YOU CAN'T DO THAT ON STAGE ANYMORE, VOL. 5

You would think that after eight full CDs of live material, Frank Zappa would start running out of good unique performances to continue on. And that almost seems to be the case here. Yet Zappa manages to come with another good, but inconsistent album of rare gems.

The first CD is culled from recording of the various incarnations of "The Original Mothers", the various lineups that existed from "Freak Out" to "Weasels Ripped My Flesh". Some feel that these are the better lineups of Zappa's bands. I love these groups, but I tend to prefer the lineups from 1972 on, when Zappa could pick and choose the musicians who were more capable of accomplishing what he intended in his music. That, paired with the better recording techniques and equipment of the later years leads to a more enjoyable sound.

There are quite a few tracks of just the band goofing around off stage. Like on "Playground Psychotics", these tracks are amusing, but don't really stand up to repeated listenings. The same can be said for the track Right There, where Frank "plays" Roy Estrada, by using hand signals to squeeze out bizarre sounds from the high pitched voice of the bassist.

The good stuff on this disk are the odd little tunes that never made it to any other releases, and the live tracks rarely played by the later bands. Special mention should be made for Charles Ives. this piece should be familiar to Captain Beefheart fans as the backing track to The Blimp from "Trout Mask Replica.

The second disk. while not as historic, is much more fun. This disk is comprised of tracks played by the 1982 band. While there are no songs that haven't appeared elsewhere, this group, that featured Steve Vai and Tommy Mars, two of Zappa's most talented sidemen, play some unbelievable tracks. Standouts are What's New In Baltimore?, Moggio,RDNZL, The Black Page #2, and A Pound For A Brown (On The Bus), which features an Ed Mann percussion solo, that shows that while Mann was good, he was no match for woman (Ruth Underwood).

3.5 stars, rounded down.