The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life

Make a Jazz Noise Here One of three releases showcasing his talented but short-lived 1988 big band, Make a Jazz Noise Here features Zappa's group on extended jams, some of his most ambitious instrumental works, and a few requisite concert favorites. Only Zappa would sandwich Igor Stravinsky's Royal Mar...	You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore - Vol. 2	Imaginary Diseases	Broadway the Hard Way	One Size Fits All The pinnacle of his jazz-rock work of the early '70s, One Size Fits All boasts some of the most memorable songs of Frank Zappa's career performed by one of the most beloved Mothers of Invention lineups ever assembled. This cast of musicians' musicians--including George Duke, Ruth...
The Grand Wazoo Japanese exclusive reissue of 1973 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve.	Roxy & Elsewhere This mostly live set features Zappa performing with the popular Mothers of Invention line-up of the early 70's--including jazz-funk meister George Duke, Napolean Murphy Brock on saxophone, and Ruth Underwood on percussion. Highlights include the souped-up funk of "Pygmy Twylyte,"...	Zappa in New York	Läther Recorded in 1976, this mythic three-CD opus finally sees the light of day to the joy of Zappaphiles. It almost goes without saying that there's a wealth of silliness, grotesque humor, and freeform genius in these three hours of wacked-out tunes about muffins, prunes, geese, and t...	You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore - Vol. 1

Some up's and some down's ...
I ordered this CD based on the strength of a few songs I had heard elsewhere, namely "Ring of Fire" and "Bolero". These songs, in addition to "Stairway to Heaven" are terrific. Extremely well recorded as well (from an audiophile standpoint). The rest of the album is, well, interesting to say the least. I understand from the liner notes that the band disbanded mid-tour. I can see why, after listening to a few of the recordings here. It sounds self-indulgent, bordering on disaster at times. I can't imagine sitting in the audience for this concert! At times it sounded like all the instruments were dropped down a set of stairs. In summary, Zappa had a great opportunity to have created something exceptional. Instead, we got a mess.

disappointing
The material has been treated in friveless manner and does not have the emotive content or passion of the studio albums. I found it raucuss and not worth listening to. It sounds like they were having a good time but that is not what I want from a Zappa album. I'll stick to Zoot Allures, etc.

you never heard?
i saw a couple of shows on this tour the last two times i saw frank perform. it is a great band, did he ever have a bad one or an uninspired one? as far as this being the best live disc or discs? no. the sound quality is awesome the arrangements interesting and if you like big band productions this is for you.....

Favorite FZ album
The way Bolero flows into Zoot Allures is very clever. In your face, Maurice, you no talent hack. And imagine the guitars of Stairway To Heaven done in horns. And rigt in the middle of Zombie Wolf, Joe Satriani's evil twin clone does some of his best work ever. The band at it's peak, plus a jab or two at Jimmy Swaggart during his post-sinning period. What more do you need?

A little confusing what to make out of this...
This package is quite loaded with Zappa gems. But at the same time, drummer Chad Wackerman, literally, in my opinon, ruins some songs. "Trouble Every Day", "Peguin in Bondage", "Mr. Green Genes" and "Find Her Finer" grooves are so mechanical, to fast, that in ruins the performance (they still have there moments). The squeky clean and seemingly to perfrect talent of Wackerman is to sterile at times for me. With that said, the rest of the band is quite good, and Wackerman dosen't always screw everything up. "Floretine Pogan (with a great guitar solo)" is literally amazing, in fact, the whole batch of "One Size Fits All" songs are worth the price alone. There are so many covers, which, to me, is pointless. Considering the amount of songs Zappa wrote and the brilliance of them, why cover some mediocore (way overplayed) tunes of Zepplin, Hendrix and Cream. In particular, "Stairway to Heaven", sucks, and why its reggae, is beyond me. In contrast, Ravels, "Bolereo", is awesome and Zappa's reggae arrangement is interesting enough to be on the record. In the end, despite nitpicking problems (another is Zappa guitar tone, which, at times, is hard to hear correctly because its so monotone and subdued), this comes off as a well recorded and fun record. I seem to be alone in my critique of this record, Zappa even said, this was possibly the best band he had ever put out on the road. "Florentine Pogan", "Heavy Duty Judy", and "Bolereo" make it worth the price of admission.