(1971) Frank Zappa - 200 Motels





Review:

The soundtrack to Frank Zappa's strange early-'70s film 200 Motels was always doomed to be a peripheral entry in his discography. The movie's story was not easy to follow, and neither is the record (not that plot was ever a big focus of the production). It's typically wacky Zappa of the era, with unpredictable sharp turns between crunchy rock bombast, orchestration, and jazz/classical influences, as well as interjections of wacky spoken dialogue. Those who like his late-'60s/early-'70s work -- not as song-oriented as his first albums, in other words, but not as "serious" or as silly as his later records -- will probably like this fine, although it's not up to the level of Uncle Meat. It's funny in spots as well, especially the part where a disgruntled sideman gets tempted away from the band to do his own thing (a libretto that was, apparently, based on real-life incidents concerning Zappa sideman Jeff Simmons, who left during the project). On the other hand, there's a growing tendency to deploy the smutty, cheap humor that would soon dominate much of Zappa's work.











Tracklist:



Disc: 1

1. Semi-Fraudulent/Direct-From-Hollywood Overture

2. Mystery Roach

3. Dance Of The Rock & Roll Interviewers

4. This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich (Prologue)

5. Tuna Fish Promenade

6. Dance Of The Just Plain Folks

7. This Town Is A Sealed Tuna Sandwich (Reprise)

8. The Sealed Tuna Bolero

9. Lonesome Cowboy Burt

10. Touring Can Make You Crazy

11. Would You Like A Snack?

12. Redneck Eats

13. Centerville

14. She Painted Up Her Face

15. Janet's Big Dance Number

16. Half A Dozen Provocative Squats

17. Mysterioso

18. Shove It Right In

19. Lucy's Seduction Of A Bored Violinist & Postlude



Disc: 2

1. I'm Stealing The Towels

2. Dental Hygene Dilemma

3. Does This Kind Of Life Look Interesting To You?

4. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy

5. Penis Dimension

6. What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning

7. A Nun Suit Painted On Some Old Boxes

8. Magic Fingers

9. Motorhead's Midnight Ranch

10. Dew On The Newts We Got

11. The Lad Searches The Night For His Newts

12. The Girl Wants To Fix Him Some Broth

13. The Girls Dream

14. Little Green Scratchy Sweaters & Courduroy Ponce

15. Strictly Genteel (The Finale)





Media Report:

Genre: art rock

Format : FLAC

Format/Info : Free Lossless Audio Codec

Bit rate mode : Variable

Channel(s) : 2 channels

Sampling rate : 96.0 KHz

Bit depth : 24 bits