Frank Zappa - Them Or Us
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Free Music Notes for Them Or Us
Free Music Review: Varied and appealing
Hit: 4 Stars
The album opens with The Closer You Are, a doo-wop number where the deep base male vocal contrasts sharply with the female backing. Sharleena has a similar rhythmic and vocal texture with a reggae beat and powerful electric guitar bursts. The rock song In France, a rude and hilarious put-down of Gallic pretensions, is a great favorite of mine. Next comes the majestic tour de force Ya Hozna, an extended driving rock number with weird distorted vocals. The beat is hypnotic whilst the vocal variation lends it an eerie oriental feel.
Zappa's experimental side finds expression in the mostly instrumental Sinister Footwear II, a long track with an intriguing blend of classical and rock textures, and the equally long Truck Driver Divorce with its funny lyrics and instrumental improvisation. The energetic instrumental Marque-Son's Chicken resides in this category too. Stevie's Spanking also has somewhat of the experimental about it in its complex arrangement and varied vocals, whilst the short tracks Baby Take Your Teeth Out with its hummable chorus and Planet Of My Dreams are tuneful pop songs.
Doo-wop returns with a vengeance in the charming Be In My Video, a satirical song that reminds me of Zappa's disco send-up Dancin' Fool on Sheik Yerbouti and is reported to be a comment on Bowie's Let's Dance. The title track is a hard and heavy instrumental of tortured electric guitars, whilst Zappa's charming pop sensibility surfaces on the humorous Frogs With Dirty Little Lips, a richly textured number that incorporates what sounds like a marching song. This highly enjoyable album that showcases many sides of Zappa's impressive capabilities concludes with the cover of Whippin' Post, the original which can be heard on the Allman Brothers album One Way Out or Searching for Simplicity by Gregg Allman.
Free Music Review: Not as bad as all that...
Hit: 4 Stars
Here I have to defend one of the better late Zappa releases!Yes ,it is not another "You are what you is",but the theme(if ya need one)is the decay of the U.S's values.I think a lot of Zappa's "sex" songs were making fun of some people's stupid sexual behaviors...this album features a few songs in that vein.(Baby Take your Teeth Out,and Stevie's Spanking to name two)They are pretty fun,in a sick way(of course)!
The song "In France" gives those "superior" people a bit of a ribbing,with vocals by "Guitar" Watson.
"Frogs With Dirty Little Lips " sets an Ahmet Zappa poem to music!Who wouldn't want to have a dad like Frank put one of your goofy little childhood poems to his music!Ya might even find this little dittie "charming"!
"Be In My Video" takes a familiar theme and describes what would have been one of the most cliched and hilarious music videos that Zappa didn't make. A rock video for the mind,you might say.Loads of fun for people who've seen all too many MTV videos!
In "The Planet Of My Dreams" frank puts his finger on the apathy problem in the USA! A great song,in which he states that, even though the main populace is lying and cheating ,he won't fall into their ways!
The album also features two stand-out cuts for the "Zappa as guitar GOD" group out there..."Sinister Footware",and a burning cover of "Whippin' Post"!
All this ,and the presence of future guitarist's guitarist Steve Vai,makes for one of Frank Zappa's late period Lp's that had many sides to love.(ie;DooWop,pop,social commentary,and musicianship too!)Too many of his 1990's Cd's/LP's were of only one musical style....Frank was a master at putting together musical styles that seemed incompatable,in a way this release marked a return to that iconoclastic vision!(also see "CIVILIZATION;Phase 3" for an even more successful venture into these mixtures!)
Free Music Review: Accuracy once again
Hit: 4 Stars
"You Are What You Is", "Thing Fish", and "Them or Us" are the only three Zappa albums from the eighties with at least 90% of studio material on them. This one features most variaty of the three. More or less every song is in a genre of its own. There's doo-wop, blues, rock, fusion, pop, reggae, country-spoofs, Broadway-spoofs, and jazz smothered in "Zappa". The sound quality and stereophony is as remarkable as the band. The rhythm section consists of Chad Wackerman (drums throughout,) Arthur Barrow and Scott Thunes (equally on bass,) Ed Mann (percussion,) Steve Vai (guitar,) Tommy Mars (keyboards,) Bobby Martin (keyboards/vocals,) and Ray White (guitar/vocals.) Other vocalists include FZ, Ike Willis, Napoleon Murphey Brock, Bob Harris, and Thana Harris. Some guests are Dweezil & Moon Zappa, Patrick O'Hearn, George Duke, Roy Estrada, Johnny 'Guitar' Watson, and others...
Songs like "Truck Driver Divorce", "Marque-Son's Chicken", and the title track feature long FZ guitar solos (with a variety of cool sounds,) and give the rhythm section a lot of freedom for their steady back-up; the rest of the material is well arranged and pretty strict, though highly entertaining. I guess this could be a good introduction to Zappa's music - it shows how capable the composer (and band) was of writing, arranging, and performing alternating material without losing the main thread, plus the album features a suitable amount of Zappa's humor. While listening to this album, you will be proven that humor does belong in music. "Them or Us" is one of my FZ favorites, and definitely worth its amazon price, don't worry.
Free Music Review: Are We All Smarter Now, Frank?... Frank?
Hit: 4 Stars
I know it's a silly thing to say, but I always feel a little bit smarter after listening to a Frank Zappa album- he seems to give off something of a professorial atmosphere sometimes... This album follows in his tradition of challanging his listeners to explore the endless possibilities of music.I was originally attracted to Zappa's work by his clever, acerbic lyrics and catchy melodies. As I've begun to explore his work, I've realized that the full spectrum of his gifts are most appreciated by those who love the instrumental work of, say, King Crimson or even Yes at times.
This album, like most of Zappa's work, is chock-full of guitar brilliance (not to mention the other instruments!). Some of the songs with lyrics, however, aren't particularly to my taste, even if creativly composed. I don't mind Zappa's blue humor at all though, it's hilarious (think Robert Crumb set to music)- and you may react more enthusiastically.
This album is par for the course Zappa brilliance. It may not have as wide of a commericial appeal as some of his other albums- but we all know that commercial appeal was never the point for Zappa- unless he had a point to make about commercial appeal...
Free Music Review: An Eighties Style Cabaret Show
Hit: 4 Stars
This release came out in 1984, when not many people were putting out really good material. Here, you have FZ with a full compliment of talent, covering the whole spectrum of what he was doing at the time. A nice touch is the variety of voices used for lead vocals, and they all get showcased in ways that show off their individual styles.
Contrary to what others have said, I think the "weak point" is "Sharleena," listen to the "Lost Episodes" version to see what I mean. In all it's a tight, powerful treat for any Zappa fan, casual or rabid.