THE BEST BAND YOU NEVER HEARD IN YOUR LIFE

Another great double live album of Frank Zappa, this time from a selection of live performances of 1988. This almost 2 and a half hours album presents an extensive catalog of classic Zappa pieces and the weirdest covers that Zappa ever played (he was not really a cover player kind of musician). The first CD is filled with original Zappa songs, most of them oriented to the Reggae style that Zappa and his band been playing since 1979: tracks from "We're only in it for the money", "Uncle Meat", "Over-nite sensation", "Apostrophe", "One size fits all" and "Zoot Allures" brought back the best days of Zappa's career. Only "Ring of fire" (that, according to Zappa, it was the original intention that Johnny Cash played with him that night but "unfortunately his wife got sick"), "Bolero" and "I left my heart in San Francisco" were not original Frank Zappa songs.

The second disc was more charged with covers but it also included some classic Zappa songs as "The Eric Dolphy memorial barbecue", "The torture never stops" and "Penguin in Bondage"; the covers that were included here were great: Jimi Hendrix's "Purple haze" followed by Cream's "Sunshine of your love" with very funny electronic arrangements, the theme from "The Godfather II" as a very brief intersection and the wonderful interpretation of Led Zeppelin's (Led ZAPPAlin) "Stairway to Heaven" with Ike Willis as the main singer closing the album definitely made of this a very unique album. I had to Google who the hell this Jimmy Swaggart is, so when I found that out who he was the whole satire Zappa made out of him was hilarious.

SONG RATING: Heavy Duty Judy, 4 Ring of fire, 5 Cosmik debris, 5 Find her finer, 4 Who needs the peace corps? 5 I left my heart in San Francisco, 3 Zomby Woof, 5 Bolero, 5 Zoot allures, 5 Mr. Green Genes, 5 Florentine Pogen, 5 Andy, 5 Inca roads, 5 Sofa #1, 5 Purple haze, 4 Sunshine of your love, 4 Let's move to Cleveland, 5 When Irish eyes are smiling, 4 Godfather II, 4 A few moments with brother A. West, 4 The torture never stops (part one), 5 Theme from Bonanza, 4 Lonesome Cowboy Burt, 4 The torture never stops (part two), 5 More trouble every day, 4 Penguin in bondage, 5 The Eric Dolphy memorial barbecue, 5 Stairway to heaven, 5

AVERAGE: 4.57

PERCENTAGE: 91.43

ALBUM RATING: 5 stars

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