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FRANK ZAPPA
SHEIK YERBOUTY |
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| | Reviews: 47 |
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| Average Rating: 9.06 |
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THE BEST TO BEGIN
by El Tejano con Jota México, D.F. Mexico
Reviewed on July 17th, 2003
When you listen to this album, you will notice:1. Satirical and clever lyrics. Zappa deals with sexual ambiguity, cursing, ridiculing the disco era and dating with a Jewish girl to whom not very complimentary epithets are attached. So you might think he's nasty, homophobic, misogynistic, antisemitic and anti-disco. It might be, it might not. But he's open enough not to be politically correct, and I think it is a virtue. 2. Silly lyrics. He also sings about baby snakes and "not smoking in pajamas" because "you might start a fire'n burn yer place". Well, sometimes he relies on music, not on lyrics; the latter ones are often a medium to music, so they tend to be quite silly at times. But I find them funny. 3. Musical complexity. In "Rubber Shirt" Zappa took the bass part of a 4/4 track, and superimposed it on a slow 11/4 drum track. He did the same in the "Yo' Mama" guitar solo. That's worth noticing and listening to. 4. Musical simple, rocking straightforwardness. Which is what, in my opinion, makes the album so good. You never get lost, bored or misled. You can keep your feet stomping much of the listening time. "Baby Snakes" is a highlight of this approach, I think: short, uncomplicated, and that's it. 5. Guitar musicianship. There's more than a couple of tracks with Frank doing the virtuoso part. Great. 6. Lack of "unmitigated audacity", i.e. experimental and weird sonic adventures. This is one of the Zappa landmarks that you will miss in this one. Even so, if there's no cacophony or there aren't dislocated sound collages, it will make "Sheik Yerbouti" more acceptable for first-time listeners. You can go then for "Hot Rats" (1969) or the early Mothers stuff if you're curious about it. Conclusion: this album is the best to begin to listen to Zappa and to know most of his traits. If it gets you bored, you won't be a Zappa fan at all.
More "Sheik Yerbouty" reviews:
[2005-01-18] Awesome (10)
[2005-01-08] open letter to the "no soul" reviewer (8)
[2004-12-22] whatever happened to all the fun in the world? (10)
[2004-11-04] Hey, Andy Reddings!... (10)
[2004-10-29] A SONG THAT YOU WILL LIKE IS ON THIS CD (10)
[2004-09-22] One of his best! (10)
[2004-06-11] Not for everyone, but I love it.. (10)
[2004-06-04] You can make love with this album (10)
[2004-06-04] A great composer with a great band to make great love (10)
[2004-05-07] Whatever Happened To All The Fun In The World? (10)
[2004-02-20] Es gibt nur ein Frank Zappa! (10)
[2004-02-09] It's the real thing (10)
[2003-11-03] This is where Zappa peaked (10)
[2003-10-20] Words cannot describe (10)
[2003-10-20] Discover The Genius Of Zappa (8)
[2003-08-18] This is the one that got me hooked (10)
[2003-07-21] Surprisingly great album (10)
[2003-07-17] THE BEST TO BEGIN (10)
[2003-07-14] Maybe you should...own this album (8)
[2003-06-04] Humour & Good Music - an irresistable combination (10)
[2003-05-29] Adrian Belew and FZ together (10)
[2003-02-03] This is one of the best rock albums ever (10)
[2002-11-12] 2 AND A HALF STARS FOR THIS ZAPPA ALBUM AND HERE'S WHY... (4)
[2002-05-23] ROCKIN' GOOD HUMOR (8)
[2002-04-05] Another good late 70s (6)
[2002-03-28] One of his best (10)
[2002-01-03] Full Tilt Boogie (10)
[2001-09-30] Nasty (2)
[2001-06-25] Perfect album! (10)
[2001-05-16] Franky Brown goes DOWN!! (2)
[2001-04-04] Buy it NOW! (10)
[2001-02-23] you could define the word 'awesome' with this album (10)
[2000-12-12] No it's not (6)
[2000-11-20] Crude, Rude and Abusive and Scorching too (10)
[2000-11-04] Or: Whatever Happened to Baby Snakes? (8)
[2000-08-01] Landmark album, play it LOUD (10)
[2000-06-08] Get into Zappa's Universe! (10)
[2000-05-16] Zappa's guitar and humor at its' best. (8)
[2000-04-16] My first and one of the best Zappa (10)
[2000-03-31] A Must Have Album for any FZ Fan (10)
[1999-07-16] This music is really fast! (10)
[1999-04-16] Imagine if you will. July '79. . . . (10)
[1999-04-02] Why Sheik Yerbouti? (10)
[1999-03-31] FLAKES FLAKES! (10)
[1999-03-17] Perfect (10)
[1999-02-17] an apostophe of greatness, followed by joe's garage. (8)
[1998-07-31] This Fan-Frank-Tastic, a "MUST HAVE" for your collection (10)
Displaying reviews from 1 to 47
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