Customer Reviews

Jazz From Hell

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Frank for years tried to get his compositions played by either a rock band, or played by orchestras. Sometimes the rock bands came through for him (see 'Drowning Witch', or any of the 'You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore' live collections) and sometimes they didn't. Up to the point of this release (86) FZ had nothing but tribulations with orchestras, and from what I understand, they were expensive tribulations.

Hence the synclavier. A machine that sorta works on the same premise as one of those old fashioned piano's that had a wheel in the middle of it, and it played by itself... you just wound it up... Anyway, FZ took to being able to write any time signature into this computer machine, not only did it play it, but it would print the music as well. FZ, as I understand it, was in heaven. And why woudn't he be?

Yes, this music on JFH misses the 'human element', and it sometimes dwells into time signatures so unfamiliar (even to Frank Aappa fans) that it causes ones head to spin. I remember when I first bought it, I had no idea what the heck was going on. I did know that I liked it.

Steve Vai, former alumnis, says that this FZ recording is his total favorite, and 'he never travels anywhere without it.'

I totally agree. This is a fantastic piece of construction much in the same way Ensemble Modern was later on with 'YELLOW SHARK'.

You won't be disapointed, but you might be suprized.

A masterpiece from Zappa, his use of the synclavier music computer is brilliant, one of the most interesting electronic music of the century. The album is full of interesting harmonies and sophisticated melodies and Zappas sense of polyrhythms is pure genius.

There is also one guitar solo on the c.d. i'm a big fan of electric guitar solos and in my opinion this is the best guitar solo by anyone, anywhere. The guitar solo is just packed full of one beautifull melodic line after another, the jazz may be from hell but this guitar solo is obviously made in heaven.

If you only like the comedy/rock side of Zappa this album may not be your cup of tea but for anyone interested in higly unusual, original musical brilliance they should check this one out.

Other albums by Zappa with synclavier music are "the mothers of prevention" and "civilisation phase III", both exellent. And you might want to check out another genious with a music machine, one who influenced Zappa, Conlon Nancarrows player piano studies,really interesting music, highly recomended. MUSIC IS THE BEST.

In contrast with nearly all of his Sixties & Seventies musical contemporaries, Frank Zappa's music was increasingly adventurous and provocative during the antiseptic Eighties. I must admit that I find his earlier work to be more interesting, but Jazz From Hell is a masterpiece by any standard.

"La Machine," as Zappa called it, sounds pretty dated, but such is the quality of these compositions, that it really doesn't matter. While You Were Art, Jazz From Hell, & The Beltway Bandits all sound brilliantly twisted. Just imagine The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue performed by Devo and you'll get a sense of what these pieces sound like.

St. Etienne is the token organic piece, and very well-played it is too. Massaggio Galore is the obligatory "dirty" track, but it seems to be the most dated of all. G-Spot Tornado is a frantic whirlwind of a masterpiece. You should check out the Yellow Shark version: yes, this music can actually be played by human beings!

I bought "Jazz From Hell" around the mid-80's when it first came out and it was extraordinarily hard to find *any* Zappa albums, much less his albums which one might specifically prefer, and I was not favorably impressed. In fact, I think I put the tape in a drawer and didn't listen to it again for quite some time. When I did pick it back up again (maybe because I was sick of everything else I had at the time), I wasn't encumbered with my prior and extremely biased expectations of what a Zappa album should sound like, and I loved it. That was an important lesson about being a Zappa afficianado: expectations will only lead to disappointment with Zappa, so empty your mind before you listen to any Zappa for the first time.

That said, the *specific* Zappa albums one likes says a lot about what kind of music consumer someone is. Most people like the Blues-based naughty troubadour Zappa of.... well... "Strictly Commercial", "Apostrophe", "Joe's Garage" and so forth. When they get an earful of "Jazz From Hell" or "Civilization Phaze III", you can hear their auditory canals gagging. So being a Jazz From Hell fan puts you in a sub-cult of a sub-cult and even further at odds with mainstream culture. For the most part, the "true" Zappa fans are not JFH fans.

Nevertheless, I think Jazz From Hell is not only highly enjoyable to listen to, but a piece of music culture equivalent to (but far less appreciated than) Andy Warhol: it captures something about early digital music in the late 70's / early 80's that is just spectacular and inimitable. Jazz From Hell isn't just a good listen, it's a piece of cultural history claimed by one of those vanguards who earned their way into the books by forceing themselves ahead of the curve.

If there is any album more maligned by Zappa fans than Jazz From Hell, it's JFH's runtly twin "Francesco Zappa" which probably should have been released in a double album with JFH ala Lather. Francesco Zappa is another album people seem to love to hate (and, again, one which I dearly love) for the same reasons they hate Jazz From Hell: no soul, plagarized compositions, just an experiment in making consumers spend money, etc.

To put it into some context -- if you like some of these, you will like Jazz From Hell / Francesco Zappa:

Wendy / Walter Carlos, epecially the "Clockwork Orange" soundtrack era and Brandenburg Concerto
"Switched-on Bach"
8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo soundtracks, esp. Mario world
The CD included in the back of 1 X 1 by Sebastian Mendez (which you would probably like as well)
Civilization Phase III

So, if you are a hardcore Zappa fan thinking about Jazz From Hell, keep in mind that it's very VERY different from previous Zappa albums -- it won't make you laugh. But if you are a child of the video game era, I think you will it will turn you on. Find yourself a copy of the original Legend of Zelda, cue up "The Beltway Bandits" and prepare for a incredible experience.

Frank Zappa has said that one of the problems of having his works performed by human beings is that humans are fallible, and make mistakes. So here is an album featuring Zappa's music played by a machine, so that the pitch and timing of every note is exact to within a 41,000th of a second. All I could think of while listening to this CD was, can you imagine walking around with music like this playing in your head ALL THE TIME? It really gives you insight as to how huge Frank's brain was. This CD is, as I said, not for everyone. But I liked it so much that I named my first CD after it.

"Jazz from Hell" is obviously the product of Frank Zappa's discovery of the possibilities of the Synclavier, and the new freedom granted to him, it being that he could create and listen to advanced compositions that would be impossible for humans to play, thus giving him a greater range of his musical development.

If people are repulsed by Jazz from Hell, or do not like it, it is most likely because that there are hardly any real insturments being played, except for the guitar solo. There's no "eye candy"- real instruments, to be precise.

However, those who can appreciate advanced compositions will most likely appreciate Jazz from Hell. This represents Zappa working without physical constrictions, creating his dreams. And that's what Jazz from Hell is, essentially. I love it.

That's right! This album has the greatest piece of music I've ever heard! Perhaps the most complex, too, but not for the sake of being complex. Extremely adventuresome and avant but, with the exception of the guitar solo cut ("St. Etienne"), each track is structured and produced without improvisation. With original sounds (sound effects) combined with flawless production and perfect execution, Frank here invented a new music genre that is unique only to this recording. On "St. Etienne", he proves himself to be the most inventive Rock guitarist and my favorite, ever. "Jazz From Hell" is heaven!

When Zappa worked with his Synclavier he could never go wrong. Many fans dislike the album, but i LOVE it. Listen to the samples, if you like what you hear get it.

Awhile back I subconsciously discarded the original version of G-Spot Tornado. Being in the Music Education field, and having a strong emotional reaction to the Yellow Shark version, I decided that if I wanted to listen to that piece, I should listen to the Ensemble Modern's (seemingly definitive) version. However, listening to the original today in class stood the hairs on my arms on end, while the Yellow Shark version seemed too familiar. Although I had decided to listen to Freak Out (an album I have mixed feelings about) during my readings today, a combination of inspiration and circumstances led to me to listen to another of my favorites, Jazz From Hell.

My first experience with Jazz From Hell was from MTV (or maybe VH-1) Believe it or not, there is a video of G-Spot Tornado that was shown super-ultra-late night on one of those early networks. The video stuck in my mind until a college friend of mine who was into Steve Vai , who I got into because of David Lee Roth (another rebellious musical selection), suggested I check it out.

Of course, Vai barely plays on this album. With the exception of St. Etienne, Jazz From Hell is comprised of Frank's synclavier work. At its most accessible, it features Night School, which could have easily been the theme song for an `80's cop drama. Many of the other tracks could also sneak their way into the `80's soundscape by way of compositional strength, but may not be so accessible to the average listener, with G-Spot Tornado being the most obvious exception.

However, even with his least accessible (herein referred to as "out" or "outside") works have a strength that has long been a fascination of mine in regards to Frank's music, and that is one of melody. Doubtlessly, Frank's idea of melody is not easily digestible, but as one familiarizes oneself with his work, his melodic conception makes itself apparent.

Most importantly, I think that his treatment of melody represents an interesting syncretization between American/German the African/American traditions, and that Jazz From Hell stands as a testimony to the possible common ground between these two. Of course, by American/African, I mean the blues tradition. His stylistic predilection towards "really long" guitar solos is an expression of this appreciation towards this tradition. In the blues, "really long" solos are improvised, and take into account the sort of inner directed temporality that Ed Sarath mentions in his article "A New Look at Improvisation". However, his type of temporality does readily not make itself apparent on studio recordings, and the recording studio was as much an instrument of Zappa's as the guitar.

To compensate for the lack of immediate interaction, Zappa created a "stream-of-consciousness" melodic concept. By this I mean that pieces are easily identified by feel, key, timbre, and context, but that the obvious melody seems to be improvised. Although we know that Zappa had very specific melodic ideas, the melodies of the songs on Jazz From Hell are not easily accessible. For example, the guitar playing in St. Etienne displays the cohesiveness of the blues, but has very little melodic repetition. This concept is omnipresent on Jazz From Hell, even in the "composed" pieces.

The Lowdown: Jazz from Hell is a great representation of Frank's melodic concept , but is most certainly not a for a Zappa "beginner". After owning the album for probably ten years, I'm just beginning to make sense of it - but it DOES make sense.

7 out of 8 tunes are synclavier, 1 is a live 82 guitar solo. 'nite school' is amazing, amazing rhythms and millions of notes. It's twisted virtuosity! Really a gorgeous piece. This is the most accessible tune along with g-spot tornado, another winner! Then you have more 'abstract' stuff. massagio galore has this repetitious rhythm going on, rivetting stuff. The guitar solo is a great 1982 solo , intense. 'beltway bandits', 'damp ankles' and 'jazz from hell' are abstract enough, but nowhere near as difficult as 'while you were artIII', which is his most abstract thing up to then, even though it's based on a guitar solo transcription. This music represents an amazing challenge to the listener, like a lot of Frank's stuff. Jampacked with ideas, it requires huge attention and perserverance. Each listen reveals new discoveries...genius music!! Thank you