Customer Reviews
Great Sound, Excellent Songs
When Frank sings "The Closer You Are", you feel like droplets of his spittle are hanging on your earlobe. I swear there are times where you feel like your ear is right next to the studio mic on this disc. Frank worked hard to get excellent live and studio sound all through his long career and Them Or Us was a generational step up, due in part to equipment upgrades.
Don't get me wrong - this isn't an audiophile disc full of nothing songs. This is great stuff with little filler. The themes are typical Zappa - sex, lost love (or was it lust?), stupid people, more sex and more stupid people. Usually, when a musician remakes their own tune, I wish they hadn't, but the remake of Sharleena is outstanding. This was an incredible live band - I saw two shows on this tour and both times they nailed Sharleena, The Closer You Are, Be In My Video and all the rest.
This disc has great flow and excellent musicianship. To be honest, Frogs With Dirty Little Lips is the one tune I don't care for and although I do like Whippin' Post, they could have left it off without causing me to complain. But it was a great part of the live show. .
An Eighties Style Cabaret Show
Here, you have FZ with a full compliment of talent, covering the whole spectrum of what he was doing at the time. This release came out in 1984, when not many people were putting out really good material. A nice touch is the variety of voices used for lead vocals, and they all get showcased in ways that show off their individual styles.
Contrary to what others have said, I think the "weak point" is "Sharleena," listen to the "Lost Episodes" version to see what I mean. In all it's a tight, powerful treat for any Zappa fan, casual or rabid.
Best mid-eighties album
Most of it features the 1982 line-up, when most of these songs were written and most likely recorded. In 1984, Zappa released this album.
1. The closer you are- 4/5 stars. This doo-wop track seems like something right out of Cruisin with Rueben and the jets. Although musically not that great it is still pretty catch and was often played on the 1982 tour.
2. In france- 4/5 stars. In France is a great blues number that refers to the nightmares due to being in France. This is better than the live version on Vol. 3 because of the bizzare vocals by Johnny Watson.
3. Ya Hozna- 2/5 stars. By far the weakest track on the album, Ya Hozna opens up with a promising heavy metal riff but soon goes into the awful, warbling backwards vocals and it becomes terribly repetitive. Listen to it once just to get an idea.
4. Sharleena- 4/5 stars- Sharleena starts out with a great reggea riff and soon goes into a blistering guitar solo. Although I prefer the Vol. 3 version, this is excellent and should be on all Zappa compilations.
5. Sinister footwear 2- 4. 5/5 stars- this rock-band version of the instrumental is incredible. I wish that the screaming guitar part would go on forever; it is very powerful. This is one of Frank's complicated masterpieces.
6. Truck driver divorce- 3. 5/5 stars- This song is good but starts off pretty dull. The guitar solo at the end is worth the wait though.
7. Stevie's spanking- 4/5 stars- the stage vol. 4 version is loads better but this is still very good and has a great riff.
8. Baby take your teeth out- 3/5 stars- this is apparently the comedy song on the album. It has a hypnotic and joy-ful beat but the vocals and lyrics are obnoxious.
9. Marqueson's chicken- 4/5 stars- this is another instrumental number like Sinister footwear 2 but it isnt quite as good. It is still good though. Very underated.
10. The planet of my dreams- 3/5 stars- this and Baby take your teeth out go together well; they are both rather comic. This does however feature Bob Harris, one of my favorite key-board-players and vocalists for Zappa.
11. Be in my video- 4/5 stars- This is a hilarious number that makes fun of the new wave music that was in the lead at the time. Chad Wackerman shines alot here and that doesnt surprise me. Chad was Zappa's most un-appreciated drummer and I say he is the best Zappa had. This is equal to the stage vol. 1 version.
12. Them or us- 3. 5/5 stars- this instrumental is wildly sporadic and a little hard to follow but Zappa is really jamming away. Just listen too Wackerman's liquid smooth double-bass pedal riffs, something he should have been famous for.
13. Frogs with dirty little lips- 3/5 stars- this funny little number runs heavy on the bass and is pretty bizzare but it lacks a little in the excitement section.
14. Whippin' post- this cover of the famous Allman Bros song may be better than the original! Zappa's band really shows they can play all styles of music here. The dvd of Doe shumor belong in music is better but this one still does the trick.
Well, there you are. Them or us is a vastly underated Zappa album and I find myslef grabbing this cd quite often from my huge Zappa collection to give it another listen. .
. You can see a complete list of all Frank Zappa discography, or go back to the Frank Zappa tabs
|
