JOE'S GARAGE, ACTS II & III

Frank Zappa's follow up to Joe's Garage Act I, released the same year, was a bit dryer in my opinion. There's very little jazz, no "Grand Wazoo" style big band songs, and the songwriting is a bit less interesting. In other releases, Zappa would throw in countless sudden changes, hooks, progressive whatnot, but all that has been in gradually smaller supply as the years go on. This release is finally where Zappa started releasing five minute songs with the same beat and generally tune going steady throughout. The complexity has diminished (though it's clearly not vanished entirely) and the musicianship, also, is not as boggling as it once was. The humour is still there, though only perhaps a bit less over-the-top. The story of Joe continues, though it's not really a captivating story, and I doubt Zappa intended anybody to be really captured by this "Joe" character. There are more sexual lyrics, a bit more keyboards, and the Central Scrutinizer's role is much bigger. Of course, there are great moments, with driving guitar, catchy riffs, et cetera, but they're divided by long, simpler sections, that require of me a certain patience to get through.