Frank Zappa - Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life (26 tracks) +Album Reviews

The title has it

Patrik Lemberg | Tammisaari Finland | 10/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first FZ album I ever heard. My electric bass teacher lent it to me after I keenly asked him "Whose song is this?" at a concert where a band played "Let's Move To Cleveland." I loved the song immediately, and upon listening to it on disc I didn't only love it for its [to me, at the time] eccentric melody, but also for the guitar solo, which I was to find a typical example of Zappa's personal way of soloing.

At close to 130 minutes of music this may be the perfect (and a "light") Zappa introduction to no-know-persons. Although most of the material is taken from FZ's late 60's through mid 70's repertoire, or what some might call his hey day rock material, big variations (thanks to re-arrangements) are being made, and styles vary. There's also a bunch of classic rock covers, such as "Purple Haze," "Sunshine of Your Love," "Stairway to Heaven" among others - even the "Bonanza" theme is included. All cover songs are worth listening to - they're extremely extreme! After listening to any of them for the first time there is NO WAY the words "Just what I expected" will escape from your sincere mouth.

What differs the old FZ studio songs from these 15-to-20-years-later-live-versions are the arrangements and the lyrics. A lot of the lyrics are humorously replaced on the spot (the band seems to have a really good time) and close to all songs on this album feature a horn section armed with five men who handle 10 different horns.

From what I understand, the '88 tour band (the last of Zappa's rock bands) knew 196 songs - songs that Zappa could call off at concerts at any time, and it truly shows that this band have practiced A LOT! The musicianship is, as on many of Zappa's albums, EXTRAORDINARY.

As a musician I can deeply recommend it for inspiration to anyone involved in musical activities.

As an "innocent bystander" I recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor who wants to enjoy well performed quality music, but if you're looking for an album to cry to while enjoying a bowl-size glass of white wine and looking out the window at the pouring rain, questioning the meaning of life and death, then this is ABSOLUTELY NOT it.

To Zappa-fanatics who don't own this album I must ask "Fanatic, are you kidding?""

The best entry-level Zappa recording

Sir Charles Panther | Alexandria, Virginny, USandA | 11/23/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thinking of getting into FZ? If contemplating your first foray into the world of Frank, buy this recording. It's accessible on many levels, primarily due to the numerous covers of rock, country, movie, and classical pieces. There are also the FZ standards, such as "The Torture Never Stops," "Penguin in Bondage," "Florentine Pogen," "Inca Roads," and "Sofa." If you enjoy this album then you'll enjoy any other recording in the vast FZ catalog."

Stellar arrangements, essential songs

"Unnecessary" Quotes | 10/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This title, recorded before the BWTHW touring band disintegrated in a flurry of slap-fighting and mean-spirited "slam books," offers an extraordinary glimpse of where Zappa could have gone if he had lived another fifteen years. By this time in his career, Zappa was the undisputed champion of writing impossible compositions and then flogging his musicians into playing them. Thus, with this tour Zappa settled into a more relaxed set that emphasized showmanship along with the musical feats.

Considering the number of musicians on stage during this tour, there is an amazing amount of space in these songs. It is almost as though the whole thing was produced in a studio, with some musicians contributing a note or two per chorus. The wide-open spaces on the album make a fantastic palette for Zappa to really emphasize his strengths as a guitar player, and they also leave room for the other greats in this band to express themselves.

The song list includes stellar versions of some Zappa classics, like Florentien Pogen and Inca Roads, along with a few suprises. Who knew that Stairway to Heaven's guitar solo would sound so good as a horn arrangement? Who but Zappa would have equated "Ring of Fire" with some sort of fungal (possibly sexually transmitted) infection?

I agree with the other reviewers that this is a good intro to Zappa, with one caveat: this is an extraordinarily cynical album. Maybe all of the parody of Johnny Cash seems over the top in light of his recent passing, and you can probably forgive Zappa for devoting so much time to dissecting the sexual indescretions of Jimmy Swaggart. In any case, there are lots of points in this album where the easy facade of playfulness seems to give way to a very dark underbelly. All I am saying is, don't put this in the CD player until you've had your morning coffee."

Novelty Covers and Guitar Work

"Unnecessary" Quotes | 12/21/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life was the second of three albums documenting Zappa's '88 tour, which turned out to be his last. Zappa compiled an incredibly tight band -- for the first time in eons, a complete horn section, and a solid band with two rhythm guitars/vocals, bass, several men manning keys and synth, percussion and drums. The band rehearsed tirelessly for four months before launching into a tour in February 1988. Unfortunately, while this band played incredibly tight, infighting broke out between percussionist Ed Mann and bassist Scott Thunes. Zappa was outraged, and cancelled the tour in July, before audiences in the South, Midwest, and West of the US got a chance to hear the band. As the title suggests (not without a little venom), this album is dedicated to those would-be audiences. Most of this album material is, in fact, for the fans. Its full of novelty covers, and an array of Zappa oldies and other rarely heard gems. Material from the original Mothers and the beloved '74 band are present in particular. Disc one begins, after a blistering solo by Frank in HEAVY DUTY JUDY, with a reggae rendition of Johnny Cash's RING OF FIRE, done because, as FZ explains, Cash cancelled his appearance on stage at the last minute. A run through of ZOMBIE WOOF that collides rather strangely with a cover of Ravel's BOLERO is rather interesting. (NOTE: European and Japanese editions don't contain BOLERO because of regional copyright laws). The highlight of the first disc, however, is a rather mellow (and, as always, beautiful) 7 minute rendition of ZOOT ALLURES. This is followed by the revisiting of the melodic MR.GREEN GENES. Although its one of my favorite FZ songs, this cover does nothing new with it. FLORENTINE POGEN, on the other hand, serves here as a vehicle for an aggressive FZ solo. Even better is the impossible and inexplicably brilliant ANDY, my favorite track on One Size Fits All that, perhaps because of its difficulty, was rarely played live. Thunes attempts to replicate Tom Fowler's incredible bass line on the original, but it lacks the flare (and definitely the tone) of Fowler. Frank grinds out a solo. It concludes with INCA ROADS and SOFA -- neither the best versions available of these songs, but its nice to hear them again.The second disc begins with short covers of Hendrix and Cream numbers, done in soundcheck and more tongue-in-cheek than anything. They flow into an energetic LETS MOVE TO CLEVELAND. The BROTHER A. WEST track is Zappa providing the audience with a right-wing evangelist to "add some balance." West goes off on the "demon-possessed" Zappa while the audience is in an uproar. The linear notes say nothing, but this was actually a friend of Zappa's, not really a preacher. The running joke on the album is about Jim Swaggart getting caught with a prostitute, hence the number of "Swaggart" versions on this album. Zappa fills these out with some fantastic guitar work -- another version of THE TORTURE NEVER STOPS (as many times as its appeared on an FZ album, it seemed like it really never would stop) is actually worthwhile, and probably the best version out there. Zappa breaks into a lengthy killer solo. My favorite track on the album is an unlikely version of one of my all-time favorite FZ songs, the ERIC DOLPHY MEMORIAL BARBECUE. The STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN finish is hilarious -- you're getting ready for FZ to launch into a solo to blow Page's away, when the horn section jumps in and replicates Page's solo almost note for note. This album doesn't represent the best of the '88 band -- the incredible Make a Jazz Noise Here album gets the title. But this album, a little funner then MaJNH, is still a great piece. If it doesn't showcase the more musically astonishing aspects of Zappa, it features some great guitarwork, some good humor, and some interesting selections of material."

Incredibly talented performances!

"Unnecessary" Quotes | 01/10/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just from looking at the cover and tracklisting you know this album is good! Every period of Zappa's vast catalogue is covered by this CD and each is exceptionally done. The criticism of some earlier reviews saying that the CD lacks hard rock and soloing is true, but this is not a bad thing...Zappa's music was never always rock and solos. This CD adds a new dimension to the songs being performed. I was blown away by the imaculate performances on every single track. Heavy Duty Judy is fantastic and actually has loud guitar in! wow. Ring of Fire is good as well, an interesting cover, as all the covers are (the Thing-Fish versions of Purple Haze and Sunshine Of Your Love are a bit messed up and could have been much more, but still worthy), but the best cover lies in the Stairway To Heaven solo. Totally transcribed for brass and followed with a guitar solo, this is astounding playing and one of the best moments in 'rock'! The slowed down version of Peaches that is incorporated into Cleveland is beautiful and for me is Zappa through and through. The playing on the start of Zomby Woof is astounding, as is the OSFA suite. The continual lambasting of Swaggart does get trying after a while, but to hear Burt again is great and Torture with horns is genius.So, overall, there isn't really a dud on the 2 discs all the way through so this is a really worthwhile purchase, even if you are a casual Zappa fan.If your friends cannot understand why you worship the man and have nearly 60 of his albums, play them this gem and they will see the light. Definately up there with his best, and better than the other '88 albums...although they are all essential!"

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