Frank Zappa - Zoot Allures
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Free Music Notes for Zoot Allures
Free Music Review: Stripped Down
Hit: 4 Stars
Almost commercial (compared to much of the catalog), Zappa stripped down (Terry Bozzio on drums and occasionally Ruth Underwood on percussion, though "Black Napkins" is a live recording with a band) and played much of the album himself: guitars, bass, keyboards. Yep, all those instruments on the centerpiece "The Torture Never Stops" are ALL Frank by his lonesome over Terry's drums. This album flows very well and touches all the bases, though the emphasis here is pretty much Frank's guitar. There's a lot of Frank Metal/ Fuzztone Frank ("Wonderful Wino", "Ms Pinky"), a little Frank humor ("Wind Up Working in a Gas Station", "Disco Boy") and some trademark Pure Frank ("Napkins", "Zoot Allures"). There's even Frank's Irish jig at the begining of "Friendly Little Finger".
This is a cornerstone of my Zappa collection (with Hot Rats and One Size Fits All) and leads very nicely into Shiek Yerbouti, another good record from this period.
Free Music Review: Laid back, down to earth, easy to listen to
Hit: 4 Stars
This is definitely one of Zappa's most down-to- earth albums, and highly accessible to the 'average' rock listener. This is a dark, moody, yet laid-back record full of beautifully shifting tones. Zappa's voice is relaxed and warm, relaying tales of torture chambers, artificial girlfriends as well as spoofing the social/disco scene of the time. The vocal tunes are interspersed with incredibly inspired instrumentals, showcasing the beauty of Zappa's guitar technique (see "Black Napkins" for pure rapture") as well as his innovative new recording method, known as xenochrony, whereby he combined tracks recorded at unrelated performances on different occasions into the one song, with effective results. "Zoot" is a laid-back string of tracks, leaving one completely satisfied upon reaching its end. A true Zappa favourite!Free Music Review: A forgotten diamond....
Hit: 4 Stars
This album doesn't get mentioned with Zappa classics, but it's still really good (like all of his work). Reportedly, this was his "tribute" to heavy metal, which is funny, as this has nothing to do with heavy metal. It's just another example of a great Zappa album. I like the little diddy Wind Up Working in a Gas Station. The song Black Napkins is a wonderful song, with a beautiful, majestic guitar solo. It's not as uplifting as Watermelon in Easter Hay from Joe's Garage, but it's still great to listen to. The epic The Torture Never Stops is excellent. Ms. Pinky is one of Zappa's "sex" songs, and it's funny. It was the basis for the song Artificial Rhonda off of Thing-Fish. Friendly Little Finger and the title track are really excellent instrumentals. This is a really good album, one that should get mentioned more often.Free Music Review: The End of the Torture
Hit: 4 Stars
On the cover, Frank stands as a central Mephistophelean figure over three fresh-faced cohorts. One of them is Eddie Jobson, who doesn't play on the album. But it provided the introduction for Jobson to meet the brilliant drummer Terry Bozzio, who went on to join him in the band called UK.As per several of Frank's outings of the period, much of the album lyrically is aimed at the schoolboy in us -- stories of torture, inflatable dolls, and various activities of a questionable nature. I enjoyed it tremendously at the time (1976). No longer a teenager, I still can't help smiling, particularly at the ambiguous whelping in the 'Torture Never Stops'.
But the real highlight here is the sublime guitar solo on 'Black Napkins', coupled with the interplay with Bozzio. In comparison, much of the rest seems a tad throwaway.
Free Music Review: excellent
Hit: 4 Stars
For Zoot Allures, Zappa dropped the horns and many of the jazz elements he had used with his previous band. He formed a more rock oritented band.
The names of Zoots game are guitars, guitars and guitars. Of course with Zappa, even the most stipped down rock has more virtuosity than most jazz albums. Though "Wind Up Working In A Gas Station" is stripped 1970s rock crunch, both "Black Napkins" and "Torture Never Stops," with their gleeming keyboards and extended Zappa axe journies, show Zappa has lost none of his lust for high musicanship.
This may be a Zappa's most stripped down album, but it is still a great one.