SLEEP DIRT

Sleep Dirt was released against Zappa's will, as a result of one of the multiple battles the maverick genius had against the record-company industrial complex. Despite this, it stands out to me as a not only great but balanced album. You can hardly find anyone more in love with Zappa's music, all shades of it, than me - and yet, I have to grant that perhaps one talent that he lacked was album organization. It doesn't help that his catalog is enormous but perhaps 80% of his albums are not very well organized - in fact, many are so lopsided it boggles the mind (how can you have a prog masterpiece like Ship Arriving Too Late in the same album as a noisy and off-color nuisance called Teenage Prostitute? But I digress). This album however, especially given the circumstances, is very well balanced and flows very well.

None of the tracks are bad, or even average, all of them are among the best Zappa has to offer. They just come from different sources, and despite going well together musically, you can hear that the production is very different between them - the only reason why I cannot give this album 5 stars - if I could give 4.5 I would.

The album starts with Filthy Habits, an adventurous somber jazz rock track, in the same vein as Sinister Footwear. A seriously 'filthy' track, as Zappa would put it, and a blast. Flambay, Time is Money and Spider of Destiny are part of a never released rock opera - supposedly there are more recordings from it, but the Zappa Trust is what it is so I wouldn't hold my breath. Being a fan of 200 Motels, Broadway the Hardway and Thing-Fish I would love to hear the rest of this opera but since we don't have it yet, these three tracks are a great promise, and can stand on their own as a 'mini suite' about a love affair between a woman and a monster (I think). Musically, they are weird jazz crooner types - but with that Zappa twist, and a sound that wouldn't feel out of place in Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch.

Regyptian Strut is an electric chamber music piece - it can and has been translated to classical instruments, but to me the mix of classically oriented music with electric rock band is a wonder and a pleasure, so this version (the original?) is perfect.

Perhaps the crown of the album is a very unusual track: it is basically a sad, melancholic arpeggiated acoustic guitar backing track and Zappa soloing over it until the rhythm guitarist's "fingers got stuck" (too soon, I might add). The emotional catharsis provided by Zappa's notes are in the same league as the ones from more known, and electrified, guitar solos (like St. Etienne, or He Used to Cut the Grass).

To finish the album, "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution" is a jazz-rock masterpiece that wouldn't sound out of place in Waka Jawaka or Grand Wazoo - especially that flanger rhythm guitar sound and the syncopated chords.

This is an excelent album, incredibly balanced and very exciting. Recommended for any fan of jazz-rock.

4.5 stars.