New Zappa album is mixture of new, old
By Lawrence Abbott
Frank Zappa's latest album Roxy & Elsewhere (Discreet Records 2DS 220) is a two record set filled with live material on tour between December '73 and May '74. In more than one way it is a mixture of both old and new format, but still it remains very typical of Zappa's most recent work. Compared to other Mothers' records, it rates a "fairly good," with perhaps even a slight pat on the back. While it contains an ample share of Zappa's unique musical virtuosity, it lacks the aesthetic considerations of previous albums. The overall package seems to have been thrown together more hastily than is usual for most Zappa recordings. The jacket itself is disappointing when to earlier ones such as We're Only in it for the Money, or Uncle Meat.
The music is set up to resemble a live stage show, much like the June '71 album. Each of the four sides begins with a Preamble, in which the audience is addressed casually by Zappa himself. Side one seems to concentrate on comedy music, beginning with Penguin in Bondage, quite popular but musically blase. The highlight of the side is Dummy Up, an improviso oratorio reminiscent of parts of the 200 Motels soundtrack.
Side two is largely instrumental, with the exceptionof a Village of the Sun, a pleasant little number in its own right. Side three is dominated by the song Cheepnis, dealing with grade B monster movies done in true comedy style. As a bonus, avid Zappa fans will note that a section from the 1970 album Weasels Ripped My Flesh has been rehashed, along with a real oldie, More Trouble Every Day, which goes back to the Freak Out album, 1965. Both arrangements have been modernized, though, and lack the clarity of the originals.
The fourth side contains the Be-bop Tango. Musically, it is awesome. The piece is so technically advancd that it cannot be overlooked, if only for this reason alone. At the end of it, however, Zappa begins to induce the audience to dance to the music. This may be in keeping with the stage-act format, but it ruins the full impact of the piece.
It is doubtful whether Frank Zappa would have produced a record such as Roxy & Elsewhere a few years ago. He has recently become much more buddy-buddy with the listening public, losing a lot of the contemptability so prevalent in albums of the mid-60's. In a way it's sad, because his recent music does not have as much of the fire (the verve?) as it at one time had. The most unfortunate consequence is that this tends to make us lose respect for him at the expense of popularity. He seems to have quit ridiculing Bwana Dik, and to have begun acting like him.