YOU CAN'T DO THAT ON STAGE ANYMORE, VOL. 3

This instalment of the YCDTOSA is drawn mainly from the touring bands of the late 70s to mid 80s, who can be heard on albums like Tinseltown Rebellion and Them or Us. While this was one of the slickest outfits Zappa ever assembled, there was little of the inspired musicianship of many of the 70s bands or the manic energy of the original MOI. The material was largely Zappa's take on stadium rock, with lots of juvenile humour and odd time signatures, but it was tame stuff by Zappa's standards.

Even on an off day, Zappa was still capable of producing the goods, and disc 1 features a storming version of Drowning Witch edited together from 2 separate performances in 1982 and 1984, an energetic reading of Sharleena with a surprisingly good solo from a 15 year old Dweezil and an interesting medley of Bambiozled by Love/Owner of a Lonely Heart. Other than that there are songs which were better performed on Sheik Yerbouti and Joe's Garage, and alternate versions of early 80s material with little to reccommend them.

Disc 2 is more rewarding, as it features some performances from the 'Roxy" band alongside the 80s line up. The disc opens with an excellent sequence of Dickie's Such an Asshole, a remarkable Terry Bozzio drum solo and Zoot Allures. From there we're back into the same territory as disc 1 until the excellent 24 minute King Kong, which splices together several different performances from different line ups, and the proceedings end with a pretty good version of Cosmic Debris from the 1984 band.

This is really 1 disc of good material stretched across 2 cds. To hear the early 80s line ups really cooking, check out the entirely instrumental Guitar, and if you're a fan of Zapa's dirty jokes Have I Offended Someone is a better bet. There's enough good material on here to justify owning a copy, but overall it's a disappointing instalment of the YCDTOSA series.