Published on Sep 20, 2005
In the middle of all the controversy regarding the Parents Music
Resource Coalition, Frank Zappa became the hero for the cause of
free speech, rallying against censorship and government
intervention into an area they never should have gotten involved
with in the first place. For that one reason, Zappa will remain a
personal hero to me.
Yet the disc that Zappa released to coincide with his Capitol
Hill clash with the Washington numbskulls,
Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention, is
unquestionably one of the weakest discs that Zappa ever put out.
Relying more heavily on the Synclavier than ever, his backing band
is reduced almost to guest-appearance status, and the music in turn
suffers greatly. Add to that a limp-wristed shot at the bureaucrats
who fought to label records (and, in a sense, won), and you have a
disc that belongs at the bottom of the heap.
For all of the bravado the title of the disc suggests, only one
track, “Porn Wars,” deals at all with the controversy of labelling
records, and it is a hodge-podge of snippets from the Capitol Hill
hearings and Zappa’s testimony, intermixed with an instrumental
powered by the Synclavier. The end result is about as strong as
cold, month-old coffee – stale, bland, and lethargic. If one is
familiar with Zappa’s testimony, this track dares to weaken the
stand he made. (Only one other track, “H.R. 2911,” even refers to
the proceedings in any manner; the rest of the tracks have nothing
to do with the PMRC.)
What remains from
Mothers Of Prevention is a pretty weak collection of tracks.
About the only song worth saving from the cesspool is “We’re
Turning Again,” a track that has shown much more life when
performed live, but is fairly passable here. The same can’t be said
for the instrumental version of “What’s New In Baltimore?,” which
loses a lot of its power when it lacks any lyrical input from Zappa
and the boys. And the title of the lead-off track, “I Don’t Even
Care,” pretty much sums up what seems to be the attitude of the
full band – and, for that matter, Zappa himself.
The Synclavier-only pieces, such as “One Man, One Vote” and
“H.R. 2911,” are equally as lifeless and boring – a shame, coming
from a composer who, while admittedly spotty in his output, had
remained one of the more exciting songwriters and musicians of his
time. To put out a half-hearted effort such as this was a
crime.
So what could have changed
Mothers Of Prevention from a zero to a hero? Had Zappa taken
the same anger and determination that he brought with him to
Capitol Hill and transferred it into the music on this disc,
chances are it not only would have been the kind of disc to tie
Tipper Gore’s leaden panties in a knot, but would have been damn
near unstoppable in its power. Instead, Zappa sounds like he’s
tired of the whole fight, and of the rock scene in general.
Unfortunately, it’s far too easy to get tired of this disc quickly,
and it should be avoided.
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.