Frank Zappa - Hammersmith Odeon (3CD Set) (2010)

In honor of FZ's 70th & his favorite holiday, Halloween! Brilliant performances! 1978 LIVE in London. You are there! Special Party Pack Presentation! This collection is very satisfying, if you like that era of Zappa. Look at the set list. Imagine the making of Sheik Yerbouti. Think stellar performances by a tight band. Think hilarious introductions to familiar songs (I Have Been In You and Bobby Brown). Think exceptional instrumental passages (Flakes and City of Tiny Lites are favourites of mine, as well as Pound for a Brown, of course). ”
“ One of the really interesting things about this release is of course how the live tapes compare to Sheik Yerbouti. On one hand I like the expanded versions and the broader context of Hammersmith Odeon. You get a full view of the band at that time, and also a lot of context for the song lyrics and Zappa’s attitudes, irony and sexual politics, as in the intro rap to I Have Been In You. But this new set also shows very clearly that SY is extremely well edited, and will remain the essential document of that era. And well-mixed, too. I can’t go into the technicalities of this, and I think HO sounds good in Filipetti’s mix. Still, I have a hunch that Spence Chrislu could have made some even better choices with the (extremely high-quality) material. Oh, well – is the glass half full or half empty? Anyway, it’s an exceptional collection.