Customer Reviews

Baby Snakes (1979 Film)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Being fortunate enough to live and see Zappa live in N.Y. at the Palladium, I have to say that the baby snakes tour was one of the finest shows/Zappa concerts I've seen. I've seen him at a number of venues, from college auditoriums to M.S.G.. Though he has to play fast through his sets in order to play alot of his materiel, the halloween night shows,(all 3 of them) were all spectacular! This was a night not to be missed. And the best of it is all on one album. Buy it! Play it! You'll love it! You will wish you were there. I guarentee it!! MUDSHARK

The 77/78 banded rocked really hard, and this album gives us a glimpse of that. But man, at 35 minutes this is too short. Imagine going to a gig and it just lasting a half an hour-you feel short-changed. On top of that, the song 'baby snakes' is already on sheik yerbouti. So there are only 6 songs from the concert. They're really good though. Titties and beer is a classic vehicle for zappa and bozzio to make us laugh. Top tune. Black page is one of the great zappa instrumentals and is played brilliantly. Jones crusher comes across very well. Disco boy too. Dinah-moe-humm has some guy we can't see dancing, but it's fun anyway. Punk's Whip is the highlight along with black page. It's not as involved as the zappa in new york version, there's no horn section-still, it is almost as good. Frank has a great, long solo at the end. Pity there aren't more songs on the album though. Thank you

This is a great recording in about the best era of Franks music. An amazing version of the Black Page, a very well done Dinah Moe Humm, and honestly the most amazing and mindblowing version of Punky's Whips that I have ever heard. Terry Bozzio must have been on something amazing that night, his drumming is perfection.

I recently purchased this disc right here from Amazon. I knew that Zappa CD's were going out of print and are becoming scarce, with a few titles all but completely disappearing. There were a few of the '95 remasters that I hadn't purchased yet -owing to the fact that I had the Zappa records version of the disc. So I purchased the Baby Snakes disc mostly for the packaging upgrade -rather then for any sonic differances from the earlier Zappa records version. Well to my surprise when the disc arrived...something didn't look right. I mean really didn't look right. This was not a Ryko disc CD at all, but a bad forgery. Starting with the cover, the image looked liked it was blown up slightly and softened. The cover reflects the picture disc of the orignal LP record and this picture is cut off on 3 sides from being blown up, plus the background color is much grayer. The back cover is also softer and blown up with colors that are also "off." The UCP is also located in a different location -at the bottom of the picture of Frank -instead of the lower left hand corner. The code number is the same...but the tell tale -in tiny letters on top of the code are the words: Manufactured by Amazon.com kydc-Lexington, KY. The actual disc inside is silk screened in gloss and is oversized compared to the matte printing of the Ryko. Finally the glossy fold out book in the '95 Ryko is replaced by a printed on thin paper, cheap stapled book. As far as I can tell the disc appears to be a "silver" clone...

Conclusion: While I am happy that Zappa's music is finding a way to stay in print, I am disappointed in what amounts to a sanctioned(?) forgery. I would love for the discription to say "reprint version" or something suggesting this is not an original -but rather a copy. I recently found a CD store that carried an original and am now able to document the differences...oh and did I mention the copy did not have the trademarked Ryko green CD case? If it is the music you want...dig right in, if you are a collector looking to plug the holes in your collection with the real deal (before CD's become extinct) then beware!

This is a great CD if you want to be energized. Although I would not say this is Frank's best, it is a great disc to have. The music has energy and not only is it clear, it is amazing to think he performed this live. Great disc!

This cd is of course very good , it is fun to listen too but it is not Hot Rats caind of music it is more of a comical kind.

I'm a big fan of Zappa and especially enjoy his live work. This recording is WAY below average for two reasons... 1) Recording quality is abyssmal 2) Performance is unemotional.

If you want the real "Live" magic try "Live in New York", "Roxy and Elsewhere", and "The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life".

With the last being the best IMHO.