THE GUITAR WORLD ACCORDING TO FRANK ZAPPA

This "new" The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa (2019) EP was originally included as a cassette in a 1987 edition of Guitar World magazine and now unearthed in digital and vinyl format.

I got it in its cassette edition back in 87 in LA. I was deeply caught by his Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar! (1981-1982) boxset, therefore of anything that showcased Frank Zappa´s gorgeous guitar style naked (and yes speechless)!

Anyway as someone who still craves for Frank to be alive and thinks he was beyond his masterful composition skills, an absolutely astounding guitar player, (trademark guitar sound style included), this re-release is a 31 minute thrill , moreover if you have never heard it before, better yet if you are a "want to be" guitar hero for real.

So to close it up, this is an approved Frank Zappa "instrumental" sampler of his stature both as composer and performer.

Now the rating thing.

If you like his guitar only boxsets and similar releases add up this one, as I will do, so it will be a 4 star rating. If you own the cassette and still works a 3. For the rest of the possible universes a 3.5 rating. So imagine a mid star floating around.

This particular album shows that it was released in 2019, which was actually when the LP version of it was released. In reality, it was originally included with the purchase of the magazine "Guitar World" sometime in 1987. The question that comes up is whether this was an official release in 1987 or not, since it was free if you bought the specific edition of the magazine. The collection contains some tracks that were not available anywhere else in 1987, so FZ fans wanted to get their eager hands on it, especially after the popularity of the 3 "Shut Up and Play Your Guitar" albums that he released in 1981.

The nice thing about this collection is the amount of versatility that exists on the album, which is something that was hard to convey on the previous guitar albums (and even on the subsequent guitar-solo-only double album that would come out shortly after this collection). There are some things that FZ fans will be familiar with on this short (31 minutes) collection, but which are added in to show Zappa's versatility on the instrument.

It starts off with "Sleep Dirt" which comes from the album of the same name. This is a somewhat acoustic guitar track where Frank plays along with "Bird-Legs" Yeoman, and props to him for being able to keep up with Frank. FZ didn't often release acoustic solos, so this one is quite unique in his catalog. This is followed with another familiar track called "Friendly Little Finger" which comes from the "Zoot Allures" album, this one clearly showing another color in the guitarist's palette. A short excerpt from "Revised Music for Guitar and Low-Budget Orchestra" gives a glimpse of the "classical" side of Zappa and this excerpt is taken from the album "Studio Tan", but is the version with drum over-dubs by Chad Wackerman, so it differs slightly. The last track on this side of the album is "Things that Look Like Meat" which wasn't available when this was originally put out, but was going to be included on the "Guitar" album. Since there was some trademark issues with the original cassette recordings, Zappa ended up putting a longer version on the "Guitar" album thus making this version about a minute shorter. This one is recorded live in Salt Lake City and pulls out the stops on Zappa's heavy guitar work.

The 2nd side will be more interesting to collectors than anyone else. "Down in De Dew" is a cool, fretless guitar solo which was an outtake from the "Apostrophe" sessions. It would be quite a while before this track would be made available elsewhere, but it would eventually end up on the "Lather" album in this same version. Next are 3 different solos taken from live performances. "Solo from Heidelberg" which is a live solo taken from a performance of "Yo Mama" (originally from "Sheik Yerbouti"). This is also on the "One Shot Deal" album which was to be released a few years later. This is followed by "Solo from Cologne" which was also on the "Guitar" (under the name "But Who is Fulcanelli?") album in a shorter edit. This one is actually 1 minute longer. The solo comes from a live performance of "Drowning Witch". The last track would also be included on the forthcoming "Guitar" album (under the name "For Duane"), again in a shorter edit, this one also being about a minute longer. The solo comes from a performance of the Allman Brothers song "Whipping Post".

The original cassette can be really hard to find, and if you do find it, it is quite expensive. It's best to get this collection on the newly available LP, and at least it is also an official FZ release. With the availability of this on vinyl, it gives it more of an interest than before. If you love FZ and find yourself interested in the longer edits of a few of the tracks here, then you will definitely be interested in this. Otherwise, it's a great, enjoyable album with a nice variety of guitar solos, and easier to digest than the entire "Guitar" album, at least for the novice in FZ's discography. For those interested in whether they would be interested in FZ's longer guitar collections, then this is also a great one to begin with since it doesn't go so "in-depth" as the other collections. However, if you have the "Guitar" album already, it may not be as interesting as it would be to others, except for the slightly longer edits. Personally, I find it a bit easier to listen to in one single setting than the other guitar collections. But I would rather hear it all in the original contexts of each track. I will say, though, that for the beginning FZ solo listener, this is a great place to start.