Tinsel Town Rebellion - Frank Zappa

This is the, though some assholes might disagree (Wikipedia, Sheik Yerbouti is not a live album), the sixth live album by Frank Zappa. This is actually the album cover that Frank was going to use for the unreleased Crush All Boxes, but after he scraped the album after wanting to show his talents. So he used the songs from Warts And All and Crush All Boxes for the albums You Are What You Is, Tinsel Town Rebellion, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore series, and Shut up and Play Yer Guitar series. This is actually one of my favorite Zappa albums. It was released today May 11th, 1981. It's either that or May 17th, 1981. Tracks 1-3 are on side 1, tracks 4-8 are on side 2. Tracks 9-12 are on side 3, tracks 13-15 are on side 4. Most of this album was recorded live in 1980, but there are some exceptions. Oh yeah This is one of my favorite album covers.

1. Fine Girl: This song was going to be on Crush All Boxes. This is a funky type of song. I am not that crazy about this one. It kind of reminds me of some song that could have made it onto You Are What It Is from the same year, 1981. This is actually not a live song, but an outtake for Crush All Boxes. This is a song that you could do like "up down up down" walking to the beat of it.
2. Easy Meat: This song was going to be on Crush All Boxes. Not necessarily this version but this song. This feels like an early 80's Frank Zappa song. The thing about this is that it is kind of "Easy" to tell what it's about. It is kind of a catchy song too. There is a part where the keyboards and synths at like 1:30 start reminding me of Funeral For A Friend half of Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding off Sir Elton John's 1973 classic double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Well at about the 3 minute mark it goes into this like, first, John Zorn breakdown thing. You know when it sounds like the song falls apart. The best part about that little orchestra part is that it was, I checked, recorded in 1975 around the same time as the 1979 Orchestral Favorites album. The rest of this song was recorded on two other dates in 1980. After that it has this mix of like King Crimson and Lumpy Gravy before going into this pretty sounding guitar solo. The solo gets faster paced as the tempo goes up. It is still a cool song. This kind of reminds me of the song Watermellon In Easter Hay off Frank's 1979 rock opera and double album Joe's Garage Vol. II & III. The ending of the instrumental part reminds me of teh ending of the instrumental parts of that Funeral For A Friend into Love Lies Bleeding. Then they start singing again. I love how Zappa did stuff like that. It sounds really cool and the parts of the songs were recorded about 5 years apart.
3. For the Young Sophisticate: This is kind of like a blues type of song. This was recorded at Hammersmith Odeon in 1979 on February 18th. This is also more of a blues type of song. This song is actually really cool. I like this song and it is cool. The thing about the lyrics is that they are kind of funny
4. Love of My Life: This song was originally on the 1969 album Cruising with Ruben & The Jets by The Mothers of Invention.. This is kind of like a new updated version, tailored to ''This Band''. I know that Frank kind of wrote songs for what he had and was looking for in his backing band. This isn't that off from the Ruben & The Jets version, but it sounds a little different.
5. I Ain't Got No Heart: This song was originally off The Mothers of Invention 1966 debut double album, Freak Out!. That is one of my top, probably, 10 albums of all time. That thing is better with each listen. This version is more sped up and more clear. This is more of a stereo version, but sped up, vs the original version. This actually kind of reminds me of a song that would possibly be on __. This has more of an arena rock feel to it.
6. Panty Rap: I don't really need to explain this one. It's just him talking. I don't really know how to explain it. Its actually more of a contest. It's just 4:36 of him talking. It seems like the intro to this concert off of some other album like Hammersmith Odeon, or Buffalo.
7. Tell Me You Love Me: This is just a remake, live, of Tell Me You Love Me off 1970's Chunga's Revenge. This is also sped up, and for the most part has the same differences, so to say, with the new version of I Ain't Got No Heart. I don't like this one as much as on Chunga's Revenge. It also have more keys driving it, than on the original, where I don't think there are any keys on it.
8. Now You See It--Now You Don't: This kind of serves as a solo, so to say, after Tell Me You Love Me. This is a song that could have definitive been on the 1988 instrumental album Guitar. Either that or on one of the Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar albums.
9. Dance Contest: This is kind of like right after the songs Titties & Beer on Hammersmith Odeon where they would have the talking and the dance contest to The Black Page #2. The track is called Audience Participation. I also think that's on the 1983 Baby Snakes album. The actual reason for that is because it was recorded in October, 1978 in New York. Unfortunately that was post-Bozzio.
10. The Blue Light: This is the more like a Black Page #1. This also has the obvious Steve Vai guitar sounding guitar on it. There is also vocals on this. It says that this is the same song as Galoot Up-Date on 1984's Double Album Thing-fish, but a rewritten version. The vocals on this remind me of the vocals on the Drowning Witch on 1982's Ship Arriving to Late to Save a Drowning Witch. I don't really like this song a ton, but what ever. It isn't ruin the album for me.
11. Tinsel Town Rebellion: This is my favorite song on this album. It's really catchy and interesting to listen to. This is a very catch song and could probably been played on the radio if it was cleaned up a little and didn't have Frank's name as the artist. This is totally a song that could have been a hit. The breakdown is kind of like a Christmas feeling to it. The versus are awesome, and the lyrics talk about people selling out. This is where "Chop A Line" in the beginning of Cocaine Decisions, which is one 1983's The Man From Utopia,  is from. The song at parts kind of turns into a rant with backing music, but it is till a good song.
12. Pick Me, I'm Clean: This song is also on 2007's Buffalo live album. This song is also an ok song, but I like that he turned that phrase in Stick It Out, which was a part of the Sofa Suite that he played back in like 1970-1971 with The Mothers. He had Flo & Eddie in his band at that time. Well he used that same song in Joe's Garage Act II & III and the conceptual continuity still made sense. There is a big solo in the song, which I'm kind of impartial to, but what ever. This song also has this type of Reggae type of feel I get from it.
13. Bamboozled by Love: This song dates back to Beat the Boots: Saarbrücken 1978. The version on this album was recorded at Hammersmith Odeon on February 19th, 1979. This kind of reminds of a classic blues progression. The lyrics are kind of gruesome. There is a part where it says, "If she don't give me what I want, She won't have no head at all". Then the verse right before the solo ends with "I am here and she is gone, and the reason that you have not seen her, seen her, Is she is underneath the lawn". Outside of the dark theme of this song, it's a really cool song. I like this more than I thought I would.
14. Brown Shoes Don't Make It: This song was originally on The Mother's of Invention's 1967 Absolutely Free. This was recorded on February 18th, 1979 at Hammersmith Odeon. This song goes from making fun of society and the media in general. After that the song shifts into a song about a city hall official who had sex with an underage 13 year old girl. This version isn't as good on Absolutely Free but I love the idea of the song. This song is kind of eerie, but it's eeriness is not as eerie as it can be because it is, like I said, stereo sounding verse the mono sound on the original version. This song is 7:15 minutes. I'll go more in depth with this song when I do the review of it for Absolutely Free in August.
15. Peaches III: This is the "New Age" version of Peaches en Regalia. It was originally on Frank's 1969 album Hot Rats, then later on The Mothers 1971's Fillmore East -- June 1971. This is the third version, as in they were different, of Peaches. That's why it was called Peaches III. This version is more guitar driven in the beginning vs the more kept together and perfected Hot Rats version. This album version of this song was recorded on the early and late show at Hammersmith Odeon on February 18th, 1979. This sounds like more of a live version. The beginning intro is played on guitar, then the guitar part is played on keys.

Overall I have to give this a 9.0/10. This is an awesome album to listen to. It's really good and enjoyable to listen to. I don't think that some songs are automatic, but they can grown on you. There are some duds, but that doesn't ruin the album. This is a good Zappa album for like a accessible album. I really need this on CD and Vinyl.