The Man from Utopia [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Frank Zappa

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 2, 1995)
• Original Release Date: March 1983
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Zappa Records
• ASIN: B0000009T5
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,829 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Cocaine Decisions

2. Sex

3. Tink Walks Amok

4. Radio Is Broken

5. We Are Not Alone

6. Dangerous Kitchen

7. Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou (Medley)

8. Stick Together

9. Jazz Discharge Party Hats

10. Luigi and The Wise Guys

11. Moggio

Editorial Reviews

From the Label

Studio and live tracks (circa 1980-82). One of Zappa's more joke-heavy albums, this one's highlights include the music-biz scrutinizer "Cocaine Decisions" and the tale of band horseplay, "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats." A pair of instrumentals is here too, including "Tink Walks Amok" (featuring Arthur "Tink" Barrow on bass) and "We Are Not Alone." Illustration gracing the cover is from Italian cartoonist Tanino Liberatore.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richard Baseheart, December 15, 2004

By	Douglas H. Watts (Augusta, ME United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This Zappa record is what "On the Corner" is to Miles Davis.

"The Radio is Broken" is probably the stupidest, funniest and weirdest song Frank Zappa ever wrote. It is "Call any Vegetable" (from Absolutely Free) with Steve Vai on guitar.

"The Radio Is Broken" contains one of the most insanely difficult electric guitar parts Frank ever convinced Steve Vai to play, which Steve plays to the death. But word: the insanely difficult guitar parts steve plays also groove.

Moggio is an incredible song, again showing Frank Zappa and Steve Vai developing a musical language together that only they could deal with. Very difficult music, ala the Black Page, that also swings like a Cab Calloway rave-up song.

The two spoken word songs, The Dangerous Kitchen and the Jazz Discharge Party Hats, were created by Steve Vai listening to live tapes of Frank doing bizarro spoken word Sinatra pieces over drums and bass and then doubling the exact phrases and pitch of Frank's vocals on acoustic guitar. This creates a sound, according to Steve, "like George Benson from Venus."

Is this an IMPORTANT Frank Zappa album? No, nor does it appear meant to be. Frank knew the stuff on this record was so weird and offensive that nobody normal would like it so he just made it even weirder to have fun. But it is probably the best showcase for Steve Vai's playing with Frank.

Because the songs are so weird and so uncommercial, even to Zappa fans, I have always liked it. During this period, Frank did not have a clue how to construct a normal LP of music, since his taste in music was going once again completely over the edge, so he just took what he had made recently and mushed it all together, Ed Wood style.

The Man From Utopia is a freak show with none of the bizarre edges sanded down. The production is incredibly good. The weird mutation of two 1950s doo-wop songs also covered by Bob Seger at about the same time ("The Man From Utopia meets Mary Lou") further heightens the goofiness.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Zappa's Most Underrated Album....5 classic songs to enjoy, March 13, 2006

By	William Caputo (Scranton, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Those who believe FZ's albums decreased in quality and enjoyment as the 80's progressed need to re-listen to this 1983 release.

"The Man From Utopia" is even better than the previous year's "Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch". To begin, the album-cover artwork on this album is much more appealing and clever than the primitive artwork on "...Drowning Witch" (which is the 2nd worst album cover of all of FZ's albums; the #1 place for rotten artwork goes to the "Filmore East 1971" album).

The fact that the All Music Guide rated this FZ's worst official album (2/5 stars) baffles me. The album begins with 2 fantastic songs:

1. "Cocaine Decisions" is about the cocaine fad among yuppies of the 80's that is still a powerful anti-drug song.

2. "Sex" may seem a bit juvenile with its lyrics but it is so catchy and fun to listen to. Its chorus "the bigger the cushin' the better the pushin'" was almost stolen word-for-word by Spinal Tap a year later for their song "Big Bottom."

The next gem on the album is "The Dangerous Kitchen" - with its frightening background music and lyrics about how one's dity kitchen can harm them if they are not careful. PLAY THIS ON YOUR I-POD AT 3AM WHILE YOU'RE WALKING TO THE KITCHEN FOR A LATE-NIGHT SNACK...I DARE YA!!!

In "Stick Together", FZ exposes how Unions are not the perfect organizations they pretend to be. "The Man From Utopia Meets Mary Lou" is an old medley of two oldies tunes that is reminiscent of the songs from the "Cruising With Ruben & The Jets" album...in other words, a real treat.

With these 5 tunes and the rest in between, how can you go wrong if you're an FZ fan??? Maybe you won't like it if you only like Zappa's complex musical compositions and not his semi-raunchy but always amusing lyrics to go with the music. I like it all.

Of course, I didn't start out that way but his music grew on me.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something new...again, March 26, 2004

By	Patrik Lemberg (Tammisaari Finland) - See all my reviews

A lot of fun must have been had in the making of this album, which is a bit freer than Zappa's previous album "Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch," but regardless a lot of work has been put into it.
In the sense of humor and lyrical topics, this is the most "stupid" album I believe Zappa has ever recorded, but that stupidity is unusually funny in combination with superb musical performances like these.
"Cocaine Decisions" is a piano and harmonica dominated rock song with an 8th-note based bass line and a lyric that speaks out against drugs, and "SEX" is a heavily laid back rock song with an obvious lyrical topic.
"Tink Walks Amok" should be of great interest to bass players; a tune played in various odd-time signatures on drums, percussion, electric bass and piccolo bass.
"The Radio is Broken" is a very FZ-ish "homage" to old "cheap" science fiction movies and their stars (Richard Basehart, John Agar, Jackie Coogan...). Various styles of music is performed in this song (odd-time fusion/jazz/rock/reggae,) the "melody" is intentionally as out-of key as possible, and for me this is a ROTFL case, as is "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" (recorded live,) where Zappa improvises both lyrics and melody to an up-tempo accompaniment of double-bass driven jazz. The vocal melodies to the above mentioned song and "The Dangerous Kitchen" have been transcribed and over-dubbed on guitar by Steve Vai - the result is so accurate it's uncanny!
"We Are Not Alone" is an instrumental tune with a baritone sax melody, "The Man From Utopia Meets Mary Lou" is a medley of piano-dominated bluesy rock covers, "Stick Together" is pure reggae, "Luigi & The Wise Guys" is pure doo-wop, and "Moggio" is an amazingly well performed catchy instrumental odd-time composition - there's just so much different stuff here that there's got to be something of interest for everyone.
TMFU is the most entertaining FZ album of the 80's; it's a different album with highly amusing songs, and its overall sound is very clear.