DISCONNECTED SYNAPSES

This CD was originally released as part of the "Beat The Boots, Vol. 2" boxed set, where Frank Zappa took some of the vast number of bootleg albums of his concerts, copied them as is without much cleanup, and released them on his own label, at a reasonable price.

The reason one might want to own bootlegs of Zappa's work is because Frank and the band were known to rearrange the songs frequently, and add all sorts of various improvisations, jokes and sounds, which Frank called "eyebrows", making many performances unique.

This album has value first for historical reasons. While there are some recordings of the Mothers group that included Flo and Eddie, this is one of the few that also had violinist Jean- Luc Ponty in the lineup.

The sound quality is fair. While the audio is somewhat low fidelity, at least you can hear most of what each musician is playing throughout the album. And there is very little crown noise during the songs, something that makes many bootleg albums an irritation.

The reasons for a Zaapaphile to get this album are:

Penis Dimension - the track begins with an impromptu performance of The Sanzini Brothers, which the group often added during technical problems. Also, the piece includes alternate lyrics for Bwana Dik.

Dog Breath/Mother People - a rare pairing of the two songs, including Flo & Eddie singing the once censored verse in Mother People.

King Kong - a half hour extended jam, that tends to meander toward the end, but features a very nice solo by Ponty.