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Frank Zappa - Tinseltown Rebellion Audio CD

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

Tracks: 1: Fine Girl 2: Easy Meat 3: For the Young Sophisticate 4: Love of My Life 5: I Ain't Got No Heart 6: Panty Rap 7: Tell Me You Love Me 8: Now You See It- Now You Don't 9: Dance Contest 10: Blue Light 11: Tinsel Town Rebellion 12: Pick Me, I'm Clean 13: Bamboozled by Love 14: Brown Shoes Don't Make It 15: Peaches III

I still dig it, though maybe not as much as I used to...
It's not as good as some of the later albums I picked up, but it's still worthwhile. This was one of my first Zappa albums, and I still play it from time to time. There is plenty here to please all Zappa fans, such as the amazing guitar work on Easy Meat (and Vinnie Colauita's amazing drumming), and there are some excellent remakes of earlier songs. The song Love of My Life from Ruben and the Jets is much better on this album, with a great Zappa vocal and Bob Harris's excellent falsetto vocals. Tell Me You Love Me is more dynamic than the Chunga's Revenge version. I may be one of the few people who likes the new version of Brown Shoes Don't Make It. I think it's better than the original. I don't like Peaches III at all, even when I first picked up the album (I hadn't heard the original version at that time). Now You See It, Now You Don't is an excellent Zappa instrumental (despite a rather lame title). Now, there is average/mediocre material here. The "songs" Panty Rap and Dance Contest are really just Zappa sounding like a sleazy carnival/strip show hawker while the band just doodles (even though there's a brief drum breakout by Vinnie on Panty Rap). Some of the lyrics are very smug, like on The Blue Light, where Zappa obsesses about ugly, waxy cheese and lame Shakey's customers. It sounds almost Gen Xish, "ironic", and that type of thinking I've always hated. But on the flip side, the title song is still good today. Zappa goes on about the demise of the music business (I love the line "and pray that the business don't collapse"), which is still going on today. This is still a good album, even though I don't like it as much as I used to. .


One Heck Of A Good Album Of New & Old Delights!!!


"Peaches III" is Peaches En Regalia played marvelously on electric guitar. This 1981 album has old FZ classics but they are all performed completely different from their originals.

"I ain't got no heart" is played at a very fast speed as opposed to the original downbeat version on "Freak Out" and you can hear Zappa sing it this time. . . finally!

You get Zappa also singing "Tell me you love me" instead of Flo & Eddie (a BIG PLUS to the fans who detest Flo & Eddie).

Zappa also sings "Love of my life" instead of the original Ray Collins version from "Ruben & The Jets. "

All of these versions may be inferior or superior to the originals. . . that is not the point. The point is that they are all done very differently than the originals and, to some, sound like totally new songs.

The new delights include: "Fine Girl" - a tribute to the hard-working women of the past.

"Easy meat" has an awesome keyboard solo performed by the talented Thomas "Tommy" Mars.

"For the young sophisticate" makes its premiere here but it is not as good as the version found on the "Lather" album.

"The Blue Light" is a half-sung half-spoken MELT-DOWN track similar to "The Dangerous Kitchen" but not as good.

"Pick Me, I'm Clean" is NOT really about a groupie of the band but about an interracial relationship involving a woman who is just learning to speak English. This song also examines the different sexual preferences of the band (going "bare back" is gay; going "wet-back" is dating a mexican; going "way back" is dating older women; "should get back" is not dating anyone).

The previous song and the blues-influenced "Bambbozled by love" perfectly capture the activity and attitude of polar-opposite sexual relationships.

This album is not a disappointment.




.


Easily among Zappa's worst efforts
Even the recycled material from earlier - and much better albums - comes off very weakly against even weaker new material. The most disposable and forgettable of Zappa's efforts. Don't bother.


Weak
You see, all reviews on this page are positive, but I gotta warn you: this album isn't generally very high-rated among Zappa fans! It sounds a little bit messy (especially "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" - really horrible version of that song), synths are horrible-sounding , there is a lot of filler (spoken tracks or some boring melodies like Easy Meat or Fine Girl), and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta is nowhere as great as on Joe's Garage or Shut Up and Play. . Yes, there are a few good (not great) songs - for example the title track, one of a few really tight songs here, but most of this album sounds like an half-mess or very minimalistic on Zappa standards. And I also could live without new versions of some oldies - they're mostly OK, but originals are better, or MUCH better (Peaches III, Brown Shoes).


Flawless
The production is clear and rich. This record includes some of my favorite Zappa pieces played by a band that is anything but under-rehearsed. Vinnie Caliauta's playing is electric and drives these big bands with power and precision. He shows us why Zappa considered him the best drummer he ever worked with (and Zappa worked with some damned fine drummers. )

I enjoy most era's and aspects of Frank's music, but I have a special appreciation for some of the live recordings from this period through the eighties. (Granted, some of them are sterile and some are down-right goofy. This is not one of those. ) Let's not forget that Zappa's music is difficult and that he was a very demanding band leader. As his career progressed, he had his pick of more and better musicians who were capable of things that former band memebers just could not do.


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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