During the ’80s, Frank Zappa created special boxed sets of some
of his earlier albums, and sold them to fans as
The Old Masters. As an incentive for fans to spend their
money on albums they undoubtedly had (albeit in nicer condition),
Zappa included a bonus record featuring material never made before
elsewhere.
After Zappa’s death in 1993, all but two of the cuts featured on
these bonus records – known as “Mystery Discs” – were released on
the CD
Mystery Disc. (The remaining two tracks had become bonus
tracks on
Absolutely Free.) Yet listening to this disc, I had to
wonder why many of these selections were even let out of the
vault.
Granted, some of these have their own unique charms – “Charva,”
“Original Duke Of Prunes” and “Theme From ‘Run Home Slow'” all are
interesting snapshots of Zappa as a young, up-and-coming artist,
and they are enjoyable to listen to. The same can be said for
“Speed Freak Boogie,” “Black Beauty” and “Wedding Dress Song / The
Handsome Cabin Boy” (which sounds exactly like the version on
The Lost Sessions), as well as early versions of “How Could
I Be Such A Fool” and “Plastic People”.
So far, so good, right? So why would
Mystery Disc also include what sounds like a generous
portion of the on-stage play featured on
Ahead Of Their Time yet again? If it’s not the same
performance from that night in London in 1968, it sounds damned
similar. Granted, I could say that a different version of “Charva”
was on
The Lost Sessions, but this track is still pretty
enjoyable.
What tends to drag
Mystery Disc down are the numerous spoken-word pieces that
seem to have no real place in the vast Zappa catalog, such as
“Opening Night Party At Studio Z” (though I understand the historic
significance of its inclusion), “I Was A Teenage Malt Shop” or
“Original Mothers At The Fillmore East”. Yeah, the diehard Zappa
fan will probably drool at hearing such historical nuggets, but to
most people, these will just serve as interruptions to the musical
flow. (And, yes, I know that Zappa used spoken-word well in the
course of albums like
Sheik Yerbouti, but it just doesn’t work as well this time
around.)
In fact, if I had to choose between
Mystery Disc and
The Lost Sessions as to which is the better treasure trove,
I’d have to pick
The Lost Sessions.
Mystery Disc has its moments, but turns out to be one of
those discs that only Zappa completists need to own.
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.
