Alright, new album time. Random number generator says "6", which is Frank Zappa's Zoot Allures
This was suggested by Lucky Revenent who may or may not still be with us.
Have at it.
edited 8th Jan '12 8:30:11 PM by MetaFour
Video Game Census. Please contribute.Lucky's been playing DC Universe Online, but I'll drop him a line anyway.
You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!Just finished listening to the first song and I think I'm gonna really like it.
BTW, how do people generally write their opinions? Do you listen to the album and then write what you think, or do you write your opinions as you listen?
Not many people realize, 50 Cent is half man, half cossack. - Ross NobleIt's up to you. I usually listen to the whole thing a few times before writing a review.
Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.Now this album I have something to say about.
I love how Zappa doesn't bother to put deep lyrics into his songs, just silly nonsense stories featuring pissing it's all about the music, and boy what music it is. The guitar on this album, is just beautiful. I've never really understoof Zappa's placement as one of the greatest guitarists, but now I do. All these songs have such perfect guitarwork, so powerful. Black Napkins is just fantastic, jazz rocking at it's finest. The way the songs goes from one extreme to another is great, from the intensely fast Napkins to the far slower, very VERY creepy The Torture Never Stops. I did feel like that song dragged on much too long though, and the "torture" sounds got tiring after a while.
Speaking of creepy, that is pretty much the word that sums up Zappas vocal delivery best for me. Almost every song is delivered in a low frog like croak, rather than any actual attempt at singing. This is probably for the best, as I personally feel they fit the bizarre nature of his work. The guitar solos are probably my favourite songs though, perhaps because of the bigger focus on the actual music. One problem I had with the album though would be that I didn't feel there was enough variation. As an album it worked well, but I think that most of the songs fit into "Guitar driven instrumental" or "Slow Fuzz-guitar riff driven story", I was expecting more variety, with some more experimental stuff like Peaches en Regalia.
The standout tunes for me would almost certainly be the titular track, which had more of the surreal, jazzy experimentation I was expecting, Black Napkins, which had some of the most fantastic soloing I've ever heard with the finest tone possible, the opening track Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station, which I honestly wouldnt have been able to tell was a Zappa song and of course, Disco Boy. Disco Boy was hilarious for it's just complete randomness. Coming after Zoot Allures, the chipmunk vocals and hardrock guitar really stood out. It sort of tied the end of the album to the beginning, which also used the comedic voices and more traditional arrangement.
In the end, I really enjoyed this album, it was a lot of fun, throughly enjoyed it and it showed me why Zappa is considered so amazing. Thank to this I will be looking for more Zappa to buy in the future, so thanks Lucky! :D I may listen to it a few more times and give my added opinions at a later date.
edited 16th Feb '11 5:24:01 PM by Drpepperfan
Not many people realize, 50 Cent is half man, half cossack. - Ross NobleEverything I know about Frank Zappa (which isn't that much, admittedly) suggests that this was intentional, Meta.
Personally, I thought his voice was awesome on all the tracks.
You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!Fun fact: Zappa's "sleazy 70s porn man" voice is the result of a broken collarbone he suffered at the beginning of the decade. Before that he sounded more like a snarky pissed-off goofster.
Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.Yeah, sorry, I've been busy with DCUO and school stuff lately, so it's been hard to find the time for this. Not only that, but I haven't felt much like listening to music in a while.
My thoughts on Zoot Allures are pretty much this: "Black Napkins" is one of my favourite songs ever, and when I first heard it, I was completely blown away. The guitar work is simply fantastic. For me, that song alone makes the album. That's not to say that I dislike the rest, though. Oh no, "The Torture Never Stops" is a great song with a creepy atmosphere, "Wind up Working At A Gas Station" is incredibly fun, and I've always been fond of "Find Her Finer" and "Disco Boy".
And to show that I wasn't just in for this my own albums or whatever, I'm currently listening to the George Crumb album. I haven't been listening for long, though, and will probably have to listen more tomorrow since I really need to go to sleep soon, but yeah. So far, I'm thinking it might just be too minimalist for my liking.
"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."I eventually broke down and started skimming, but on further thought, there's nothing really wrong with it, in fact it's a pretty good album. The problem is that I just haven't been in the mood for this sort of stuff lately. I'll have to come back to this one later, when I'm in the proper mindset to appreciate it.
There are many sides to Zappa. There's the doo-wop loving soul man, there's the high-minded classical composer, there's the irreverent rebel prankster, there's the wild jazz-rock berserker, there's even the purveyor of hooky pop songs. Unfortunately, this album is mostly devoted to those sides of Zappa I most dislike: the technical guitar geek and the pointlessly crude, sleazy, and misogynistic novelty singer.
Having said that, I quite like this album—I'd say, in fact, that it's the best bad album that Zappa ever made. Is it comparable to Freak Out! or Weasels Ripped My Flesh! or Burnt Weeny Sandwich or Roxy & Elsewhere? Nope. But taken on its own merit and disregarding just how much better Zappa could be when he applied himself, this thing's awfully enjoyable.
Why is this? Well, quite simply, the songs are catchy. The rollicking "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station" and the glam-rock "Disco Boy" are tons o' fun (even though I rather dislike the chipmunk backing vocals), the moody "The Torture Never Stops" is great if a bit long, and loathe as I am to admit it, I even sometimes get "Ms. Pinky" and "Find Her Finer" stuck in my head, though I have to pretend I don't know the words.
And that brings us to the lyrics, always the most divisive thing about Zappa's rock albums. Yes, I know they're satirical and goofy, but the fact is that to me, they're just plain not funny. They're just kinda...gross. And the fact that he kept returning to these kind of lyrics over and over again throughout his career doesn't help matters. "But merton, what about Zappa's instrumentals?" no one asked. Well, I usually love 'em, but on this album? Not so much. Don't get me wrong, "Friendly Little Finger" is great, but "Black Napkins" and the title track to me sound like the dullest sort of guitar wanking.
The general impression I get from this album is that it just plain isn't one Zappa cared that much about. I've read that his rock albums from this time period mostly served to finance his classical compositions, and if so, it would make sense that this album is so half-baked. Now don't get me wrong, this album is good at what it does—unfortunately, what it does isn't much.
edited 17th Feb '11 5:15:20 PM by merton
Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.So, I'm about done with Unto the Hills, and I'm not really feeling it. The woman's voice is haunting and beautiful, and I like that, and I loove the drums in Poor Wayfaring Stranger, but other than that, the music just isn't drawing me in. I'm not getting any real emotional attachment to the album.
I'll have to listen to Black Angels at another point, and I probably won't post my review about that. Sorry for being so late about this, but I made a promise to myself that I would do this today and goddammit I did it. Now, hopefully, I can start doing this more often.
"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."You know, the second round has been going on for a hell of a long time now, and we've had a ton of people just drop in, suggest an album, and then leave again.
I think we should have a limited submission window, maybe starting two albums before a new round starts, and ending one or two albums into the new round, or something like that. That way, we only have people who are really interested in sticking around and contributing submitting albums, and also not have such long rounds, so people can get their suggestions heard more often.
That sounds like a pretty good idea. Either that or we could require someone to give their opinions on an album before their album suggestion is accepted, so we know that they're actually interested in the album exchange as a whole.
I'm also kinda saddened by the slow pace of this album's round, I mean, 3 reviews? -_-
Not many people realize, 50 Cent is half man, half cossack. - Ross NobleIt's something to discuss. I really wasn't expecting this round to be this long (as evidenced by my being about 8 albums ahead). We just had a whole bunch of new people come in. It also kind of makes me feel like I need to rush as well, since I want to get to round 4 soon.
Video Game Census. Please contribute.On Zoot Allures:
This is actually the first Frank Zappa album I've heard, besides a few songs here and there. I have a friend who is really into him, but his discography was always far too intimidating for me.
That said, I enjoyed this album on its own merits, but it certainly didn't convince me that Frank Zappa is one of the geniuses of our time. "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station," "The Torture Never Stops" and "Disco Boy" were probably my favorite songs on the album, though "The Torture Never Stops" dragged a bit.
This definitely is a matter of personal preference, but I didn't enjoy "Black Napkins" and "Zoot Allures"...masturbatory guitar work is something I've never been a fan of. However, I know many worthwhile human beings who like it a lot, so this is definitely a severe case of Your Mileage May Vary.
What made me enjoy this album instead of dismissing it was seeing how Zappa influenced other artists. If you told me "The Torture Never Stops" was a Nick Cave song, I'd be inclined to believe it, and "Ms. Pinky" and "Wonderful Wino" could have come out of the early 2000s garage rock boom (though the lyrics are a bit sleazier).
Overall, an album that I appreciated more for influence than for actual sound. I can definitely understand Zappa's appeal, and am game to give one of the albums merton mentioned a try, but I mostly appreciated this on a superficial level, and will probably give it 2 or 3 more listens, and then let it slip into the itunes abyss.
We must move forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.Frank Zappa is probably the one artist with the largest range of quality from his work in my mind. This album is a good example of it because it's also all over the place in how much I love the individual tracks.
Yes, Zappa can be random and weird and profane and quirky and everything else. Sometimes I really like that from him. Sometimes it just seems like a lot of stupid shit.
So there were songs like Wind Up Working in a Gas Station, which I really don't like and don't see any reason to give another chance. There are other songs which just kind of passed through without me noticing, and there are songs like Ms. Pinky which I quite liked, even though I had trouble understanding what he was saying.
Video Game Census. Please contribute."Ms. Pinky" is about a blow-up doll. It's probably the second best pop song about blow-up dolls ever, after Roxy Music's "In Every Dream Home a Heartache".
Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.I'm just going to start out by saying how much I love Frank Zappa. The man's talent for music and wordplay is just absolutely wonderful.
About the album proper, it should be no surprise that I liked it too. Even Wind Up Working In A Gas Station. Going by Revenant's post I went straight to Black Napkins and ended up with that on repeat for a while, just listening away. I'm not gonna start talking about other songs I enjoyed because it'd basically be the entire thing, so this is where I'll stop my little gush.

I think it's time. I haven't fully processed the George Crumb, but it's going to take longer than we have here — I think I need to poke my nose around the style a bit further and try and see what I like in there.
A brighter future for a darker age.