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Frank Zappa - The Mothers Of Invention: Burnt Weeny Sandwich CD (album) cover

THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: BURNT WEENY SANDWICH

Frank Zappa

 

RIO/Avant-Prog

3.92 | 505 ratings

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TCat
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
5 stars The humor in this one is in the music. But so is the genius. This release is mostly studio work with a little bit of live performance mixed in for good measure and to help make the entire album more concise. Even the long track "The House I Used to Live In" is mostly studio despite the audience clapping at the end of the track. The album is also a collection of some of the "Mothers of Invention" music that had not been previously released and was recorded between 1967 and 1969. What results here is a nice variety of music ranging from neo jazz/classical instrumentals all performed by the band (not an orchestra) bookended by two doo wop songs. There's your sandwich.

Speaking of sandwich, a burnt weenie sandwich is a snack that FZ used to love and it was exactly what it says it is, with a little mustard added and a Hebrew National hot dog starring as the weenie.

So, except for the 1st and last tracks, this is entirely instrumental. And it is full of meter changes and strange meter combinations that FZ was famous for. There are a few places were you can tell things were pasted together, the editing not being very clean. But that adds to the novelty of this collection. The next release that would come from the FZ discography is part 2 of the collection of previously unreleased Mothers recordings, but it is a lot more scattered and messy where this album is a lot more concise and tight, even with the somewhat sloppy editing.

I really enjoy listening to this mostly because of the variety in the collection. It never gets boring and contains a lot of themes that FZ would use in later instrumentals and live shows. Get to know these themes if you are working on becoming an FZ aficionado, and it will make things a lot easier for you to understand....and with understanding will come enjoyment. Good stuff, I wish I had it on vinyl. I have to say, in order to understand FZ's music, this is an essential recording...not quite a masterpiece though because of the uneven editing, but close enough to be a 5 star in my opinion, because of the amazing musicianship, the mixing of jazz and classical, and an honest attempt to get the masses to listen to good quality music, which was FZ's mission. The rock and humor was always added in to attract the masses to listen to the real music.

TCat | 5/5 |

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