quAUDIOphiliac
Upon first hearing you ask yourself "What have I been missing all these years? The audio quality puts that of CD's to shame and the surround sound mixes are mostly stunning. Featuring a few of FZ's four channel mixes from 1970 to 1978, most of the tracks are gems. One such track is Rollo,from a 1975 UCLA show which combines rock band with orchestra. The four channel mix allows for more details of the instruments to come through and Zappa's guitar solo is clear and searing.
The best track on the disc is Chunga Basement from 1970; a jam recoded directly to four track tape. It sounds so clear and so close you feel as though you are sitting in the same room. Another gem with a few blemishes is a mix of of the jazz track Waka Jawaka. This track is also four channel but is marred by distortion and not enough low end.
There are a few rocks with the gems,such as a reworking of Sheik Yerbouti's "Wild Love" in four channels and a remix of Shut up and play yer guitar's "Ship Ahoy".
Both are drenched in added reverb with no real change in original mix.
Like the other reviews,I would have liked more material,especially from the Apostrophe era,but here's the catch. Tape manufacturers changed lubricants in the mid 1970's. Several record companies were horrified to learn that this new lubricant deteriorated over time and caused tapes to stick together,making them unplayable. This happened with Zappa too. While it was found that baking the tapes could make them play, it was and still is a risky process. The DVD (audio only with some still pictures) starts with one of Zappa's orchestral pieces which sounds stunning in 4 channels. Then some unreleased and also remixed known material. The track from Sheik Yerbouti maybe doesn't benefit as much from the quadrophonics. The 'basement' recording is again fantastic, sounds just like being in the same room with them while they're jamming.
The best track on the disc is Chunga Basement from 1970; a jam recoded directly to four track tape. It sounds so clear and so close you feel as though you are sitting in the same room. Another gem with a few blemishes is a mix of of the jazz track Waka Jawaka. This track is also four channel but is marred by distortion and not enough low end.
There are a few rocks with the gems,such as a reworking of Sheik Yerbouti's "Wild Love" in four channels and a remix of Shut up and play yer guitar's "Ship Ahoy".
Both are drenched in added reverb with no real change in original mix.
Like the other reviews,I would have liked more material,especially from the Apostrophe era,but here's the catch. Tape manufacturers changed lubricants in the mid 1970's. Several record companies were horrified to learn that this new lubricant deteriorated over time and caused tapes to stick together,making them unplayable. This happened with Zappa too. While it was found that baking the tapes could make them play, it was and still is a risky process. The DVD (audio only with some still pictures) starts with one of Zappa's orchestral pieces which sounds stunning in 4 channels. Then some unreleased and also remixed known material. The track from Sheik Yerbouti maybe doesn't benefit as much from the quadrophonics. The 'basement' recording is again fantastic, sounds just like being in the same room with them while they're jamming.
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