Customer Reviews

Guitar

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An album like this will challenge your ears in several ways. Like most of Zappa's output, this CD isn't for everyone. Those who criticize Frank's guitar playing from a technical standpoint, however, are completely missing the point. Steve Vai et al. are certainly better technically on the guitar, but I think Vai would be the first person to admit that he couldn't improvise in a live setting on this level. Zappa was trying to create spontaneous compositions as he played, and he was unafraid of trying absolutely anything in his quest to do so.

If you hear on this set a lot of repetition, a lot of exploration of similar melodic/rhythmic themes, this is mainly due to the fact that a lot of the solos were recorded around the same time (even at the same shows) so that was what was in his head. I think of them as variations, not perhaps in the classical sense of a "theme and variations" but multiple explorations of the same material.

On the other hand, I think if you listen closely it's amazing from a compositional standpoint. There is an inner logic and coherence to the solos, whether self-proclaimed "expert guitar players" choose to acknowledge this or not. Frank's guitar technique was highly unorthodox and it might not be what you would like to hear from a guitar player, but he wasn't interested in playing clean, perfect lines. He was interested in doing something different every single time he got out there to play a solo, and this is a document of his attempts to do just that. It is a record of experiments with an audience.

The other major complaint about this CD is the sound, particularly the sound of the band playing behind Frank. As an experimenter, Frank Zappa was bound to be drawn to the new synthesizers and other gadgets that came out at this time, just as many, many other bands and musicians were in the 80's. However, when I listen to this album I am always struck by how natural-sounding it actually is versus a lot of other material from the 80's. I mean we are talking about the decade of Duran Duran, Devo, Joy Division, Culture Club, Madonna and a ton of other bands that sounded far more "plastic" than Zappa's band ever managed, even during the much-maligned 1984 tour (the one with all the fake handclaps and electronic drums).

Any modern music listener who isn't able to have an appreciation for electronic sounds is pretty much lost at sea as far as I am concerned. Compare this album with the Postal Service or the Prodigy and you tell me who sounds more machine-like. To my mind there's nothing cold or unexpressive about machine-made music at all. I think the real issue is that the sounds on this album serve to underscore the emotional coldness of Frank Zappa himself, something with which a lot of his fans are uncomfortable.

I don't see a huge gulf between Frank's playing or his tone in 1979 versus 1984. It's different, yes, but it's clearly the same guy playing and I don't immediately prefer one to the other. I agree that Vinnie Colaiuta is more attuned with what Frank was doing than Chad Wackerman is. However, Wackerman is more than competent and he does have his moments if you're willing to listen without prejudice. Also, critics of Scott Thunes' playing on bass have no idea what they're talking about. Just listen (with a really good pair of headphones or a great stereo) to the first track, "Sexual Harassment.." and you realize that Scott is playing his ass off while still completely supporting Frank.

I think Guitar deserves to be listened to very carefully by anyone who enjoys experimental music and wants to hear someone who is reaching for something rather than trying to stay inside a musical box or do what is expected. And I actually enjoy the hell out of this album. I get a lot of pure pleasure listening to Frank and the musicians he was playing with on these recordings. So there are those of us out there who truly enjoy listening to Guitar in its entirety.

This is awesome stuff. Two hours and ten minutes of intense and relentless fret abuse. No vocals, no tunes, just guitar solos and nothing else. "Guitar" was more than good enough when it was first released in 1988, but this expanded edition with extra tracks is a considerable improvement on the original. The material is culled from live performances recorded over a five year period (1979 to 1984), and from the opening chords of "Sexual harassment in the workplace" (the album also features some of Frank's most creative titles) it just builds and builds with no pause for breath. Although the sound isn't always 100% perfect, I much prefer the raw spontaneity of "Guitar" to the more refined approach of its predecessor "Shut up and play your guitar", which seems positively weak in comparison. Frank didn't recommend it for children or Republicans, but to the rest of us this is one of the truly essential Zappa albums.

This collection of Frank's live playing skills is a great showcase of not only his compositional skills, but his incredible playing. He can make a slow groove smoke and we already know what he does to the not-so-straight-ahead rock tunes.
The fact that they're instrumentals really gives you the chance to appreciate the songs and his abilities, but also shows you the record's one pain: the songs aren't as great as the ones on his similar collection, "Shut Up and Play Your Guitar". If you want great Zappa or just great guitar, you have to eventually own this record...just not before you get his "Shut Up" record.

This is a good album, but it's not as great as the mammoth Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar set, and a lot of the material here all sounds the same. Many of the solos/songs don't really stand out at all. They all blend into one long messy solo. That isn't to say there's nothing worth listening to here.

The opener Sexual Harrassment in the Work Place is a very majestic song, with a great Zappa solo and beautiful backing track. Do Not Pass Go has a nice mellow tone to it. The song Variations on Sinister #3 is very good and intricate. Outside Now (Original Solo) is one of the better tracks, and only one of two from the 1979 band with Vinnie Colauita (the other is Systems of Edges, which is equally good). While Chad Wackerman is a good drummer, he just didn't have the same camaradirie with Frank that Vinnie did. The recording of Watermelon in Easter Hay, one of Zappa's greatest compositions, is very nice. While not as majestic as the Joe's Garage version, it's still wonderful and the crowd really responds to it, which helps immensely.

Do Not Try This at Home sounds exactly like the title track from Them or Us (with more improv). In-a-Gadda-Stravinsky sounds more interesting than it actually is. The bass line from In-a-Gadda-da-Vida is used while Zappa and the band improv over it. Good idea, mediocre execution, though.
The album, however, has some of the most interesting titles Zappa ever came up (Orrin Hatch on Skis, Chalk Pie, Swans? What Swans?), but none of those songs are particularly interesting musicially. There isn't much variation here in the material, as there was on the Shut Up set. If you're a Zappa completist, then by all means you should pick this one up. If you're not, stick with the Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar album.

This record is simply beautiful,because when Zappa plays the guitar,he makes feel us depth and intensity of the present time.His modal play(a lot of mixolydian mode!) and very free rhytmical feeling lead us to contemplation and sometimes to exaltation too! This record is life in music,Truth in music;music is the best!

Those who like the Shut up series own this already of course. Obligatory for anyone interested in the possibilities of the (electric) guitar. Good band performances throughout. Funny 'song' titles as well. Great.

This collection of guitar-solos is one of the most amazing ever. Along with FZ handy work on the six-string, his first son Dweezil steps in on a track. He and his father have it out in a mesmerizing "guitar duel".

Two things happened between the 1970s and the 1980s. Anolouge recording went to digital, and Zappa's guitar playing got busier and louder.


The solos on Guitar have more ressonence and eccho than those on Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar. He works with more asbtract time signatures, and the eccho and amplification on the masters axe are magnified. Amazing as the Shut up Sets are, and these cover 70s solos, they sound small next to these 80s solos.

The large sound and counterthythms employed on guitar make the kind of massive "air sculptures." Zappa discribed, and the increse syncopation and rhytmic obtuseness change the charactor of these solos from those on Shut Up.

Zappa includes blues, ethnic music, Inca Roads journies--Inca Roads may have been Zappa's most commonly used lab for solo experimenting--and a wide range of styles.

This set is not quite as diverse as Shut Up--no tweed coat Frank with a buzuki--but both are essential due to their differances.

Many guitar solos that can easily relax,surprize and amaze you.

Sonic free-form LIVE improvs and tone poems from a man who never considered himself to be a great guitarist. Frank was his own worst critic. No lyrics. No songs. Just Frank and his guitar at his blistering best. The big debate about whether FZ was a noteworthy lead-guitarist or not should immediately be dispelled with this one. His playing was so unique sometimes it sounds as if his guitar was trying to construct it's very own meat sandwich.. No one even comes close to sounding like Frank. SUPERB...