Published on Sep 21, 2005
With the release of
Guitar, Frank Zappa’s second two-CD collection of guitar
solos, one had to question just what Zappa was trying to prove.
After all, here was a musician who was actively trying to
establish himself as a legitimate composer of serious music, as
well as someone who had already put out a collection of his guitar
solos (as
Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar) a few years prior. Why on earth
did Zappa feel the need to release a second compilation like that?
More importantly, why did we, as music consumers (as well as those
who are Zappa fans), need a second set?
If anything,
Guitar acts as further example as to what Zappa
unintentionally proved on
Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar – while he was indeed a genius on
the guitar, the solos removed from the context of the concert are
just damned boring.
Whether you’re a diehard Zappa fan or not, the fact is, without
having the track listing in front of you, this collection of 32
solos is going to become a huge mish-mash of speed-freak guitar
licks after a short period of time. While some of the tracks are
recognizable (such as “In-A-Gadda-Stravinsky,” with a certain bass
line that should be recognizable to any child of the ’60s), Zappa,
for the most part, happily noodles away on these snippets culled
from 1979 to 1984, all progressing along away from their rightful
place in the live stage shows they came from.
And that, kids, is where
Guitar fails the most. It’s one thing to grab one or two of
these tracks at a time, and listen to them just to clear out the
pipes. But after a while, you almost start wishing for vocal tracks
to kick in at some point, just to break up the repetitive nature of
these tracks. At least, you may think, it would have been nice to
have heard the songs these solos were pulled from, even if only for
a point of reference.
It’s not that
Guitar is bad; tracks like “Sexual Harrassment In The
Workplace,” “Swans? What Swans?” and “That Ol’ G Minor Thing” do
provide some enjoyment. But I found that I could take no more than
eight to ten tracks at a time before I had to turn the CD player
off, walk away and clear my head. Remember when our parents told us
that you could even have too much of a good thing?
Guitar proves this to be absolutely true.
Make no mistake, Zappa rightfully belongs enshrined in any kind
of guitarists’ hall of fame that one can imagine, and
Guitar does contain many of those performances that make the
argument for Zappa’s inclusion. But this set breaks no new ground
over
Shut Up ‘N Play Yer Guitar, and is recommended for only the
true die-hard Zappa fans.
2005 Christopher Thelen and “The Daily Vault.” All rights
reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without
written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of the
Zappa Family Trust / record label, and is used for informational
purposes only.