Record Reviews

FRANK ZAPPA ~ THE MOTHERS 1970 ZAPPA 20033 (Barcode: 824302003329) ~ USA ~ Avant-Garde Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1970 Released: 2020 This is a wonderful archival Box Set, which collects the recordings by the short lived lineup of the MothersFind albums by this artist, led by Frank ZappaFind albums by this artist between May and December of 1970 and celebrates its 50th Anniversary. The material includes studio and concert recordings from the Zappa vault and most of the material is previously unreleased. This particular lineup of the Mothers included the two ex-TurtlesFind albums by this artist vocalists Mark VolmanFind albums by this artist and Howard KaylanFind albums by this artist (a.k.a. Flo & EddieFind albums by this artist), Jazz keyboardist George DukeFind albums by this artist, who arrived via Jean-Luc PontyFind albums by this artist and the brilliant “King KongFind albums with this title” album from 1969, multi-instrumentalist Ian UnderwoodFind albums by this artist (the only original Mother), bassist Jeff SimmonsFind albums by this artist and British drummer Aynsley DunbarFind albums by this artist. Shortly before Zappa disbanded the original Mothers Of InventionFind albums by this artist, he released the seminal solo album “Hot RatsFind albums with this title”, was involved in cross-genre meeting with Zubin MehtaFind albums by this artist and in parallel started to produce the “Uncle MeatFind albums with this title” movie, a typical Zappa mayhem, emphasizing his feverish creativity. The music is, as always, completely Zappaesque, with brilliant melodic contents, weird polyrhythmic approach, which was always his forte, a Rock oriented rhythm section and Jazz oriented instrumental layers, topped with superb vocal harmonies and Zappa’s angelic / devilish guitar work, which remains unparalleled. As the time moves on and Zappa’s music is now well into its sixth decade, it becomes more and more apparent that he was an absolute singularity on the 20th Century music scene. No other musician managed to create such a vast body of music so diverse and aesthetically perfect as Zappa. He was also one of the very few musicians with an outlook on the world politics and the sickness of American society, and surely the only one that was not afraid to publicly mock it. His sharp sense of humor cut deeply like a surgeon’s scalpel, but the political establishment managed to present him to the public as a weirdo rather than a sage. One of the few things that I regret in the course of my musical adventures is the fact that I met Frank only a couple of times over the years, as I’d love to have talked with him in depth. It was not to be and his premature death closed the window of opportunity forever. For the many Zappa fans this Box Set is of course a must, as everything else that emerges from his vault. It is absolutely blissful that his vault is so well looked after and new material emerges from it periodically and continuously, especially in times were new music is hardly worth any attention. Pass the word and enjoy!

Updated: 19/01/2022Posted: 30/05/2021

CD 4 Mini-Sleeve Box Set Remastered Recommend To A Friend