Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong In Music?

By Ken Kessler

Hi-Fi News & Record Review, May 1986

FRANK ZAPPA: DOES HUMOR BELONG IN MUSIC?
EMI CDP 7 46188 2 (60m 44s)

A flick of the fingers under the chin to the US Senators' wives pushing for rating the lyrical content of rock music, administered by Uncle Frank in his usual inimitable style. Gawd, time flies, for here we find a proud song written around the word that got Lenny Bruce busted ... The sleevenotes warn us that this disc is '100% live, 100% digital' and devoid of overdubs; yet Frank undermines this purity by revealing that just about every track is composed of segments from different performances of his 1984 tour. Have I missed a Zappa joke somewhere? Whatever, there are no surprises for those of you familiar with the live Zappa, so giving it the requisite [A:1] applies only for his fans. (= very good recording, very good performance)