200 MOTELS

200 Motels is one of Zappa´s least loved albums. Even many of his diehard fans consider 200 Motels to be a disaster. Allthough this is not my favorite Zappa album either, I find some of the material really enjoyable and let us not forget that there are many songs on 200 Motels that later became "hits" in Zappa live shows.

The album is mared by bad sound production and some of Zappa´s more generic orchestral arrangements, but on the positive side some of his best hard rock songs are also on this album.

This is recorded in the Flo & Eddie period of the band, and of course their special humour and vocal styles are omnipresent throughout the album. The lyrics are about life on the road as they were in this period of the band. Really silly lyrics, but with a great humour if you ask me. I´ll recite some of the lines:

"...and may God have mercy on the people of England, and the terrible food these people must eat" ( This is the start of the big finale: Strictly Genteel (the finale). The line is sung by the narrator Theodore Bikel). Strictly Genteel is a great symphonic song and a later live favorite for Zappa.

"This town, This tooown is a sealed Tuna Sandwich"

"She´s just 24 and she can´t get of, a sad but typical case. Last guy to do her got in and got soft, she blew it and laughed in his face yeaahh" ( this is just hilarious in my opinion)

I will also recommend listening to the lyrics in Lonesome Cowboy Burt as they are really funny too ( unless you are a redneck)

"Half A Dozen Provocative Squats, out of the shower she squizes her spots, brushes her teeth, shoots the deoderant spray up her twat"

The songs that I would recommend that you listen to from this album are:

Semi-Fraudulent/Direct-From-Hollywood Overture

Mystery Roach ( together with Magic Fingers the best hard rock song on this album. I just love it when they sing: "mr. mr. mr. mr. mr. mr. mr. Roach")

Tuna Fish Promenade

Lonesome Cowboy Burt ( a great country/ western comedy song)

She Painted Up Her Face

Half A Dozen Provocative Squats

Shove It Right In ( oooohhh yeaaahhh)

Dental Hygiene Dilemma ( works best when you see the cartoon in the movie)

Daddy, Daddy, Daddy ( great choir arrangement, especially note Jim Pond´s bas voice)

What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning ( with the hilarious lyric line: "What will I say the next day to whatever I drag to my hotel tonite"). Not who but whatever, that is great humour if you ask me.

Magic Fingers ( a F...... great hard rock song, I just love it)

Strictly Genteel (the finale). This song is so beautiful, and in true Zappa style it is delievered in comedy style, with really funny lyrics. Just a great classic Zappa song.

The rest of the songs are more or less a waste of time, but with the above mentioned songs you still get about 50 minutes worth of music and with that said, this album is worth purchasing.

I will give the album 3 stars, as it is one of the weaker Zappa albums, and it contains lots of weak orchestral songs, that I skip every time ( which is really quite an achievement as I only own this album on LP), but on the other hand there are all of the above mentioned great songs on the album too, and they deserve praise.