Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - One Size Fits All
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Free Music Notes for One Size Fits All
Free Music Review: Simply great, great music. He was a genius guys.
Hit: 5 Stars
This work from Zappa is surely among his best. If you are searching for 5 records to buy from the man, be sure to put this one in the basket. Maybe with Wazoo, Waka, Hot rats, In NY and, uh, let me think whatever else ... the Helsinky Concert maybe. The line up here is truly stellar, one of the best, most cohesive band the man had in his career (and we all know that Zappa have had always tremendous bands). Each musician is really great, Chester Thompson, Ruth Underwood, Napoleon Murphy Brook, George Duke. Some of the most talented and unusual musicians that ever worked with Zappa. This is the album where you can find Sofà, Florentine Pogen, Inca Roads, Po-jama people (and other great songs but these are the greatest achievements here). Historical, legendary tunes for Zappa. Here Frank reached one of the many perfect zeniths in the fusion of styles he obtained in his career (he had many zeniths in different forms of music in my opinion). This is fusion, art rock, complex electric orchestrated music, in any case very clever and well written music. Some people call this stuff "Jazz-rock". I am always afraid of using the word "Jazz" when the music doesn't exactly swing (this doesn't, apart from a couple of short moments). Jazz doesn't have nothing to do with this music in my opinion, even in its spirit, in its scopes. The fact that this music is complex music doesn't make this Jazz in any way. Jazz is swing, addressing the chords in the improvisation, standards chord progressions, and many other things that absolutly are not in this music. I think that Jazz-rock was a definition created by some non-musicians journalists. People that cannot understand what really Jazz is about. But this consideration doesn't make OSFA a less important record, neither Zappa a less noble musician than pure Jazz players. On the contrary. It is another album from the man that is well over genres categorization. It's Zappa. And I think this is the best compliment in the world for a musician. The fact that he reached the almost impossible goal to create another musical universe (after classical, Jazz and rock!!), one completly of his own ... and he absolutly did it. He even went even well over this goal. He was Zappa my friends. No Punky Meadows! =)))) This record is really one of the most balanced, creative, well written and extravagant record in the Zappa's catalogue. Put it in your Z-basket believe me.Free Music Review: And behold, in 40 mins Zappa creates THE UNIVERSE!!!!!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
5 BILLION STARS to THE POWER OF 5 BILLION STARS!!!!!
Verily, I say unto you, this album is a miracle! This one's in my top 3 of best albums ever made! This is an album of rock/bluegrass/prog/fusion/punk/world-music/space-rock/pop/classical/torch-song/heavy metal/EVERY-ROCK and not served up piece-meal a la White Album and every other band would try, but all at the same time! A dense, yet crystal-clear creation of such power! such melodiousness! such intelligence! such humour! - No wonder Zappa couldn't stand the religious and dogma wielding zealouts of all gang members who declare themselves: "I'm White I'm Black! I'm prog! I'm garage! I'm Christian! I'm Muslim! I'm American Idol material! I'm satanic Heavy Metal Shredding! I'm this! I'm that: endless opposition creating endless trouble!" This man had the musical mind of God him/herself! If God composed an album of music it would be this! And if you don't like Zappa because of his profanity/schatology and his penchant for themes anal, there is none of that there. Zappa must have known that God was proud of what his little boy Zappa was doing here and kept it clean, yet still scathing in its sarcasm. This album is so amazing, so beautiful, (it's making me write like a madman in a feeble attempt to tell people of its greatness.) I've got thousands of albums, but if somebody said "it's all those or One Size Fits All! Which do you give up, so that, perhaps, we'll let you live?" I'd say, take all the others, and leave me "One Size Fits All". Thank you Mr Zappa! The day that you died, my life has been a bit more of a drudgery since, and the world has certainly become "dumb all over, and" very "ugly on the side." This album should be required listening at all schools the world over and students should be tested on its contents - only then we might be able to save the world and its Art!
Free Music Review: Zappa's best
Hit: 5 Stars
This one is my personal nominee for Best Frank Zappa Album Ever.
That's a very subjective evaluation of a career that spanned three decades and included forty-plus releases as of Zappa's untimely death in 1993. But I suspect most FZ fans will know why I make it, even if they disagree.
For one thing, this album's got the guitar solo on 'Inca Roads'. I stand second to none in my admiration for FZ's all-around chops and I love _Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar_. But this is my single favorite (recorded) FZ guitar solo. Lifted from a live performance in Helsinki (and available in a slightly shorter edit on _You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2_), it's one of his most fluid and melodic ever, and after thirty years it still never fails to grab me. (And notice his subdued, thoughtful use of the so-called 'wah-wah' pedal. He doesn't use it to go 'wah-wah-wah'; he uses it as a tone control.)
For another, it's got a _lot_ of great studio recordings. To my taste, at least, this is where FZ really fulfills the promise of _Hot Rats_.
For another, it's got the Mothers' dream lineup of the mid-1970s: Ruth Underwood, George Duke, Napoleon Murphy Brock, the Fowler brothers, Chester Thompson, and the rest (the same folks who accompanied him on his very best live album, _Roxy & Elsewhere_). Probably every FZ fan has his or her favorite backing band; this is mine.
Finally, there's Cal Schenkel's brilliant and hilarious cover art -- which, in the CD release, is included in a full-sized unfoldable version for you to appreciate in detail.
FZ was a musical genius and an incredibly prolific one; if you're just now being introduced to him, there are lots of places to start. I recommend starting here. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
Free Music Review: Zappa tastes good.
Hit: 5 Stars
One Size Fits All is one of Frank's more "commercial" mid-70s albums along with Apostrophe and Overnight Sensation, and quite possibly my fave Zappa disc. With one of his finest lineups (George Duke on vocals and keys, Chester Thompson on drums, Ruth Underwood on percussion) and Zappa himself in fine form on guitar, this is a great, concise rock/fusion outing.
Like most of Zappa's albums, One Size Fits All embraces several styles--jazzy tracks like the nine-minute Inca Roads (a concert standard) and Andy with crazy time signature changes and difficult vocal melodies (most bands couldn't pull this stuff off with weeks of rehearsal; Zappa and his team make it sound easy); rollicking, funky/bluesy rock in the form of San Berdino (my fave), Can't Afford No Shoes, and Pojama People; a weird little piano ditty (Evelyn A Modified Dog); and the beautiful melodic centerpiece of Sofa (two versions, one with German [?!] vocals courtesy of Frank). Just the right combo of quirk, excellent musicianship, and rocking out. And unlike most of Zappa's other albums, there's not a track that feels extraneous or tossed in to fill up space.
The guitar solo on Inca Roads is perhaps one of Zappa's best on record, and showcases just how refined his technique was. Instead of flashy 300-note-a-minute outbursts that so many would-be "guitar heros" favor, he lays into the track with an effortlessly melodic and flowing showcase that makes excellent use of tone control and guitar effects. It was actually taken from a live performance in Finland, but thanks to Frank's careful knob-twiddling in the studio you'd be hard-pressed to tell.
This covers just about all of Zappa's bases well, and along with Hot Rats makes the ideal listen for a Zappa virgin. Highly reccommended.
Free Music Review: Pure perfection
Hit: 5 Stars
One size fits all indeed. It's one of few Zappa albums that can be described simply as "perfect" - there's something magical about it. FZ is known for many things, one is the great quality of his musicians, and many claim that this band was his finest. OSFA proves that that might be the case. The musical performances are beyond words, and the deep sound of the whole recording brings a powerful and convincing mood which makes you appreciate the feeling of the cover art; it sounds as it looks. Unlike a lot of Zappa's albums--especially around this period--this one has very few changes in the rhythm section; on bass, Tom Fowler is exchanged for James Youman on one song, but Chester Thompson plays drums, Ruth Underwood plays percussion, and George Duke plays keyboards throughout. That is definitely a reason why this album, despite alternation of styles and lead singers, has a steady main thread. Furthermore this album doesn't alternate styles as dramatically as many others - the music can fairly be described as "rock/fusion," even though there's more to it than that; blues elements and light melodic influences here and there by e.g. Stravinsky would be two things. The musicians are experienced and skilled in jazz et al., and their ensemble playing therefore brings a very unique feel to this music. Also, credited as "Bloodshot Rollin' Red" (for contractual reasons) is Captain Beefheart, playing the harmonica on "San Ber'dino."
The compositions are all great and powerful, and taken to even further heights by the truly dedicated musicians. Those who enjoyed FZ's three albums prior to OSFA --"Over-Nite Sensation," "Apostrophe (')" and "Roxy and Elsewhere"-- will absolutely not be disappointed - on the contrary.