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Frank Zappa - Lumpy Gravy Audio CD

A fair review of the Frank Zappa "Lumpy Gravy" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Frank Zappa reviews here, or go back to the Frank Zappa tabs.

Frank Zappa Band: Frank Zappa
Title: Lumpy Gravy
Rating:
Release Date: 1995-04-18
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Lumpy Gravy, Pt. 1: The Way I See It, Barry/Duodenum/Oh No/Bit of ... 2: Lumpy Gravy, Pt. 2: Very Distraughtening/White Ugliness/Amen/Just ...

Difficult, perverse, but ultimately rewarding
I had found a worn copy of We're Only In It For The Money [. This was the second Zappa album I bought, back in the early 80's when most of his catalogue was out of print. . . ]) and purchased it knowing only its reputation as a misunderstood classic. I fell in love with it immediately - friends couldn't get past the varispeed vocals or deliberately cheesy arrangements, but it all just made sense to me. It took a while but I found an even more worn copy of Lumpy Gravy about a year later.

It was probably a good thing that the disc was as worn as it was. Somebody played the damn thing, and repeatedly. There was writing all over the jacket, notes, I would learn, about what was inside. Whoever bought this when it came out had spent a lot of time listening to it.

My first impressions were not good. Random sounding orchestral bits mixed with stoner comedy left me fearful that no thought whatsoever had been put in to this recording.

Second listen: meh.

But the degree to which the album had been played, the obsessive notes about the content, and my love of WOIIFTM kept drawing me back. At the same time I started learning about some of the other kinds of music produced last century, in particular The Rite of Spring. I found myself recognizing and even anticipating parts of this piece which I originally thought of only as noise. And so it goes. I had to train myself to hear it.

Here we are in 2009 and Lumpy Gravy is one of my favorite albums of all time. It contains snippets of pieces later fleshed out live or on record, as well as the initial recordings of works he would return to again and again. I find it hard to hear in it the structureless, random qualities I first heard, but instead hear the whole thing as a single, two part piece. The spoken words, the sirens, the doo-wop and the noise - it all fits together for me like a perfectly thought out composition.

Which ultimately it is, of course. Parts of Lumpy Gravy are as beautiful as anything I've ever heard - Oh No! and the opening theme, for example. I highly recommend this album if you're willing to give it some time. You will be richly rewarded for your patience.


A curiously inconsistent piece which started out to be a ballet but probably didn't make it...
It's a sound collage mixed with an orchestra and rock band. This is one of Zappa's most unique recordings, and that's saying something. It has some beautiful, borderline pop music passages, mixed in with strange noises, strange narration and vocals, and lots of surreal music.

The whole album is reminiscent of sound collages/experiments similar to that of Edgard Varese (one of Zappa's idols) and Luigi Nono, an avant garde Italian composer. Zappa really never attempted anything like this again until the sequel (and his final album released during his life) Civilization Phaze III (I think Phaze III is better). This album, like Zappa's other adventurous works (like Weasels Ripped My Flesh), become more interesting and fascinating with repeated listenings. This is not an album for Zappa novices, but it is essential to any Zappa fan and is one of his most unique and fascinating recordings. .


The "Lumpy Gravy CD " I Think more or Less.
The Lumpy Gravy is one. I think Frank Zappa musician genius, but some discs are more or less.


Not for Every Zappa Fan
Lumpy Gravy is definitely from the early Zappa playlist, although it is not another Freak Out. For older Zappa fans the Apostrophe album is a bright line dividing early Zappa from his middle and later work. Lumpy Gravy is more akin to the jumpy Absolutely Free than anything from Apostrophe on, and you can hear some of musical themes from Burnt Weenie Sandwich even Waka Jawaka under rumination. A running theme, especially percussion, will remind you of the send-ups of 50-ish Rock 'n Roll pieces all over Chunga's Revenge or Cruising with Reuben & The Jets, but it should not be equated to that album. The closet complement to Lumpy Gravy is We're Only in It for the Money. You'll find Lumpy Gravy somewhat less frenetic (a relative statement if ever one uttered), but cut from the same mold and its social commentary as biting. With that said, Lumpy Gravy is not for every Zappa fan. But if your Zappa "golden era" is pre-Apostrophe, then Lumpy Gravy belongs in your collection. .


For True Zappa Geeks Only!!!
The music? Easily the third best Zappa 60's era disc (Behind Absolutely Free and Burnt Weenie Sandwich). These Japan-only mini Lp's are such a rip-off that I'm not gonna waste my valuable review space on the packaging. It has it all; silly dialog, soundtrack music, and early blueprints for later songs ("Oh No" and "Take Your Clothes Off" to name 2). I would label this a must-have disc. But do yourself a favor and get one of the cheaper versions and not the "import" one. . . . . . .


You can see a complete list of all Frank Zappa discography, or go back to the Frank Zappa tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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