HAMMERSMITH ODEON

Excellent live album from early 1978, capturing full setlist Frankensteined together from the best performances of Zappa's string of shows at the Odeon. Sounds from these gigs were extensively harvested for Sheik Yerbouti, and you can tell why, because this incarnation of Zappa's lineup has rarely sounded better, with the likes of Bozzio, O'Hearn, and Belew all on excellent form. The broader selection of songs means that the cruel lyrical turn taken on Sheik Yerbouti is signifcantly softened, there's a fantastic 20 minute version of Pound For a Brown, we get some previews of material which would later coalesce on Joe's Garage, and even the extended take on I Have Been In You which dials up its evisceration of pop star narcissism to no end is grand.