Published on Sep 15, 2005
At some point in the early ’80s, something happened to Frank
Zappa. Maybe it was the constant upheaval of popular music, where
substance took a back seat to image. Maybe it was a rebirth of
pseudo-religious fervor, where the only god that spoke to some of
these preachers were images of Jackson, Grant and Franklin. Maybe
it was the fact that people still referred to Zappa as a musician –
or, even worse, a rock musician – when he had tried hard to show
people he was, first and foremost, a composer.
Somewhere along the line, Zappa changed from the quirky but
funny artist he had been on discs like
Apostrophe (‘) and
Sheik Yerbouti, and became music’s own curmudgeon. Thinking
about it now, one could hear that change starting to happen on
Tinseltown Rebellion. But no disc made the metamorphosis
more obvious than
You Are What You Is – and it occasionally is a bit
uncomfortable to listen to what Zappa became.
A disc that seems like its motto could be “there is no such
thing as overdubbing too much,” Zappa and his band plow through 20
songs, some of which are indeed good (and rightfully became part of
Zappa’s ever-changing live set), but many of which just seem to be
doing too much grousing. And, occasionally, the points that Zappa
tries to make are lost due to an overreliance on studio
trickery.
Things start off innocently enough. “Teen-Age Wind” isn’t one of
Zappa’s better songs, but it does at least start the disc off on a
pleasant enough note. It then kicks in to the one track I remember
best from this disc, “Harder Than Your Husband,” a pseudo-country
number whose title is a bit, shall we say, misleading. (For once,
Zappa’s fascination with sexual humor works as the title is merely
a tease, for the song is actually about breaking off an affair.) In
fact, for the first couple of tracks, it does indeed seem like
Zappa and crew are on the right path, creating tracks that may not
have been standouts, but were at least enough that the listener
could tap their foot to.
But things begin to take a turn when Zappa the social critic
comes storming out of the box – and it’s not that his commentary is
unwelcome, it’s that he seems to have a lot of disgust for a lot of
things this time around, never actually able to filter any of it
into a solidly written song. Whether it’s his take on punk rock
(“Mudd Club”), suicide (“Suicide Chump”), the dangers of being
chased by needy plus-sized women (“Jumbo Go Away”) or military
service (“Drafted Again”), Zappa seems to be throwing darts wildly
at the board, never really coming close to the bullseye. And from
an artist like Zappa, that’s a big disappointment.
Zappa’s special target of scorn turns out to be religion – most
notably the area of televangelism, something that Zappa would
continue to skewer for the remainder of his career. “Dumb All Over”
could have been a powerful song had the vocal not been totally
obliterated by electronic “adjustments” (for lack of a better
word); Zappa is sometimes so hard to understand that the power of
the message is lost. In comparison, “Heavenly Bank Account” is a
scathing look at televangelists, but had the two songs been equally
clear, it would have been a one-two punch that would have sent
Jerry Falwell running back to the arms of his prostitute lover for
comfort.
In the end, Zappa comes off sounding like he’s complaining just
to complain, and the overall quality of the album suffers as a
result of this lack of focus. Tracks like “Beauty Knows No Pain,”
“The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing” and “Conehead” just fail to
impress this time around. Part of the problem is also that Zappa
continued to use studio trickery to pad the performances, making
the vocals into something along the lines of the Phil Spector “Wall
Of Sound,” except without the positive result. Had Zappa cut down
on the layered vocals and created a disc that sounded like it was
recorded “live in the studio,” chances are this one would have
packed a more powerful punch.
In the end,
You Are What You Is marked the beginning of a rather bland
period for Zappa – a shame, since this would prove to be the last
decade he would be making brand new music. This is one that’s
recommended for the fans only.
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.