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HALLOWEEN
Frank Zappa
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DTS 5.1 DVD Audio |
Review by Mark Wiechman
Album ***
You have to admire any musician who does exactly what he
wants, and does it loud, and can attracts some of the best musicians in the
business to help him do it, then writes a song called “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow”.
Frank Zappa, while not much of a singer and not much of an impact on
modern music charts, has influenced modern rock in his own way. Underrated as a guitarist, he is one of those special artists
who never gave a damn about anything but his music.
This is a true find for any Zappa fan, a previously
unreleased 1978 live performance at the Palladium in NYC.
Assembled and mixed in 5.1 surround by Joe Chicarelli and Dweezil Zappa,
this show features many of Zappa’s best-known tunes performed by his usual
ensemble of slightly mad virtuosos. One
of the better-known ones is Vinnie Calaiuta on drums, who even has his own solo
(“Zeets”) here.
The sound quality is unusually good for a 1978 recording.
I assumed at first that it was done much more recently, closer to
Frank’s untimely demise. All
instruments come through clearly and one can appreciate the tightness of the
ensemble much more in DTS surround than mere stereo.
