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Frank Zappa - Studio Tan Audio CD

A fair review of the Frank Zappa "Studio Tan" 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: Studio Tan
Rating:
Release Date: 1995-05-02
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Adventures of Greggery Peccary 2: Revised Music for Guitar and Low-Budget Orchestra [Instrumental] 3: Lemme Take You to the Beach 4: RDNZL

If you like Zappa for his compositions, this is his best album
The improvisations are relaxed and inspired. Definitely moments of Varese and Stravinsky in here. The shifting polyrhythmic odd time signatures are executed flawlessly and with feeling. This is quite simply a compositional and instrumental tour de force.

Revised Music for Guitar and Low-Budget Orchestra and RDNZL are two of my very favorite compositions of all time by anyone in any style of music. Greggory Peccary is certainly fantastic and has truly stellar moments, but I find I don't listen to it as much as the other two. I often forget that "Take you to the Beach" is even on this album.

If you like this album, try: Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo, Frank Zappa: Apostrophe / Over-Nite Sensation, Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, Sleep Dirt (I like this one better without the vocals), or the Läther box set. You don't need to buy Studio Tan if you buy Läther because it has all the same mixes of the same songs.


Studio Tan
Often over looked and brushed aside, but why? One of Zappa's all time greatest compositions can be found here in 'The Adventures of Greggery Peccary' as well as some of his strongest guitar playing of all time in 'RDNZL. Frank Zappa-Studio Tan ****1/2

Studio Tan is one of the most criminally underrated albums in Frank Zappa's vast body of music. '

Released in 1978 along with Sleep Dirt (also very underrated), and Orchestral Favorites as apart of the material originally designed for the Läther box set. All three albums have been written off as a low point for Zappa, but that just isn't so.

The music on Studio Tan is some of his most inspired. The musical compositions inside 'The Adventures of Greggery Peccary' are utterly fantastic and are similar to that of the great Thelonious Monk. Yes the lyrics can get old after one or two listens but the music is ever lasting. The same can be said the the sheer brilliance of 'Revised Music for Guitar and Low-Budget Orchestra' it is truly among some of the best material Zappa ever laid to tape. 'Lemme Take You to the Beach' while short and may seem pointless is hilarious. One of the few Zappa moments that continues to be funny after all this time, and without it Studio Tan would feel incomplete. 'RDNZL' closes the album with a fantastic guitar work out, and one of Zappa's strongest in years up to that point.

Studio Tan is a forgotten gem in the Frank Zappa canon, and one that should not be missed. Moments of musical genius and glimpses of his guitar virtuosity that should not me left behind can be found here. Studio Tan comes highly recommended.


Geez, another Zappa review....
I have nearly 45 albums/CD's by the man, so I've been reviewing them a lot lately. I like Frank Zappa a bit. This is one of the more obscure ones, but still damn good. It was part of the Lather 4 LP set, but when Warners told Frank no, they released the material over 4 albums or so, and all of them had crappy cover art (like this one). Nevertheless, this album is magnificent, with one of Frank's most underrated epics, The Adventures of Greggary Peccary. It's like an orchestra piece (there is an orchestra in the background, although it's not credited in the credits), and Zappa's lyrics are very dry and funny, mocking the U. S. 's tendency to follow trends without questioning them. The other songs are great, especially Revised Music for Guitar and Low Budget Orchestra, and RNDZL (the latter one is especially good). Lemme Take You to the Beach is a very funny throwaway song, like the 2 vocal tracks on Waka/Jawaka. A funny sidenote. . . when Frank hosted SNL in the 1970's (his only time, he was banned from the show because the cast didn't like his humour, except for John Belushi, who performed with Frank on one of his songs during the show), he was in a conehead sketch, and this was the album he used as a prop (and Dan Akyroyd ate the album, if I remember right). So, here's another Zappa album to pick up. Not like you have any others to pick up or anything. . . .


You Get The Weenies
But the music is good. The packaging is just awful and I almost subtracted a star for it. Greggery Peccary is a narrated story accompanied with character dialog and singing. It's a bit like Billy the Mountain only the music is much more sophisticated. Billy and Ethel actually make a guest appearance somewhere in the Short Forest. This is a slap on Madison Avenue types who use psychology to manipulate the dumb, unsuspecting American masses. Some of it seems a bit corny but it is humorous. Revised Music for Guitar and Low Budget Orchestra is quite interesting. This one includes orchestral passages that reminds me an awful lot of the guitar solo for Inca Roads - in some places it sounds note-for-note like the guitar playing on Inca Roads from YCDTOSA Vol 2. Lemme Take You to the Beach will make you smile, especially the first time you hear it. RNDZL is very good too. Given that lousy packaging, I was pleasantly surprised that this was very much in the mold of the stuff Zappa was doing in 1974 with his Roxy Band. It isn't as good as Roxy & Elsewhere or One Size Fits All (2 releases from the era in which this was recorded) but it's still worth owning. Gotta Go! "vwooden! vwooden!".


One of Zappa's very finest
It contains some of his funniest (and least cruel) humor, an outstanding 1950s takeoff, two instrumental masterpieces, and a generous helping of his uniquely beautiful guitar playing. This CD is an excellent intro to the many facets of Zappa's art. You wont regret adding this to your collection!.


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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