Customer Reviews

Thing Fish

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

"Thing-Fish" is an American classic, right up there with the best of Mark Twain. It is a brilliantly hilarious send-up of Broadway, in all its pretense and creative sterility. Zappa takes the archetypes and stereotypes of American culture, strips them of all their BS, and exposes them for the stupid, silly posturings that they are. "Thing-Fish" is Zappa's acid test for people who claim they can't be offended. It's racist, sexist, homophobic, vulgar . . . to anyone but a true Zappa fan. "Thing-Fish" is a drama, not another collection of songs and guitar solos, so stop taking yourselves so seriously and enjoy it for what it is: fantastic!

Whether you think the lyrics to this mock musical are far-fetched, extreme, or whatever, you and I would do well to have the kind of healthy mistrust of Washington as Mr. Zappa displayed here. Today's corporate fat-cats are "Number One" in our government, and you ain't even number two.

OK, so I agree with a lot of Zappa's "snide politics" as he once put it. That certainly hepls me enjoy Thing-Fish.

And now for the music...

The musical instrumentation is sparse. I think Thunes and Wackerman do lay down a nifty bass-drum rhythym, however. And the Synclavier does a good job at setting a dark, foreboding tone to the album overall. But far and away, the main musical thrust is in the VOCALS. The harmonized singing of "severely-tanned individuals" such as Ike Willis, Ray White, Napolean Murphy Brock and Johnny 'Guitar' Watson are the main weapon on this album...and how fantasic it sounds! I'd love to read the musical score that calls for backing vocal lines like "Oom mammy oom, ma-ooom mammy oom" and "Der-der-dup! Der-der-dup!". The double CD is worth the price for the vocals alone...Since I don't own "You Are What You Is" (from whence many of the old songs came), this doesn't bother me so much. And I would say that "The Torchum Never Stops" and "Artificial Rhonda" are both *better* than their "Zoot Allures" counterparts ("The Torture Never Stops" and "Ms. Pinky").

I agree that this is not the place to start listening to the music of Frank Zappa. However, I would say it's essential for the hard-core Zappa fan.

FZ put out a ton of albums, and almost without an exception each of them is an original piece well worth the price. Occasionally, however, FZ followed some musical ideas which failed to produce a product with his usual quality -- Thing-Fish is one of those very very few failed projects. A mock off-off-off Broadway production with some pretty daring racial, sexual, and political themes, FZ imagined a conceptual album much different than Joe's Garage -- and no one will accuse Thing-Fish of being standard fare. However, for whatever reason, Zappa didn't take the time to provide this project with all-original material. Its major shortcoming is that music all-too-often takes a backseat to the "play." This is a 2-disc set with, in total, maybe a little under one disc of original material -- and most of that material is given bad treatment.

A lot of material is borrowed from the following albums: You Are What You Is (3 tracks), Ship Arriving Too Late... (2 tracks), Zoot Allures (3 tracks), Tinsletown Rebellion (1 track).

The first disc is a total waste. The first three numbers are originals -- but PROLOGUE and HARRY AND RHONDA are merely background for dialogue, and THE MAMMY NUNS, frankly, was given much superior treatment as "The Mammy Anthem" on YCDToSA vol.1. THE GALOOT UPDATE is a subpar rehash of "The Blue Light" from Tinsletown Rebellion, and the following track is yet another of the five releases of the mediocre (and excessively long) "The Torture Never Stops" from Zoot Allures.

THAT EVIL PRINCE is an interesting original. Its sounds like an early version of Zappa's beautiful "Amnerika," which was featured on two of his last albums (Civilzation Phaze III and Everything is Healing Nicely). Unfortunately, Ike Willis is monologuing over the whole piece (it does return as WHITE BOY TROUBLES on disc 2). Three, count em three tracks from You Are What You Is follow. CLOWNS ON VELVET is another brilliant original, and unfortunately this is the only version in Zappa's official releases -- an incredible piece yet again rendered almost worthless because its monologued over by Ike Willis. HE'S SO GAY, also original, is featured on several other albums without the dialogue on it.

The second disc is a little better. There some great original material here, left alone in many places by dialogue. BROWN MOSES (this one, and THE EVIL PRINCE, were given better treatment on the YCDToSA series) is a fantastic song, and WIST-FUL WIT A FIST-FULL is probably the only essential track on this album -- a brilliant mock broadway piano number.

Overall, there is really little to offer on this album. Most of the original material was given better treatment on other FZ releases -- what wasn't, like CLOWNS ON VELVET and WIST-FUL WIT A FIST-FULL, simply doesn't warrant the purchase of a double album. As much as I hate to say it about an FZ album, the bad outweighs the good on this one.

This album divides Zappa fans -- you either love it or hate it. In its defense, I will say that there are many Zappa fans who adore this album and stick by it.

This is the funniest album I've ever heard. Ike Willis deserves a Grammy/Oscar/Thing they give to performers

Having been a FZ fan for a long time, I wholeheartedly recommend this album with the following disclaimers:

1. If you like Frank only for his amazing guitar playing, don't get this--you'll be disappointed

2. If you have strong religious beliefs (of any sort) pick up something else

This is one of FZ's best satire albums ; hearing Dale Bozzio violate her briefcase by itself makes this worth buying. If you're not familar w/ this aspect of FZ, my advice is to get "Joe's Garage." If you like that album, then imagine removing "Watermelon in Easter Hay" and crankin' up the sarcasm.

...

I won't go as far as saying that this was Frank's best album, but it is definitely in the top ten and to date this is my favorite and most memorable. So much of Thingfish is so quotable, that sprewing forth some Thingfish Lingo ( "the torchum never stops", "You entirely too correct", "Hey, you ugly white folks...over here!", ect) has connected me to other Zappa fans ans friendships have resulted. Frank's fans are as unique as his music.
I recommend THINGFISH not only for it's outstanding musicship, but also for it's clever humor, intelligence, and pointed satire.

this is most likely the most fractaled FZ CD. most people either love it, or hate it. And, considering who made it, is pretty interesting.. when you think about it, people either love or hate FZ, but to further divide up the fanbase into a 'I love this CD or Hate this CD' is even more splicing and dicing.

I love the CD. The multi theme'd product may be hard for some people to understand or follow, and some of it is stabbing in the direction of dada... but one should remember that FZ himself admired the concept of dada (look in his autobiography for evidence) and considered it a viable artform... so, the fact that some of the material might not make total sense, or that there are mulithemes going everywhere at once should not be that much of a detraction ... consider Joe's Garage as a warm up for this release...

The music is quite good. Some of the reviews I have read, must be talking about something else. There is some fantastic music, 'white man burden' and 'Wistful Wit A Fist-Full' are some of the songs that are written in broadway musical style.. not guitar oriented rock style like other FZ releases. And, considering the dada tendency, there are updates, and story lines which one could read in the CD release, plus songs like 'Mammy Theme' and 'Galoot update' bring you along as a whole, to reduce the massive theme into bite size nuggets.

The piece is not good if you only listen to one track. There is hardly a single to be found... just as 'Another Brick In The Wall' may have been a very good single for Pink Floyd 'THE WALL' recording, by itself it didn't tell you the whole story of the wall, just that particular part of the story. But, as far as radio play, it is odd that FZ did have a radio friendly song he did have one with 'white man burden'. A great song, by any FZ era of release, this song holds big time cues for excellence in broadway style and vocal arrangement. (FZ was NEVER recognized for his arrangement of vocals, he was just excellent at his placement of voice)

This is a great release. Top ten in the caibur of FZ releases. I think anyone can find as MUCH AS THEY WISH in this release. All they have to do is look.

Not among Zappa's finest, this is an album that can test your loyalty. Some might say that Frank jumped the (yellow) shark with this release. He never really did anything this ambitious or strange again... okay, sorry. Civilization Phase III.

But that was different. It was a continuation of the Lumpy Gravy thing. This album is uh... a Broadway musical, I guess. It's all right. It's fun to listen to, it's never boring, I'll give it that! Don't buy this first or uh... yeah.

I'm a Zappa nut. I can't help it I love the guy. But nothing could have prepared me for Thing-Fish and the Mammy Nuns. The narration done by Mr. Willis is incredible. It makes me laugh every time I hear it. My favorite songs on this incredible project are "Mammy Nuns" and "White Boy Troubles". Also listening to Rhonda having sexual intercourse with a briefcase will turn many a head and an ear.

FZ strikes again.

This is a seminal Zappa recording! Not for the meek. One line does it for me and is worth it all..."I'm gonna f@ck my briefcase." This is some of the most difficult listening out there---un-easy listening would best describe it. If you like to laugh, are a fan of the Ike Willis negro persuasion, and want to hear some KILLER tunes (aka Brown Moses), do yo'self a favor and poychase this double CD set.

Thing Fish is an authentic attempt to express the impact of the AIDs epidemic on Broadway and larger society. The new story line that Zappa crafted atop older backing tracks and some new music is challenging and entertaining. The performance of Ike Willis in the title role is truly remarkable. Zappa and Willis collaborate to produce a unique English dialect and delivery style that is humorous and effective. The Mammy Nun chorus produces some magical moments of harmony and sheer power in their performance of songs that have a true Gospel feel. The performance of Terry and Dale Bozzio as Harry and Rhonda contain moments of high comedy and touching sincerity. The social commentary is biting and accurate with a plot that is coherent and capable of causing an attentive listener to squirm with discomfort and personal recognition. The inclusion of a complete libretto allows the work to be explored in detail. This musical, which has never been performed on stage, deserves wider recognition for its musical content and the directness and humor with which it raises important issues which are still relevant to today's society.