 "A MUST Have and the PERFECT Place To Start!" | 2007-11-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1MHTHU9A6OFN3 |
If you were from the planet Mars and wanted to know who Zappa was, and what he was about, I would tell you to start right here! Back "in the day" I would always have difficulity in introducing someone to Frank's work mainly due to how much is actually out there. Short of making them a mix-tape (and even that would depend on what I knew of their taste in music) I would usually recommend 5 or 6 albums to start with. But, even then, I would inevitability leave something out!
With the release of this long awaited collection, the Zappa family has almost done my work for me! Originally released as 4 albums; "Live in NY", "Sleep Dirt", "Studio Tan" "Orchestral Favorites", (and a few tracks off "Sheik Yerbouti") this triple CD box has a little bit of everything. Biting satire (Titties and Beer, Greggery Peccary), Blues rock (Illinois Enema Bandit, which contains one of Frank's better guitar solos), Orchestra (Naval Aviation in Art), hard rock (Tryin to Grow a Chin, Broken Hearts) and blistering jazz/rock that would stand against the best of Beck, McLaughlin, Di Meola, et. al. (Filthy Habits, RDNZL and the brilliant Ocean is the Ultimate Solution, though the latter, at 8 minutes, is almost cut in half compared to the original 13 minute version on Sleep Dirt!?!). It also contains many of the between song spoken interludes that later ended up on Sheik Yerbouti and Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar.
Barring a few omissions (I'd still buy "Sheik Yerbouti" on it's own for Flakes, Jones Crusher and `Yo Mama), this is the perfect example of the wide variety inherent in Frank's music, the brilliance of his talent and backing bands, should please any fan of Rock and/or Jazz music, is the perfect place to start and is a TRUE 5-star release!!
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| "FZ's genius on display" | 2007-05-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A242PI8SCCV5IY |
| FZ at his finest. A must for any FZ fan! |
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| "COMO TANTA LOCURA, TALENTO E INSPIRACION PUEDEN CABER EN TRES DISQUITOS ????" | 2006-10-04 |
| - Reviewed By pappokari |
| SI ARRANCAMOS SABIENDO QUE EN REALIDAD ESTE DISCO, POR CAPRICHOS DE LAS COMPAÑIAS DISQUERAS, FUE DESMENUZADO EN VARIAS EDICIONES...SI TENEMOS EN CUENTA QUE ZAPPA EN REALIDAD LO CREO A MEDIADOS DE LOS '70, QUE LO DIFUNDIO POR RADIO ANTES DE QUE SALGA AL MERCADO...COMO UNA OBRA ASI PUEDE LLEGAR A SER TAN COHERENTE, TAN ORGIASTICA, TAN DEMENTE, TAN DESPROLIJA, TAN GENIAL..TODO A LA VEZ???????? AQUI LA GUITARRA DE ZAPPA ADQUIERE UNA EXPRESION Y LOCUACIDAD REALMENTE EXASPERANTE...filthy habits..the ocean is the ultimate solution...tenes hasta boogie!!! esta edicion puede parecer demasiado, incluso para fans de zappa....en mi humilde opinion es una obra bestial, arrogante , impredecible que por primera vez puede apreciarse como lo quiso el artista!BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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 "There is plenty to glean" | 2006-09-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3CA16WMFNFUXF |
| Much has been made of the record company's trifling with this material. I agree with those who see Zappa as a great musician and composer who just happened to have a tacky sense of humor. The all-inclusive character of this album is therefore a mixed blessing, but there is plenty to glean. Most of the best material was released on Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites. Those albums captured the artistic range, without subjecting me to such gems as "The Illinois Enema Bandit" (in which I found more embarrassment than amusement). |
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| "you need this" | 2006-01-06 |
| - Reviewed By andreascg |
You can read the previous reviews to get the story on this album, so I won't repeat it. I will cut to the chase to explain why you should get this. There are some different versions of some songs, and some slightly different mixes of others, but basically they're songs available on 4 previously released albums. Those 4 were packaged by Warner Brothers thematically - live songs on one album, orchestral on another, instrumental on another, etc. From the very first one, Zappa's albums were more than a collection of songs. If you listen to 200 Motels or Uncle Meat, you get a wonderful mix of all kinds of different styles, live and studio recordings, and other juxtapositions, sometimes in the same song. He often diddeliberately harsh and abrupt edits. Zappa hated it when people tried to pidgeon-hole his music (good luck, anyway!). That is precisely the beauty of "Lather". As a whole, it is a masterpiece.
If you don't own this music in any form, buy this first, because you will get a clearer sense of what the artist intended to do. Eventually you will want the other albums because there is some music not on Lather. If you already own the other 4 albums, you are probably a big enough of a Zappa freak that you'll want to get it anyway, for the reasons I mentioned. |
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| "different versions of songs you know" | 2005-07-25 |
| - Reviewed By cloom1 |
| this is a damn great c.d. get it dont wait buy it now and you will be happy happy joy joy for this is the zappa we know and love |
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| "FZ - The (Un)appreciated Master Of His Craft" | 2005-02-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2X5XSFQJ5UGYZ |
As an individual that actually survived and therefore lived the 60s/70s I must recommend this compilation/concert as an extraordinary work of art from, perhaps, one of the top 5 composers of the 20th century.
Much of what I would say about Mr. Zappa has been said already - most of which is correct.
However, for you music majors out there, LISTEN to the humor music, the political arguments, the appeal to the teeny bopper lyrics. MANY of these "tunes" contain motifs, full themes and previews of orchestrations yet to be heard by the general public.
(Yes, even though we are musicians we are indeed part of the general public.)
To EVERYONE - this album (does that show my age?) is exemplary of the man and the composer that was Frank Zappa.
A MUST HAVE FOR ANY THAT APPRECIATE THE ART OF MUSIC!! |
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| "Zappa's most consistantly inconsistant album" | 2005-01-24 |
| - Reviewed By chet_fakir |
Zappa had originally intended this album to be released as a four LP set back in 1977 but Warner Brothers decided not to release it for various reasons I won't get into here. Instead, they got Zappa to divide the original Lather album into four separate albums, often with different arrangements and mixes: Zappa in New York, Studio Tan, Orchestral Favorites and Sleep Dirt, and a few songs found their way onto Sheik Yerbouti too. Warner Bros. also decided not to pay Frank for his work. So Zappa played the entire Lather album over the radio airwaves from which countless bootlegs have been made. Ha ha Warner, you greedheads. So finally, years later we get an official release of Lather, Zappa's magnum opus and arguably his best album and it was worth the wait.
Every style Zappa ever did is on this record... from the stupid: T*tties 'n Beer, to the sordid: Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me?, to the sublime: RDNZL, from the idiotic, to the intelligent, to the indescribable. There are ridiculous comedy songs, social satire, bizarre and rocking instrumentals. Some of the comedy/satire like Trying To Grow A Chin or T*tties 'n Beer are puerile, and their power to amuse wanes with each play. Though I still get a big kick out of Punky's Whips, a story of drummer Terry Bozio's infatuation with a picture of Angel lead guitarist Punky Meadows mostly because I remember the poster from Creem magazine. Yeah it was a pretty girly picture, poor Terry;) But the best songs and especially the instrumentals, of which there are a great deal, are among the best things Zappa has ever done and reward repeated listenings. They range from 20th century classical serious, to silly, to jazz, to obscene rock guitar workouts a la Filthy Habits. Lather is all over the map and is utterly amazing. Could anyone not familiar with Zappa realize that one guy wrote all this widely varying material? I don't think they would guess. Anybody who says Zappa is not a genius, or composer worthy of note, or a great guitarist should be forced to sit through this album, it just might change their opinion. So Spike Jones, Edgar Varesse and Jimi Hendrix walk into a bar... |
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| "Lather Up" | 2004-11-03 |
| - Reviewed By jamessimon |
| This album makes you wonder what it must have been like back in 1977 when FZ, after the frustration with the record labels decided not to release his megawork, to play the whole thing on the radio (ALL 8 SIDES!). Some call it a masterpiece, a freak out, or just what the (explitive). The fact is this is a perfect framework for displaying the mind of FZ. You could get this title and have what so many other FZ albums do, though Lather was split into other albums like Sleep Dirt and Studio Tan. So many examples of what FZ is capable of. In the liner notes, it says it's understandable that this album could have been composed by a multitude of writers. Lather ranges from his Varese inspired orchestral works, jazz fusion, experiments with tape speeds, live versions of "Broken Hearts Are..." and "Tryin To Grow A Chin" (found on "Shiek Yerbouti"), and other stuff from the kitchen sink. Yet somehow this eclectic collection is all held together with Frank's guitar work and humor. Yes, a few go overboard (I never really got "Gregory Peckory). But when you start disc 1 with the powerful instrumental "Regyptian Strut", you know you're in for something special. Think of it as going into a funhouse. You're never quite sure what you'll get, but it's one heck of a ride. |
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| "Do you know the way to heaven?" | 2004-06-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1O2IFT3ITC7BV |
| Call your friends at saturday and tell them that your are very sick. Buy a good whisky, choose your best place in the house and listen all the album with a good sound level. You will see the light! |
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