UNDERSTANDING AMERICA

Man, grab a decent set of IEMs or Headphones and listen to this album, NOW! The recording quality is top-notch. First off I have to confense that I wasn't a hardcore fan (until now) of songs like Camarillo Brillo, Find Her Finer, Dinah-Moe Humm, Disco Boy, I'm the Slime, etc; ie the "poppy" catalog of Frank, BUT HERE, they shine and hit a home run since the quality of the recordings, mastering and alternete takes. Even if you already love those tunes, and you haven't listened to this, go and listen them, NOW! You'll be surprised, trust me. I started talking about the later tunes because while I liked them, they were never my favorite, but the rest of the menu is beyond amazing ?it will blow your mind.

The two-disc compilation of alternative takes titled Understanding America is intended for devoted fans only BUT those who appreciate great music will love it as well. It's scattershot material, tied together loosely by one theme: Zappa's acerbic mistrust of American culture. Throughout the '60s, '70s, and '80s, social satire made up a huge amount of his catalog, so Big Brother, media outlets, organized religion, and recreational drugs are all subject to attack here. The gold nugget is the unreleased 25-minute "Porn Wars Deluxe," a Negativland-esque collage that pairs together samples of music with clips from the 1985 PMRC Senate hearings, for which Zappa played an integral role defending against censorship.

This is what it took to produce this amazing deluxe version if you are asking yourself...

Includes Bow Tie Daddy, SEX and parts of It Can't Happen Here, Brown Shoes Don't Make It, What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?, Who Are The Brain Police? and He Used To Cut The Grass

TTG Studios, LA

March 9 & 12, 1966

March 9 & 12, 1966

Produced by Tom Wilson

Director of engineering for MGM: Val Valentin

Engineers: Ami Hadani & Tom Hidley

FZ?vocals & vocals

Ray Collins?vocals

Jim Black?drums & vocals

Roy Estrada?bass & vocals

Elliot Ingber?guitar

+

Eugene DiNovi?piano

Gene Estes?percussion

Neil LeVang?guitar

+

And maybe some other freaks

?oOo?

Mayfair & Apostolic Studios, NYC

July-October, 1967

Engineers: Gary Kellgren, Dick Kunc

FZ?guitar, vocals

Ian Underwood?piano

Don Preston?keyboards

Roy Estrada?bass

Billy Mundi?drums

Jimmy Carl Black?drums

?oOo?

Piano people voices from Apostolic Studios, NYC

October, 1967

Engineers: Dick Kunc

Spider Barbour?voice

All-Night John Kilgore?voice

Monica?voice

?oOo?

Village Recorders, LA

April, 1979

Engineers: Joe Chiccarelli, Mick Glossop & Steve Nye

Ike Willis?lead vocals

Peter Wolf?keyboards

Patrick O'Hearn?bass

Vinnie Colaiuta?drums

?oOo?

Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK

February 17-19, 1979

Engineers: Mick Glossop, Bob Stone

FZ?lead guitar & vocals

Ike Willis?rhythm guitar & vocals

Warren Cuccurullo?rhythm guitar & vocals

Denny Walley?slide guitar & vocals

Tommy Mars?keyboards & vocals

Peter Wolf?keyboards

Ed Mann?percussion

Arthur Barrow?bass & vocals

Vinnie Colaiuta?drums

?oOo?

UMRK

c. July-October 1982

Engineers: Mark Pinske and/or Bob Stone

FZ?guitar, vocals

Ray White?vocals

Bob Harris?vocals

Ike Willis?vocals

Tommy Mars?keyboards

Arthur Barrow?bass

Chad Wackerman?drums

?oOo?

Thing-Fish section (including some dialog from Galoot Up-Date) from UMRK

c. 1982-83

Engineers: Mark Pinske and/or Bob Stone

Ike Willis?Thing-Fish voice, rhythm guitar?

Steve Vai?guitar?

FZ?rhythm guitar?

Tommy Mars?keyboards

Arthur Barrow?bass

Chad Wackerman?drums

?oOo?

Voices from the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

September 19, 1985

Senator Danforth (R-Missouri)

Senator Hollings (D-South Carolina)

Senator Trible (R-Virginia)

Senator Hawkins (R-Florida)

Senator Exon (D-Nebraska)

Senator Gorton (R-Washington)

Senator Gore (D-Tennessee)

Reverend Jeff Ling

FZ

?oOo?

UMRK, c. 1985

Engineer: Bob Stone

FZ?Synclavier

Also, purportedly this release from the Zappa estate vaults is only one of a few compilations produced and sequenced by Frank himself, and his goal seems to have been to pool all of his high-shock-value outtakes and otherwise controversial material as a big middle finger to the Parental Guidance sticker LOL!

You'll love it, guaranteed!

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