kireviewer 2008-03-13
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
This CD was part of the Beat the Boots boxset, where Zappa took bootleg recordings of his concerts, and converted them to CD with minimal liner notes (just a song and band listing). The original bootleg "artwork" is also included. There were two boxsets, and then the CD's were released individually.
This CD features the band from 1973 tour with Jean-Luc Ponty, the Underwoods and the Fowlers. This was a great band and this is the only CD I know that covers it. Zappa has released many live albums, but most have featured the later Ike Willes/Ray White bands or the Flo and Eddie bands. The Beat the Boots is heavy on the early Mothers.
The problem with the CD is the sound quality is poor. It isn't the worst I have heard, and it is even better than some more legitimate live releases. In some respects, it is better than many of the recent Dave Matthews live releases. Supposedly this comes from a European TV show, but I don't believe it, based on the sound quality, editing and song selection.
Like many live Zappa recordings, songs are cut in the middle. Sometimes they fade in or out, or sometimes the change is abrupt. Zappa, himself, is guilty of this (especially on the Guitar album). But, much of it is because of the nature of a Zappa concerts were songs segue, one into another.
This is mostly an instrumental album. So, I think the editing was done to cut out the parts where the group breaks into vocals, or when Zappa interrupts a song for audience participation.
There are some very good long stretches of excellent music. There are other parts that I don't think are up to the standards of the best of this band. But, the CD is only 40 minutes long, so there is not much room for weak spots.
In summary, this is a great band, the sound quality is poor and the track selection could have been better....it is a typical bootleg.
Side note that doesn't have anything to do with my review of the CD:
This band played at the Univeristy of Arizona and was responsible for the school not holding anymore rock concerts for 5 years (although it wasn't the band's fault). The UofA recently built the McHale center for basketball. The court had a polymer floor, instead of the standard wooden floor. It was junk, did not hold up and bubbled. For the concert, the floor was covered in tarps. The concert was blamed for causing the bubbles and cigarette burns in the floor surface. It wasn't until after the floor was replaced with a conventional wooden floor that the U of A hosted the next rock concert, which was the return of Bob Dylan.
