Frank Zappa - Masked Turnip Cyclophony mp3 download

Thetath

This review/rant is more directed at the vinyl release of this that is set to come out soon (specifically from let them eat vinyl).I don't own this release (I'm more of a live recording guy in alternative to compilations), but from what this label has previously made concerning Zappa (including the Amazing 4 LP "Putting On the Ritz" box set, a re-press of the classic 1977 king biscuit flower hour halloween broadcast, and the amazing, but pretty unnecessarily spread out onto four LPs instead of just three, april 26th 1975 providence concert with captain beef heart) I find it to be a bit disappointing. If you collect bootleg recordings like me (and a lot of people do tend to follow this label for it's obviously bootlegged recordings) you tend to enjoy collecting stuff that you can't otherwise acquire through official means, and since all of these tracks have all been released at one point or another (whether through the artists that Zappa worked with or through post-humous zappa releases), it's disappointing because it just makes you wish that the effort that went into it was used for unreleased Zappa recordings that have yet to make an appearance on vinyl (there are a ton of circulating soundboard recordings from the famous fall 1974 tour with the roxy band that contain some of Zappa's most classic songs or best improvisations, almost none of which have made an appearance on any of Zappa's live albums or compilations, most of which are of professional sound quality and practically none have been issued on vinyl by other bootleg manufactures. Why don't they use one or two of those? Fans of Zappa and live bootlegs alike would be snagging those like hotcakes in comparison to this. A ton of them are out on CD boots, but practically none on vinyl.)Basically, while this does look like a well-made compilation (excellent-looking sleeve for a boot and I know this label generally makes good quality vinyl), the disappointment for me lies in what could have been, especially since there is so much in the world of unreleased zappa stuff (plus, as mentioned, this label has produced some fine recordings before), and since it takes such a long time to make these records, it just prolongs the wait for even better and desirable zappa bootlegs from them in the future. If you like it, I can understand a bit (if I was a compilation lover, I'd be all over this record), but personally, I think they could have used their resources for something a million times better.