I think it says something that this compilation,
\nCheap Thrills<\/i>, begins with the self-parodying track “I Could
\nBe a Star Now” – an excerpt from the movie
\n200 Motels<\/i>, in which a departing Mother of Invention is told
\n“What do you do? You join the Mothers! And you end up working for
\nZappa, and he MAKES you be a creep!”<\/p>\n
\nCheap Thrills<\/i> was the name of a scheme a few years ago to
\nput special prices on certain Zappa titles.
\nCheap Thrills<\/i> and
\nSon Of Cheap Thrills<\/i> were two extra-low cost CDs that retail
\nfor about five or six dollars (don’t pay more than six!) that were
\nsampler packs, pulling tracks from various titles in the
\nCheap Thrills<\/i> line.<\/p>\n
This first one features mostly the more humorous and less
\ntechnically demanding pieces, especially when compared to
\nSon Of Cheap Thrills<\/i>. The first musical track is the 1988
\nversion of “Catholic Girls,” which is certainly a very energized
\nversion of the original song. While the 1988 band didn’t exactly
\nhave the best chemistry, this track certainly shows that they did
\nknow how to play very well, as well as retain the original sense of
\nhumor off
\nJoe’s Garage<\/i>.<\/p>\n
“Bobby Brown Goes Down” is my least favorite song on the album.
\nThe less said about it, the better. I remember one Zappa fan
\nreviewing it and saying “The best part is that FZ is laughing so
\nhard that you can’t hear what he’s saying.” It shows that he and
\nIke had a great time on stage, which is certainly very important,
\nbut I don’t consider this a great song, technically or
\nlyrically.<\/p>\n
“You Are What You Is” is taken from
\nThing-Fish<\/i>, not from the album of the same name.
\nThing-Fish<\/i> is a good album, but it stands up much better
\nwhen considered in and of itself – it contains mostly re-recordings
\nof older songs, or identical versions with minor shifts. This track
\nis one of the better re-productions, and it segues very nicely into
\nwhat may be my favorite FZ track of all time.<\/p>\n
“We Are Not Alone” features raunchy saxophone with incredible
\nmarimba work residing just underneath the top. It’s a song that
\nmakes me want to cruise through residential neighborhoods at 15 MPH
\nwith the windows down – baritone sax, Steve Vai zipping around on a
\nstrat, all interplayed wonderfully.<\/p>\n
The song “Cheap Thrills” is nice to listen to, but not something
\nto write home to mom about – it is taken from
\nCruisin’ With Reuben And The Jets<\/i>, a doo-wop homage from the
\nlate 60’s. It features interesting musical progression underneath
\nan insidious set of lyrics that aren’t as innocent as they appear.
\nImmediately following is another piece of history from “The True
\nStory of 200 Motels,” “The Mudshark Interview”. It’s about 2:40 of
\npure conceptual continuity – an explanation of the obsession with
\nMudsharks, through an interview conducted with an apprehensive
\nhotel clerk.<\/p>\n
“Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel” is a great song. It’s
\nunabashedly political, with a dynamite introduction and pure energy
\nstreaming off the stage. Problem is, this particular release
\nfeatures the only guitar solo FZ ever released that bored me half
\nto death. As blasphemous as that sounds, especially while using a
\nguitar tone that brought him unending praise, I do not enjoy the
\nsolo in this song at all. Thankfully it is followed by “Zomby
\nWoof,” a fast, difficult piece that belongs on any “Driving Music”
\ntape.<\/p>\n
“The Torture Never Stops” is the longest track on the sampler,
\nweighing in around 9:15, and possibly the least enjoyable to listen
\nto. It’s overlong and bluesy, two things that while in moderation
\nare good, spell disaster in this case.<\/p>\n
“Joe’s Garage,” as featured on this CD, is very fast, energized,
\nand far more
\nfun<\/i> to listen to than the comparatively stately and
\norchestrated version found on the album of the same name. While
\nthey both have their merits, if I saw FZ in concert and had to
\nchoose, this style would be what I would hear. “My Guitar Wants To
\nKill Your Mama” is a highlight of this CD, succeeding in all
\nrespects.<\/p>\n
This CD serves as an introduction to the music of Zappa, and it
\nwas actually the first Zappa CD I bought, but frankly it could have
\nbeen done better. It’s not intended to be a ‘greatest hits,’ but as
\nan intro even just to the
\nCheap Thrills<\/i> line of music it is certainly lacking – and,
\nby itself, it’s a very, very weak intro to his music.
\nSon Of Cheap Thrills<\/i> was released later, and together they
\nform a more cohesive unit, but
\nCheap Thrills<\/i> on its own is priced about right – and while
\nit wouldn’t be a BAD introduction to Zappa’s music, it’s certainly
\nnot the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":25816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5625],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-37022","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-frank-zappa","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37022"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37022"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}