Frank Zappa's tenth album was also the last foray of the original Mothers of Invention. Back once again was the familiar crowd, consisting of Frank Zappa (guitar), Ian Underwood (alto saxophone), Bunk Gardner (tenor saxophone), Motorhead Sherwood (baritore sax and snorks), Roy Estrada (vocals, bass), Jimmy Carl Black (drums), Art Tripp (drums), Don Preston (piano organ and electronic effects), Ray Collins (vocals), and Lowell George (vocals, guitar). Zappa later became very adept at integrating guest performers into his group for particular numbers and does so, with excellent effect, on this album with Don "Sugarcane" Harris, for the second number. Harris provides the vocal for the piece as well as incredible wailing riffs on the electric violin.

The tracks on this album are extremely diverse, many are highly experimental, and the influences are quite eclectic. The success of the efforts varies tremendously, resulting in an album of distinctly mixed quality. "Directly from My Heart to You," the only piece on the album not written by Zappa (it was written by R.W. Penniman – aka "Little Richard"), is, in my opinion, one of the top ten Zappa tracks of all time and, by itself, worth the price of the album. This is a powerful blues number with an intense vocal line sung by Harris along with some equally plaintive accompaniment on the electric violin.

That track is followed immediately by one of the two worst on the album, "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask." This is way too much of a novelty item featuring mainly yelps of various sorts produced by Roy Estrada. Generally the other tracks among the first five are rhythm-intensive musique concrete, despite the picturesque track titles. The tonal instruments provide mainly only sound effects rather than recognizable melodic lines or even key signatures.

The album's appeal picks up considerably with tracks six and seven. These are still highly experimental pieces, but the electronic sounds are now integrated with recognizable contributions from the tonal instruments. For example, the winds play a prominent role in the "Dwarf Nebula Processional March" before the piece returns to a purer kind of electronic music for the "Dwarf Nebula" itself. Tracks eight and nine comprise two out of the three substantially vocal numbers on the album. Zappa himself provides the vocal for "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama," which combines some silly lyrics with a fairly typical rock style of music. "Oh No," sung by Ray Collins, is a kind of mock-ballad with a rather free-flowing, somewhat atonal melodic line.

"The Orange County Lumber Truck" is another pretty good track that returns to predominately electronic music. Then the album ends with a miserable track. Zappa seems to be practically daring you to claim you enjoy it. It consists of more than a minute of unrelenting white noise, followed by Zappa saying a quick goodnight and thank you to a concert audience. I suppose that's "witty" but it just doesn't wear well.

Stylistically, the influences in this album are quite varied, from electronic music and musique concrete to blues, ballad, and free jazz. This is an amalgam that never bores and sometimes pleases. Among the eleven tracks, one is as great as anything Zappa ever did, five others are very good, three are sub-par, and two are downright miserable (if not fraudulent). This is the kind of balance between quality and audience disdain that you have to be prepared for with Zappa, but the rewards of the best tracks are just too great to pass over. "Directly from My Heart toYou" is one of the songs I've transferred to my "Favorite Songs" CD's that I listen to in my car during long trips, so I must have heard it now at least forty times in my life. It never loses its intensity.

I'm going to give this album four stars, but that represents an average between some crackerjack tracks and some irritating and/or unexceptional ones. And that rating comes "Directly from My Heart to You."

Tracks:

1. Didja Get Any Onya? (live, with Lowell George) 3:44
2. Directly from My Heart to You (with Don "Sugarcane" Harris) 5:17
3. Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask (live, with Roy Estrada) 3:35
4. Toads of the Short Forest 4:48
5. Get a Little (live) 2:35
6. The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue 6:53
7. Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula 2:12
8. My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama 3:35
9. Oh No (with Ray Collins) 1:46
10. The Orange County Lumber Truck (live) 3:18
11. Weasels Ripper My Flesh (live) 2:05

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You can quickly link to my other Zappa CD reviews at:

A Frank Zappa Categorical Discography & Top Choice Lists

You can check out my reviews of Zappa-related books at:

The Real Frank Zappa Book
Ben Watson: Frank Zappa – the Complete Guide to his Music
Barry Miles: Zappa – A Biography

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening