TINSEL TOWN REBELLION

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

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