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Audience 9.3 - This is the 4th show (5-25-88) of the rare 8CD set "I Am The Clouds" which were the last 4 shows recorded in Germany in 1988 during the final days of Franks touring. (also offered individually or as a set) "I would say the 11 piece band from 1988 is probably one of the best bands that I've had out, if not the best band. Its a combination of guys that I've worked with for a long time, plus adding a horn section." - Frank Zappa
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Audience 9.0 - I like the sound of this recording, it’s got a very nice and smooth bass which is pretty articulate, and the instruments in general are in perfect harmony with each other, you would be hard pressed to get a better mix even through the board. It’s also a historic concert, for the obvious reasons, and hearing it knowing what happened later, it adds another dimension. A great one! 04-12-1971 Montreux Casino, Switzerland 1. Intro, 2. Peaches En Regalia, 3. Tears Began To Fall, She Painted Up Her Face, Half A Dozen Provocative Squats, 4. Call Any Vegetable, 5. Anyway The Wind Blows, 6. Magdalena, Dog Breath, 7. Sofa Suite, 8. Pound For A Brown, Sleeping In A Jar, 9. Wonderful Wino, Sharleena, Cruisin' For Burgers, 10.King Kong (interrupted by fire) 11.FIRE!
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Audience 8.8 - This is a well rounded recording that delivers most of what is required to ensure a show remains worthy of repeat listens. The only real limitations I could discern are a slight “noisiness” somewhere between the upper mid band and the high band frequencies that are more noticeable during cymbal crashes – and even then it’s minimal. Maybe another critical observation is the overall audio mix coming from the stage is not ideal, it’s not bad, but it’s not as guitar/vocal prominent as you might be used to, again even that is being overly critical because it’s also not that bad. This is a good tape that may not satisfy the perfectionists out there but will take care of the rest of us (me included!). Frank Zappa Chapiteau Mulhouse (France) July 1, 1980 Disc 1 01 -Watermelon In Easter Hay 02 -Keep It Greasey 03 -Pick Me, I'm Clean 04 -City Of Tiny Lights 05 -Pound For A Brown (Mo & Herb's Vacation, Sheik Yerbouti Tango Coda, Filthy Habits) 06 -Cosmik Debris 07 -You Didn't Try To Call Me 08 -I Ain't Got No Heart Disc 2 09 -Love Of My Life 10 -You Are What You Is 11 -Easy Meat 12 -Mudd Club 13 -The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing 14 -Joe's Garage 15 -Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? 16 -Dancin' Fool 17 -Bobby Brown 18 -Ms. Pinky 19 -In France (incl.La Marseillaise) 20 -In France - Luigi & The Wise Guys 21 -Stick It Out (incl.Looney Tunes) 22 -The Illinois Enema Bandit Line-up: Frank Zappa's Band, March - July 1980 FZ, Ike Willis, Ray White, Arthur Barrow, David Logeman, Tommy Mars
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Audience 9.4 - A real good one this is! Like a sharp dressed man entering a room and commanding attention, this show does the same. Frank sounds great, and I like his guitar tone here. Frank Zappa Cirkus Krone Bau Munich (Muenchen), WG 1984-10-04 Early Show Disc 1 01 -Zoot Allures 02 -Tinsel Town Rebellion 03 -Trouble Every Day 04 -Penguin In Bondage 05 -Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel 06 -The Evil Prince 07 -Cocaine Decisions 08 -Nig Biz 09 -Willie The Pimp 10 -He's So Gay 11 -Bobby Brown Disc 2 12 -Keep It Greasey 13 -Honey Don't You Want A Man Like Me? 14 -Carol You Fool 15 -Chana In De Bushwop 16 -Let's Move To Cleveland 17 -Sharleena 18 -Dinah-Moe Humm 19 -Whipping Post Band: Frank Zappa - Vocals, Guitars, Conducting Ike Willis - Vocals, Guitar Ray White - Vocals, Guitar Scott Thunes - Bass Chad Wackerman - Drums Allan Zavod - Keyboards Bobby Martin - Keyboards, Saxophone, Vocals
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Soundboard 9.1 and Audience 8.5 - Beautifully mixed, with some tiny over-sizzle on crash cymbals at times, which seems to get worked out on the mix, but more problems with vocals getting distorted, mostly is the “ssss’s” which isn’t a deal breaker because the problems are not a large percentage of the music. The second show is an audience recording that sounds a little distant until the guitars begin and then it sounds practically right next to you! Strange.
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Stage Recording 8.7 - These kind of recordings are in a unique category – they are technically “audience” type recordings but the signal is sent straight to the recording deck or into a sub-mixer under the control of an engineer. A “professional audience recording” I suppose. So, you do not always have absolute control over the sound mix but this can be a good thing if you get lucky enough with ideal mic placement and ambience, and other things like that. In this case, well, it’s a fine recording limited perhaps by the mic and tape deck quality or ability to capture in high fidelity. It’s a great reference, a decent recording, and there’s plenty of interesting stuff here to make you want to find out what Zappa does next.