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Frank Zappa: Jazz from Hell

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Zappa Records
Released: 1986.11.15
Time:
 34:33
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Frank Zappa
Rating: ********** (10/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.zappa.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2001.05.10
Price in €: 11,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Night School (Frank Zappa) - 4:47
[2] The Beltway Bandits (Frank Zappa) - 3:25
[3] While You Were Art II (Frank Zappa) - 7:17
[4] Jazz from Hell (Frank Zappa) - 2:58
[5] G-Spot Tornado (Frank Zappa) - 3:17
[6] Damp Ankles (Frank Zappa) - 3:45
[7] St. Etienne [Live] (Frank Zappa) - 6:26
[8] Massaggio Galore (Frank Zappa) - 2:31

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


FRANK ZAPPA - Synclavier DMS on [1]-[6] & [8], Lead Guitar on [7], Arranger

STEVE VAI - Rhythm Guitar on [7]
BOBBY MARTIN - Keyboards on [7]
ED MANN - Percussion on [7]
CHAD WACKERMAN - Drums on [7]
TOMMY MARS - Keyboards on [7]
SCOTT THUNES - Bass on [7]
RAY WHITE - Rhythm Guitar on [7]

BOB STONE - Engineer
BOB RICE - Computer Assistant
GREG GORMAN - Cover Photo

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1995 CD Rykodisc 10549
1995 CD Rykodisc 10030
1986 LP Barking Pumpkin 74205
1986 CD Rykodisc RCD-10030
1990 LP Capitol 74205
1990 CS Barking Pumpkin 4XT-74205

All compositions executed and played by Frank Zappa on the synclavier DMS with the exception of St. Etienne.

Recorded digitally at UMRK.



Perhaps the first INSTRUMENTAL album to be removed from Wal-Mart's shelves for unacceptable lyric content, this was also 1987's Grammy winner for Best Rock Instrumental Album. Having gotten his hands on a Synclavier for the first time, FZ was finally able to compose any damn thing he pleased without having to worry about whether human players would be able to handle it. Along with fiendishly complicated pieces like "While You Were Art II" and the title track, the result was also some fun-and-frantic moments like "Night School" and "G-Spot Tornado." For anti-electronic purists there's also "St. Etienne," a majestic guitar piece recorded live in 1984.

from the Label RykoDisc.com



This is an album of jazz-rock-oriented instrumental music that, with the exception of the track "St. Etienne," was recorded on the Synclavier music synthesizer. As an expression of Frank Zappa's more popular music styles, it ranks in execution with such albums as Hot Rats. It is the winner of a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance (Orchestra Group or Soloist).

William Ruhlmann - All Music Guide



When you saw Zappa on the Monkees TV show, you may have guessed that this record would come out eventually - it's the logical follow-up to playing percussive pieces on an automobile. Filled with swirling percussive technotronics, Freak Out guitarwork and abstract jazz time signatures, Jazz From Hell (a likely title for a Zappa work) takes his compositional genius and merges it with a frenzied, orchestrated jazz-fusion that can only be the work of Frank "I-can-make-you-say-Uncle" Zappa. Try "Night School," "St. Etienne" and "Massaggio Galore" for starters, and then maybe you'll be able to figure out whether this is Zappa's idea of a joke or an entirely new movement in music. But who really cares when it's this much fun.

CMJ New Music Report Issue: 107 - Dec 19, 1986
© 1978-1999 College Media, Inc. All rights reserved.



Frank Zappa was an American original, comparable in many ways to Charles Ives or Henry Cowell. In fact, Zappa’s musical hero was the great musical innovator, Edgar Varese. But, because he worked most visibly as a rock musician, Zappa’s music is generally ignored by the classical music mainstream.

I hope that this compilation disc, Strictly Genteel, will do more to promote an appreciation of Zappa’s art among classical music lovers. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that this disc is going to be purchased primarily by open-minded and adventurous popular music fans. I hope this is just my inherent pessimism at work, but I would guess that the average classical CD shopper who gives this album a once-over and sees titles like "Dog Breath Variations," "Uncle Meat," "Duke of Prunes" and "Bob in Dacron" will move on to safer fare.

What’s so great about Zappa--besides his delicious irreverence--is his stylistic breadth. He can swing from funk-laden synth-jazz to gnarly atonality with astonishing ease and effectiveness, as this disc amply demonstrates. Made up of purely-instrumental chunks from Zappa’s recorded oeuvre--including his "classical" albums, rock albums and those in-between--this abbreviated retrospective provides a rather dizzying pinball-like profile of this multi-faceted musician. It’s best approached as a sampler, giving classically-oriented Zappa neophytes a way to navigate through his extensive discography.

There are some real gems here, though. "Dupree’s Paradise" from Boulez conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger is a small masterpiece, full of dramatic surprises, inventive textures and tight motivic cohesion. "Pedro’s Dowry" from Orchestral Favorites is more experimental, full of complicated rhythms, mercurial changes of mood and electronic interpolations, all garnished with a wonderfully naughty sense of humor. "Outrage at Valdez" from The Yellow Shark is another world entirely: atmospheric and thoughtful, with a notably Spanish flavor (reminiscent of Ravel’s tone-paintings).

Personally, I think the best introduction for the classical aficionado is the Boulez conducts Zappa album, though admittedly that only gives a narrow view of the composer’s style. So, if you don’t know Zappa at all, this disc is probably a good place to start. Recommended.

Andrew Colton - June 1, 1997
CI Classical Review
 

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