PLAYGROUND PSYCHOTICS

I understand that the Frank Zappa albums with Flo & Eddie are controversial. Members of the band openly admitted, on some of the albums, that this group was as much about comedy as it was about music. And although they were flawed, the sound was rough and the band was sometimes sloppy, I like those albums.

A large number of the tracks on this two CD set are not music, but Frank's tapes of the band goofing around offstage while on tour. While these are amusing to hear, it's not something to listen to ever and over. However, there are enough musical tracks to make this set worthwhile.

On the first disc, it's Don preston who stands out. The tracks where he appears have some of his finest synthesizer work. There is also a short bit from the "Sofa" routine. Which begs the question: Why aren't there any official released versions of the full piece (which contained Sofa, Stick It Out and a lot of conceptual continuity - the cover of "One Size Fits All" is full of references to it, as well as to Billy The Mountain?

The end of the first disc is Zappa's mix of the songs where John Lennon and Yoko Ono sat in with the band (from the same concert that the Fillmore East album came from). You might have heard these on Lennon's "Sometime In New York City" album. Frank's mixes are much better.

The centerpiece of the second CD is Billy The Mountain. While this version is missing the CSN parody, it has quite a few parts, including solo sections, that Frank edited out of the "Just Another Band From L.A." recording.

If this disk was all music, it might rate four stars, but the spoken tracks bring it down to three. A strong three, but three nonetheless.