Customer Reviews

Music in Review (DVD & book)

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I'm a long-time Zappa fan and was sorely disappointed by this disk. They draw from only four interviewees --all of whom seem to have no significant connection to Frank at all (I have Ben Watson's book, which is "cute" at best, but fairly misguided) and who don't provide very refreshing, new, or even interesting commentary about Frank.

Where are the interviews with ex-Zappa band musicians? Where are the snippets of footage of Frank's many taped interviews? Where are some of the live band clips we haven't all seen a zillion times already? These guys couldn't be arsed to leave London for any of this "documentary". In fact, it looks like they drew on the experience of people they could easily come by in an afternoon after a couple of phone calls, instead of going out looking for new and interesting material.

Also worth noting is that this doesn't cover Frank's career past, say, One Size Fits All. There are brief clips from some of the later bands (the Vinnie band on SNL, and also the band that performed on SNL before that one, with Terry), but very little is discussed about the small universe of stellar musicians Frank employed after the original MOI was disbanded and the 20 years of great music that happened after the great One Size Fits All (not to mention any of the posthumous material/drama from the ZFT). This disk is a huge waste of time, even for a die hard FZ fan like myself.

Do not be tempted to buy this item. It has no value relative to information you can glean from many other sources . It contains the opinions of only 4 individuals (whom, except for one, that you have never heard of) and is peppered with brief snippets of poor quality video of FZ...mainly from SNL appearances. Extremely disappointing to any fan. Laughably bad. So bad as to elicit my first online review. FZ fan since 81.

This is a few old Brits giving their views and versions of Frank's works. Mostly the Mother years. Ben Watson (the negative dialectics of poodle play) is among them.(that should give you some idea)This is about as exciting as a book on tape. Unless you are among the biggest of fans, you will be disapointed.

The story of Frank Zappa, one of the most interesting, humorous, dynamic and exciting performers of the 20th century as told by some of the most dry, humorless, sleep-inducing commentators in Great Britain. Recommended for insomniacs only.

What a dissapointing piece of crap! Two British roadies narrate parts that are so insignificant you want to scream. Old SNL clips, not even full songs, litter this piece of trash. Do Not Buy This! If you need a Frank fix, pick up Zappa Plays Zappa, close your eyes and hear Frank's music come alive.

This is just some music writers talking about frank like they Knew him.I would not recomend buying this....