutes a pretty weak prog album, in my book.

This album is mostly a direct successor to Sheik Yerbouti, except it lacks that flavor and flair that seemed to dominate that album. Much of the lyrical content is devoted to satire and mockery. Tell Me You Love Me has some wonderful Doors vibes to it, and in fact is one of the more interesting tunes available here--more like something off Sheik Yerbouti. Easy Meat is the closest the album has to a full jam session, which is not a necessary Zappa trademark but one of his strongest suits, I think. Songs like Now You See It - Now You Don't also feature some jamming and soloing, but for the most part, they lack the usual energy that the man often delivers. On the whole, I must say, I find the guitar work uninspiring, despite the presence of five guitarists, one of whom is the venerable Steve Vai.

When it comes down to it, though, the music is rather stock and standard for the milder half of Frank's catalog, showcasing his ability to write fine melodies and awkward lyrics to go with them. If Sheik Yerbouti absolutely trips your triggers, this album would probably work for you. If you are a fan of early Zappa's complexities and depth, I would avoid this release. A bad place to start with Frank's music, but not a terrible release for serious fans.

This album was a fine girl, a really fine girl. It could get down, get down, all the way down.

This Zappa album perfectly meets the qualifications a of non-essential album, though some would say it doesn't rise above hard core fan status.

Except for Fine Girl, which is the sole studio track, it's a collection of live tracks. It's laced with a few reworked Zappa oldie's: Love Of My Life, I Ain't Got No Heart, Brown Shoes Don't Make It, with a third version of Peaches. Many of the tracks here are only material available only live, and Zappa was often the most fun when working live. It offers some interesting originals like The Blue Light, Now You Seen It-Now You Don't (sounds like it came off of Shut Up 'N Play Your Guitar). One might this album a vocalized supplement to the Shut Up 'N Play Your Guitar series).

It's your standard mix of Zappa silly and often offensive lyrics with great guitar and mostly superb (burp, heh heh) Zappa directed ensemble performance. The subject matter focuses mainly on vacuous female types or perhaps more appropriately, stereotypes of the same from the late '70's and early '80's. Well, considering this was early '81, that can be forgiven. When released, some of those stereotypes carried on into the '80's and were kind of actually like real people.

Poke it around if it dies down...

Wow, what a totally underwhelming live album. Live Zappa recordings have their ups and downs, of course, but this is the first live album of his to not have any tracks that I would consider essential (even Fillmore East had "Happy Together"). The main significant "advancement" of this album is that the horn section has been reduced to a solitary trumpet player, and in its place are really dated, really prominent synthesizers. There are many guitarists, but there's depressingly little guitar (I mean, there are a good number of solos, but there's no thick, satisfying guitar sound that you'd expect from the lineup), and large stretches of the album consist of lightweight synth-based noodling and Frank trying to do a weirdly ad libbed "croon" sound.

There are a few oldies lying around, and they're ok, but they don't go much beyond that. "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" and "Peaches III" (a weirdly metallic interpretation of "Peaches en Regalia") are passable, but they're far below the standards set by the originals. "Love of My Life" (one of the lesser Ruben and the Jets tracks) and "I Ain't Got No Heart" give a nod to the doo wop parodies of yore (I guess they're intended to add some measure of diversity to the recording), and "Tell Me You Love Me" at least has some drive and an effective mix of metallic guitar and electric piano. Now, I'm not somebody who demands that live versions of tracks sound just like the originals, but I do prefer that they have some characteristic that would convince me to listen to them instead of the studio versions. These tracks just don't appeal to me on that level, with the exception of "Tell Me You Love Me" and (slightly) "I Ain't Got No Heart."

More disappointing is that the "new" tracks don't come close to boasting a single classic among them. There are a couple of tracks near the end that are pretty good ("Pick Me I'm Clean" is a moderately fun number that appears to be about a guy bragging about his lack of VD, and "Bamboozled by Love" is a decent bluesy rocker), but I kinda suspect that their apparent quality level is amplified by all that which comes before. A couple of tracks are a pure waste of space; "Panty Rap" is Frank telling the audience for four minutes about how he wants them to pass him bras and panties, while "Dance Contest" (where Frank invites people on stage to dance) is basically a lengthy spoken introduction to "The Blue Light," which has some nice moments but features a whole lot of the aforementioned vegas- based ad libbed crooning. "Easy Meat" is an absolute bore for its nine minutes, filled with overloud bad synths (with a synth-based jam in the middle) and lyrics that do indeed sound like a reject from the Joe's Garage sessions. "Now You See It - Now You Don't" is a rambling guitar solo that at least provides a nice refresher from the rest of the album, "Tinseltown Rebellion" goes from a decent rocker to more atonal half-singing from Frank, and For the Young Sophisticate completely eludes me in this context.

Part of me thinks I'm giving this too high of a grade, to be honest. Then again, the supporting band is (once again) rather tight, and there are a good number of moments where the sound comes together enough for me to forget the flaws, so I guess I'll leave the grade where it is. It also helps that the album starts off with a studio track, "Fine Girl," which is no great shakes but at least sounds like one of the average-quality tracks on the brilliant You Are What You Is.

From the word go in this live concert the crude lyrics permeate the music. Zappa's concerts were infamous and this album is proof positive why Zappa became a number one entertainer. It starts off shakily with a dull studio cut, until we get to the huge wild and zany live performance of Easy Meat. There are some insane moments, the improv jazz sweeps of Easy Meat's instrumental are astonishingly off kilter and sounding random, the way only Zappa can do it. The repetitive phrase 'easy meat' grates a bit but this is still a highlight thanks to the freak out mid section that spirals all over the place.

For The Young Sophisticates is the nonsense that turns the average fan off Zappa; weird, 50s style blues and quirky. The xylophone is a great touch though, but those psychotic harmonies are just plain silly. The crowd roars, and we hear Love Of My life, the 50s "Grease" style doo wop does nothing for me, and it's a throwaway for my ears. Perhaps Sha Na Na fans will love it.

In some inspired lunacy Zappa says to the crowd, "we are collecting small articles of feminine underclothing, we are making a quilt, really trust me"; so we have the likeable nonsense of Panty Rap, one way of getting them thrown on to the stage I guess. This is quite a humorous piece and the audience love it of course. I don't mind this type of Zappa as it brings a smile to the dial, and refuses to take itself seriously. "The highest yield of female underclothes" is Chicago, according to Zappa. The thing is improvised according to how the audience responds and they of course do respond. Zappa intros the band, Steve Vai gets introduced as with light blue hair. More 'contestants' offer their pants and Zappa reads a message, 'hi Frank, how about 'wereing' my hat onstage?' Frank makes fun of the spelling error, and continues to intro the band. A fun interlude leading to the raucous weird piano frenzy of Tell Me You Love Me.

The rocking sound is welcome here, and the track pretty much is just a 'let yourself go' kick A blaster. There are mad screams and lead guitar chaos. It is repetitive with some intriguing little riffs and a great lead motif. It segues into Now You Don't that continues the lead guitar prowess, and is quite bluesy, but the dominant guitars are excellent on this.

Dance Contest is the impromptu audience participation thing that Zappa does and he gets 'the dynamic Butch' to dance with 'Lena'. Couple number one and then he proceeds to somehow get more audience members to dance. A great idea in theory and after one listen you may want to skip to the next track, but it is infectious humour that really sets up the party atmosphere. 'Ugliness' he chants, the cute people in the world get a razz up, and then the couples proceed with this absurd contest.

The Blue Light is next and we assume the contest is continuing here with this crazy music blaring out. Lots of improvised stuff here as Zappa raps about American fast food, panties, piddle, hanging out with the others, a body of water and even oil in patches all over Atlantis, and Donovan! I guess this acid tripped stuff is similar to the improv patter that Robert Wyatt churned out with Soft Machine. It is fun, and I never tire of the humour here.

Pick Me I'm Clean is Ok thanks to a psyched up lead break with some amazing jazz playing. The bassline is inspirational keeping a sporadic rhythm and the percussion is all over the place. This is how I like Zappa. The Rock In Opposition is unmistakeable when all the instruments are competing against each other.

Bamboozled By Love has a cool funkadelic rhythm that grabs you immediately, the singing is well executed here and this stands out as a definitive highlight. The lyrics are bawdy as always, and at times sardonic and sadistic; "If she don't change those evil ways I'm gonna make her bleed, if she don't give me what I want she gonna have no head at all". Okay this is Zappa and he injects this content into his lyrics constantly, not that I like this but that's Zappa and there is no escaping it. My favourite moments of Zappa is when he lets loose with these jazz improv delightful bursts of sound, rather than his twisted humour. It is not possible to have one without the other and at times he crosses a line that jars my sense of moral fibre. The toilet humour may have its place but as far as prog goes I steer clear of it, so this album is not one I return to often as with all other Zappa's, apart from the incredible instrumental genius of "Hot Rats"

Brown Shoes Don't Make It has a great little proggish time sig change, but is strange enough to defy description. The Magma like harmonies, high falsetto shrieks, are unnerving, and this one is perhaps the strangest on the set list, with some absolutely warped musicianship. The bursts of xylophone, brass, and glorified tempo changes on percussion are excellent. It never settles on one particular style, there are blues, jazz, 50s style, psych funk, straight rock and even touches of avante garde excesses, and the lyrics are quirky and theatrically sung. So once again a highlight for all these reasons.

The album ends with Peaches III that is virtually a sequel to the infamous Peaches In Regalia. Immediately the melody is recognizable as the original instrumental tune, but there are variations to give it a fresh sound. It is a great way to end and I soon realised I was enjoying the second half of the album way more than the shaky first half. So my 2 1/2 star rating was boosted from one star thanks to some inspirational music on the second half. Tread carefully with this if you are new to Zappa, others will simply know what to expect and it delivers with no holds barred indulgence.

How does one distinguish a live album from Frank Zappa in the 1980s? Most of his recordings around this time were based on live tracks, and then edited and overdubbed until they sounded like studio recordings. On this album, only one track, Fine Girl was recorded in his studio. The rest are edited and spliced, but the overdubs are minimal, and the audience interaction in left in, so it still feels like a live album.

The material is a mixed bag, and there are none of the spectacular, weird compositions Zappa was known for, but there's plenty of good music to make this worth owning. First of all, keyboardist Tommy Mars steals the show. His keyboard break in Easy Meat (a song based on a riff the the Mothers would jam on - heard on some of the "Beat The Boots" albums), is just amazing. And it's his playing that make some of the older songs, especially Brown Shoes Don't Make It and Peaches En Regalia, here called Peaches III, a treat to hear.

Other standout tracks are For the Young Sophisticate, not terribly prog, but a nice tune with funny lyrics, a blazing rendition of Tell Me You Love Me, and an early version of Tinseltown Rebellion, here played without all the eyebrows that really enhanced the song.

My CD of this is an early EMI release (before the Rykodisk deal), where they mislabelled Panty Rap on the cover, booklet and disk itself as Party Rap.

Not an essential album, but not bad either.

Part of the tidal wave of novelty rock material Zappa released in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Tinseltown Rebellion begins with a studio off-cut from You Are What You Is (if it wasn't good enough for that sprawling everything-and-the-kitchen-sink album, Frank, what made you think it was good enough for this one?) but the rest presents live recordings from the period, covering similar material. Once again, the comedy feels more forced and unfunny to me than Zappa's earlier material - oh, and there's offensive lyrical content too if that bothers you - but on top of that the album is marred by muggy sound quality which subsequent remasters haven't quite managed to solve.

The versions presented of older songs are tepid - in particular, Brown Shoes Don't Make It is an absolute travesty compared to the original studio version - whilst the newer material continues the "novelty rock for frat boys" direction of You Are What You Is without that album's deft production to sweeten the deal. In short, there's little or nothing here to tickle the fancy of those who prefer Zappa's experimental, innovative, technically sophisticated and downright clever side. There's even a dance contest includes, Zappa apparently having not learned from Roxy and Elsewhere that such things are completely pointless in an audio format. At his best, Zappa was a genius, I'll never deny that, but when he just wasn't trying - or was intentionally dumbing his material down - there's nothing worse.

'Tinsel Town Rebellion' is technically a live album from Frank Zappa, but also contains some studio recorded material. It is actually a culmination of some unreleased albums and ideas that FZ had. The names of the unreleased projects were 'Crush all Boxes' which was supposed to be a 3 disc live album, and 'Warts and All' which became too unwieldy to release as it contained music that was later released on 'You Are What You Is', 'Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar' series and 'You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore' series. TTR was released in 1981 after 'Joe's Garage' and before the first 'Shut Up . . .' album.

The line up on this album includes such greats as Peter Wolf, Ed Mann, Tommy Mars, Patrick O'Hearn, Steve Vai, Ray White and Ike Willis among others. The album cover is a conglomeration of several images all mashed together in a collage.

The album starts with the original studio recording of 'Fine Girl' which the record company promoted by running a contest. People sent in pictures of girls that they thought would be considered a fine girl by FZ. The winning entry was an electric guitar in the shape of a naked lady. The winner of the prize was to meet FZ in between shows on Halloween 1981 in New York. FZ posed with the winner. The song itself is a reggae style track with comedic tongue-in-cheek lyrics.

'Easy Meat' is a track that is edited from various sources as was a typical recording method for Frank. The 'Crush All Boxes' version recorded in concert with overdubs at Upper Darby, PA on April 29, 1980. It goes to UCLA for some improvisations done on Sept 8, 1975, moves to a snippet from the 'Lather' album and then goes to the early show in Santa Monica on December 11, 1980 from the 3:20 mark to the ending after 9 minutes. The last edit consists mostly of one of Frank's amazing guitar solos with the out chorus at the end.

'For the Young Sophisticate' is recorded entirely in London at the late show on Feb. 18, 1979. It's a simple boogie rhythm with the usual FZ lyrical hijinx. 'Love of My Life is a short doo-wop song from 'Cruising with Ruben and the Jets' this time recorded at Berkeley on Dec 5, 1980. 'I Ain't Got No Heart' from 'Freak Out!' follows also recorded at the same venue.

Some silly FZ humor follows with interaction with the audience in 'Panty Rap', which most of you already know what that is about. 'Tell Me You Love Me' is a harder rocker from 'Chunga's Revenge' originally and continues the string of tracks from Berkeley. Finally, we move out of Berkeley for 'Now You See It, Now You Don't'. This guitar solo with a reggae vibe was recorded live at Southern Illinois University on Nov 15, 1980. Then we go to the Palladium in NYC on Oct 27, 1978 for another audience interaction track called 'Dance Contest' where FZ invites people on stage to dance to a non-danceable complex tune.

'The Blue Light' is a track that showed up in studio later on 'Thing-Fish', and is edited and jumps back and forth between 3 shows, both the early and late shows at Berkeley on Dec 5, 1980 and the Santa Monica show on Dec 11, 1980. This track has snippets of 'My Sharona' from The Knack and the 'Jaws' theme. It is also not as annoying as the studio version from that awful 'Thing Fish' album. But it has a long lounge style of singing in the middle that FZ loved to use during that era. 'Tinsel Tow Rebellion' was original to this album even though it is done live at Berkeley again. It is one of the funnier tracks that FZ used to lampoon Hollywood. 'Pick Me I'm Clean' is also original to this album and was recorded live in Berkeley, but switches to Dallas on Oct 17, 1980 just before the guitar solo.

Next up is 'Bamboozled By Love' which many have said is a satirical take on 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' by Yes, but that isn't correct as this was recorded in London on Feb 19, 1979 and '90125' wasn't released until 1982. However, FZ did use the 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' riff on this song after the Yes song was released. This song does have a heavy riff and a great guitar solo on this version too. After this, we stay in London for 'Brown Shoes Don't Make It' from the 'Absolutely Free' album. Even though it was all recorded in London, this track is actually edited between 4 shows during a multiple day stint for the band. The song, of course, is about old male politicians and the way they cover up their perverted habits. The last track is 'Peaches III' which is just the 3rd version of 'Peaches en Regalia', the excellent Zappa instrumental, though this one uses too much of the 80's synthesizer, so it's not exactly the best version, but it's okay.

So, this is a pretty good live album, especially seeing that it was recorded just as a string of not so great studio albums were starting to come out. There is a good amount of humor, both obvious and not so obvious, there are a few good guitar solos, but not much in the way of the band itself, only with Zappa himself. It wouldn't be the first live FZ album I would recommend, but it wouldn't be a complete loss either.

Review #171

Another excellent Zappa live record, this time, a double LP filled with Reggae stylized songs and very intense guitar solos; the album was mostly recorded in 1980 but some of the songs are from other shows between 1978 and 1979. Probably the most popular song from this record is the reggae piece "Fine girl" but definitely the greatest piece of the record is "Easy meet" which was ensembled from the recordings of three different shows (one of them in 1975). The brass instruments, unstoppable percussions, and involving keyboards are omnipresent in the album, always catchy, fresh, and original.

I adore how good Frank Zappa and Ike Willis played the vocal roles as a team in "For the young sophisticate"; three songs from previous Zappa records were played really well in this album: "Peaches en regalia" (re- titled as "Peaches III"), "Tell me you love me" (played much faster than in the original "Chunga's revenge" album) and "Brown shoes don't make it". "Love of my life" is a very nice romantic piece in the vein of the days with The Mothers of Invention. "Dance contest" and "Panty rap" are short sections of Frank Zappa interacting with the audience and with very subtle music in the background (probably my least favorite pieces of the record but not at all bad either).

"Now you see me, now you don't" is another great mainly guitar solo song in the middle of the album, "The blue light" is one of those mostly narrated pieces by Zappa, kind of a very short "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary", the end of the song includes a very nice trumpet riff intercalated with the intermittent keyboards. "Tinsel Town Rebellion" continues with this narrated style with a very fifties' jazzy and swingy rhythm. In "Pick me, I'm clean" and "Bamboozled by love" Ike Willis took back his place as the main singer while Zappa kept jamming with Steve Vai and their amazing guitar riffs and solos.

"Tinsel Town Rebellion" is an excellent live album by Frank Zappa, probably not the best or the most popular one but definitely an amazing and mostly original record.

SONG RATING: Fine girl, 4 Easy meat, 5 For the young sophisticate, 4 Love of my life, 3 I ain't got no heart, 4 Panty rap, 3 Tell me you love me, 4 Now you see it, now you don't, 4 Dance contest, 3 The blue light, 4 Tinsel Town Rebellion, 4 Pick me, I'm clean, 4 Bamboozled by love, 4 Brown shoes don't make it, 4 Peaches III, 4

AVERAGE: 3.87

PERCENTAGE: 77.33

ALBUM RATING: 4 stars

T.R. was the first Zappa album I ever bought. Same year as release on vinyl double-Lp. It was issued during the early stages of what should be defined as phase two of Zappas career (which started shortly before with the equally excellent Sheik Yerbouti). As with quite a few other acts that appeared in the second half/late sixties this was an era that was dispised by the purists (late seventies/early eigthies). I don't know how many hesitant, so-so or even direct negative reviews I've encountered about this exquisite recording. Let's have a look at some of them; first book I read about Zappa didn't utter one negative word about his music until, you guessed it, T.R. Complaining about 'reshodded' material and content. Of the album's 16 titles only five of them are taken from previous releases. Most or almost all live albums are completly made up of old material. Here you find 2/3 of premiere recordings. Next one British music paper; similary dreadful. Mutual from people I've met and talked to; medium disc, belly splash, non-essential...I spoke to a record store owner and huge Zappa fan; up to -77, became the answer. No further! I was on the verge to implicate that Zappa had done an insurmountable amount of top music after that, but I kept quiet. This is far from unique for Mr. Zappa. Several other albums belonging to pure elite class like Genesis 'A.T.T.W.T.', Uriah Heep 'Fallen Angel', Allman Brothers 'Reach For the Sky', Caravan 'Back to Front'; were planed off in the same manner. Had Zappa's and the other mentioned here been released in -71 instead they had all in one way or another been much more admired by the pundits. It seems that if you're a fan of T.R. then you're lost in an arid desert, with water hole as mirage. Aside from one single studio track, T.R. is regarded as a live album and technically there's nothing to argue about that. It's even admitted in the album texts. Personally though, I don't consider it as such. The endless flow of new material from the composer means that you encounter it for the first time. There are no other versions to compare with. Add to this the ability from Zappa to transform it into, when wanted to, a musical piece free from either definition. It's simply a new Frank Zappa album. The studiotrack 'Fine Girl' opens the record; It's nothing but magic! It proves that the conjurer is the true master of simplicity. This wisdom appears when you imbibe 'Drowning Witch' and 'Big Swifty' at the other end of the spectrum. The midsection break is repeated eight times. There's never a dull nanosecond. The lyrical content won't nominate it's originator for a grammy nomination from The Coalition of Labor Union Women. Reggae tinged as you may detect, and if so the finest offering you've ever encountered in this genre. It's Zappa's rendition of 'No woman, No cry' in a more stylish manner. A wall of vocal parts flows over you from Zappa himself and his incredible co-operators.

If 'Fine Girl' theorizes with the taste buds of the family tyrant you are, then 'Panty Rap' goes into full action. All female private parts out in the fresh air. Even for a music professor, this is not a bad thing. If you want to go into privacy, then you'll come to the conclusion that Zappa must have had a well tought out escape route in front of his own wife Gail Zappa. As I reckon, they lived happily together through prolonged decades. An ignorant women's libber had unavoidably been chasing Frank up and down the stairs; with rolling pin in one hand, and signed divorce form in the other...Gail Zappa was at the same bright level as her spouse and grasped the dividing line between fiction and what we call reality. As it happens, you won't find a more daring collection of this magnitude from an equally established artist. At the same time, all done with tongue in cheek. The collected lyrical content on T.R. easily outgoes 150 normal main stream albums at your local record store. It only adds to the confusion why it's held so low by observers. The upcoming 'Easy Meat' becomes, in the context, as innocent as a white lamb. It says it all. Strategically put as second track it is definately a highlight on the record. Maybe the highlight. You've never heard a more meaningful and purposive guitar burst from F. Zappa. Not to mention the massive keyboard cascades delivered by a highly inspired Tommy Mars. A decade old composition with parts recorded in the mid seventies. A few lucky buggers have already encounterd it along the way, but for most folks it's a brand new experience. There are three major sections in the song, somehow very independent both in time/space but all melt together as one trophy. The longest track of the album. 'For the Young Sophisticate' offers an uninhibited bare layed xylophone. We're solely talking music terms. When all is said and done, this is what's it's all about. A relaxed and pleasant mid-tempo rocker. Even if not the most challenging cut on the record, it's not without merits. If you find the cover of Patti Smith album Easter repulsive then you'll find support from the young sophisticator. An overgrown armpit is just gradations below other unmentionable body parts.

With a to say the least comprehensive catalogue under his belt it is tempting to sort up and find some breathing space. 1979 had been a phenomenally high productive year with multiple releases. For the adventitious visitor at the record shop there was one new Zappa long play out at every occasion. Almost everything at highest standard to boot. How many artists reach this incredible level? -80 empty due to contractual reasons then it kicks off again with a vengeance 1981. T.R. was released simultanously with the voluminous 'Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar' (albeit through different channels. The latter via mailorder). Only four footling months later massive double-Lp 'You Are What You Is'. A burning conglomeration 79-81, for the normal artist enough to fill out an entire career. 'Sheik Yerbouti' was the start for something new and fresh; sound, production, package, attitude, whatever...Tinseltown Rebellion follows in the same direction. 'Roxy & Elsewhere' didn't bother with any radio friendly opening cuts. For my money at least, this is a milestone in music history in itself. Even though it's a limted slice in Zappa's career it's so full of musical enrichment. It becomes clear that you can't engulf in one bite but slice it up. Zappa's production can be difficult to overview even for the initiated, then imagine the ignorant. One true story; a Swedish acquaintence of mine lived with his host family in Florida for whom he intruduced the music world of Zappa. That is his lighter, approachable side. Encouraged by this, the family went out and bought album at random. It became 'F.Z. in N.Y'. They were, to put it mildly, perplexed.

Side A of the record has already swung you in opposite directions. If you thought that Side B differed then you were wrong. A cluster of 50ies rendered tracks, all filtered through the writers cunning sense of humour. Already mentioned 'Panty Rap' plus a guitar instrumental. Three previously released songs all around two unbelievably short minutes. For the Zappa rescued they serve as satirical elements just joking around with its contemporaries, for the less knowledgable they're just as great as anything in its style. It takes an outsider, other than the average Zappa fan at least, to fully comprehend his genious here. No single individual has the ability to overview Zappa's enormous production from all angels. We're all amateurs. The inevitable question looms large; why are these three tracks included at all? All the way back to already existing debut album. Just to fill out empty spaces? To make it a more desirable sales item? The emphasis ends up on the latter alternative. Recent albums gave Zappa a flirt with a wider audience. Suddenly all your high school mates were in possesion of at least one or two Zappa albums. 'Now you see it, now you don't' (can you figure out the title's hidden implication...?) may be written off as a mere guitar improvisation for a cynic. I've never seen it that way. It's simply too interesting. Obviously, a part of something much bigger, namely 'King Kong'.

Not only does the title track belong to side C of the double vinyl, it also possesses a rare trait. There's nothing like the formula that floods all over the album. That is the ever present female/male disputes. Since we left the unicellular pond this has been the main drama here on mother earth. T.R. is no exception as we already have dealt with. Instead we find a fully believable and realistic story about what could be practically any band (with the exception of Zappa's own). Why is F.Z. satirical or parodic as always pointed out? Is it so? It could perfectly well be the contrary. It's him telling the plain unbeautifying truth where others beat about the bush. He doesn't mince words for sure but why should it be that way? The laugh is just nothing than an ad-on. 'The Blue Light' is an ineluctable piece that just flows all over you. An Ocean of syllables in talk song manner. Cinematic in its delivery it takes an audience above average pop level to give it full justice. 'Pick Me, I'm Clean' is another stunning masterpiece like 'Easy Meat' and one of the pillars of T.R. Very well structured I will say in a manner that reminds you of progressive bands in the more melodic vein. Echolyn/Yes come up as healthy frames of referenece. Somewhat vague in meaning before you'll figure out its content. A groupie in the audience came up with the titlewords; yelled them out. Zappa lend her a helping hand, used his quill to fill up the remainder of it. Enter Ike Willis. Which album can be inferior with a singer of his capacity? Paired with one of the other vocalists here they form an unbeatable singing team. He's not unknown the other; it is Frank himself. It's worth pointing out alas. When you have so many irons in the fire as Zappa people tend to ignore or forget about his supreme world class vocal capacity. Not to mention palpable orginality. In how many reviews have you encountered the subject? He is Frank Sinatra, Ivan Rebroff and Chuck Berry in one. Zappa/Willis in tandem, they met for the first time 1977 in St. Louis, the hometown of the latter. For understandable reasons, Willis was double-quick in the the backing group. All the way up to the very end. The moment you note the voice of Willis, you already know you're in Zappa land. Second to none in import. Just like his fellow Zappa, he seems to have the built-in ability to do a volte-face from the weighty to the light-hearted(and back) in no time. No wonder that Willis had a major position in the ensemble. Plus the fact that seven other fully capable vocalists are present in various formations like back-up, co-lead or harmonies.

The distance to next pillar is proximate. The cryptic title comes, 'Bamboozled by Love'. A warning text is imminent if you want your timorous at a distance. Perhaps you're prepared for any daring subject, this is still an ultra tough playback. Even for the hardened Zappa follower. 'Money' from Dark Side of the Moon feels like a good choise if you're on the hunt for similarities. Not even Zappa lives on a desert island, he listens to other peoples stuff like all of us. It becomes dark side of the lawn in this case. In any case, it's another masterstroke. It opens side D and is the one and only unheard track here. Follows 'Brown Shoes Don't Make It' it doesn't require any introduction to a fan. As it is a double-Lp close to 70 minutes I suppose it's allowed to have at least one song under par. While it starts out great in standard Zappa manner I normally skip the second half. Actually it reminds me of another Z, namely Led Zeppelin and song 'The Ocean' from '73. In both cases fabulous start but end up in mere jam sessions. Final track on Tinseltown is not even heard for the second but third time. This is the best version, but at the same time I'm biased because it's the first I listened to.

Which is well known to the ardent Zappa fan, the idea of T.R. replaced the earlier intended 'Crush All Boxes'/'Warts And All' projects. Massive releases in tradition with earlier Läther. Just like Läther it was split up and spread out in fewer units. You may still wonder to this day why the cosmetic brand 'Warts And All' was never picked up by neither Abba nor Boyzone.