Stereo Review

 USA

 
The magazine started in 1958 as HiFi and Music Review. The magazine's name was changed to HiFi/Stereo Review in 1960. By 1968, stereo had gone mainstream, and HiFi/Stereo Review became known simply as Stereo Review. In 1989 it absorbed High Fidelity magazine. Finally in February 1999 Stereo Review merged with sister publication Video and became Sound & Vision.

1968 August

Vol. 21 No. 2

 

Mothers Of Invention: We're Only In It For The Money
By Don Heckman, p 100


As with any recording by the Mothers, there are so many aspects to report on that one hardly knows where to begin. (read more

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1969 August

Vol. 23 No. 2

 

Mothers Of Invention: Uncle Meat
By Don Heckman, pp 104-105


Frank Zappa and his Mothers of Invention have been working on a film titled (that's right) "Uncle Meat." According to Zappa, he is $300,000 short of being able to finish it. When, and if, they do, it should be one of the more remarkable neighborhood-theater events of the season. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1970 January

Vol. 24 No. 1

 

The Mothers Of Invention: The **** Of The Mothers
By Don Heckman, pp 118, 120


I am convinced that Frank Zappa possesses one of the most fascinating musical minds of the decade. He has been passing in disguise as a teen-age idol, a rock-&-roll star, a freak, and a nonpareil humorist, but such masquerades should not distract us from the innovative excellence of his music. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1970 June

Vol. 24 No. 6

 

The Mothers Of Invention: Burnt Weeny Sandwich
By Noel Coppage, pp 98-99


Frank Zappa, a sort of unwashed, people's (read that without the comma if you insist) version of John Cage, talked Reprise into starting two record labels, Bizarre and Straight, and I guess nobody need be told that the Mothers of Invention record for Bizarre. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1971 January

Vol. 26 No. 1

 

The Mothers Of Invention: Weasels Ripped My Flesh
By Don Heckman, pp 96, 100


Here are fragments from the Mothers' large collection of recorded "out-takes," all dolled up with one of the ugliest covers I've ever seen (it depicts, in living color, the record's title). (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1971 March

Vol. 26 No. 3

 

Frank Zappa: Chunga's Revenge
By Noel Coppage, pp 96, 100


The combination of Zappa compositions and Zappa arrangements (Zapprrangements?) provides a steady progression of unexpected sounds. Almost all of the first side is extremely good acid rock, with Zappa's guitar hurtling through the air at you. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1971 June

Vol. 26 No. 6

 

Edgard Varèse
By Eric Salzman, pp 57-61, 64-68

Edgard Varèse: Idol of My Youth

By Frank Zappa, pp 62-63


Stereo Review presents the nineteenth article in the American Composers Series – Edgard Varèse by Eric Salzman, containing a 2-page article by Frank Zappa.

Source: slime.oofytv.set

 

1971 November

Vol. 27 No. 5

 

The Mothers Of Invention: The Mothers, Fillmore East – June 1971
By Don Heckman, pp 132, 136


It's a good thing we have Frank Zappa. Without his insane blend of rock, perversion, obscenity, theater, classical music, and aleatorism, the pop scene would be in sad straits. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1972 November

Vol. 29 No. 5

 

The Mothers: Just Another Band from L.A.
By Joel Vance, pp 90, 92


If you've got the time to listen to Zappa – and it takes time – you'll find he's intelligent and shrewd, sometimes astute, perhaps talented. I've come to the conclusion that Zappa couldn't care less what anybody thinks because he doesn't believe anybody thinks; they are all programmed and believe what they see in TV ads. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1973 January

Vol. 30 No. 1

 

Frank Zappa: Waka/Jawaka – Hot Rats
By Noel Coppage, p 96


When I was a kid I heard or read at least once a week that the big bands were coming back. Despite being only eight and a certified non-genius, I knew enough to keep saying "baloney." (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1975 March

Vol. 34 No. 3

 

Frank Zappa/Mothers: Roxy & Elsewhere
By Eric Salzman, pp 85, 87


Frank Zappa, the Franz Liszt, Jonathan Swift, and Spike Jones of the pop avant-garde, is the standard bearer of whatever is left of that theatrical school of rock music which is at once commedia dell'arte zaniness, social critique, and high-class musicianship on a low-brow trip. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1975 December

Vol. 35 No. 6

 

Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention: One Size Fits All
By Noel Coppage, p 101


Frank Zappa really should go into television or film or something visual and stop waiting for many of us to grasp the significance of the ugly sounds he makes in the name of music. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1976 March

Vol. 36 No. 3

 

Zappa - Beefheart - Mothers: Bongo Fury
By Joel Vance, pp 98-99


Frank Zappa's career is based on the old rule of successful preachers and comedians: expose the idiocies and corruptions of society without ever telling the audience, who agrees with you, that you are talking about them. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1977 April

Vol. 38 No. 4

 

Frank Zappa: Zoot Allures
By Peter Reilly, p 102


Frank Zappa's ability to astonish the middle-class listening public has dwindled so much that these days he comes across as the musical male equivalent of one of those eccentric shopping-bag ladies muttering darkly to herself in a doorway. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1978 May

Vol. 40 No. 5

 

Pop Rotogravure
By Rick Milz, p 118


A little heart-tugging soap opera here – maybe Patient Griselda, Backstage Drudge. Anyway, once upon a time there was a lady named B.J. whose job it was to cook meals for bands that play New York City's Palladium Theater. When FRANK ZAPPA was in town recently (his latest LP is appropriately called "Zappa in New York," Discreet 2D 2290) he was appalled to discover that B.J. was trying to coax culinary miracles out of a hot plate. The kind Prince sent his chamberlain John out for a real live stove. John hopped a taxi down to a second-hand shop on Canal Street, bought a stove, tossed it into the cab's back seat, and hauled it back to a surprised and grateful B.J., shown here with Zappa sort of heating up a little something on the back burner. And so they ate happily ever after.

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1979 April

Vol. 42 No. 4

 

A Little Visit With Frank Zappa
By Steve Simels, pp 80-82


The following excerpts from our conversation, alternately witty, scathing, scatological, and thoughtful, should give you an idea of what I mean. I should add, by the way, that although we did not get along particularly well – at one point he called me a pinhead and I'm sure he meant it – I still respect the man as much as I respect anyone in pop music. After all, he plays a mean guitar.  (read more)

 

Source: slime.oofytv.set

 

1979 June

Vol. 42 No. 6

 

Frank Zappa: Sheik Yerbouti
By Peter Reilly, pp 102, 104


Introducing his own label gives Frank Zappa the opportunity to deposit several giant dodo's on your carpet and then, in an equally infantile way, wait for you to tell him what a good boy he is. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1979 December

Vol. 43 No. 6

 

Frank Zappa: Joe's Garage, Act I
By Eric Salzman, pp 114, 116


I don't know if "Act II" of "Joe's Garage" is forthcoming, but I hope so. "Act I" sure does end incomprehensibly. As usual, Zappa milks his favorite obsessions: "Joe's Garage" is a slightly surrealistic sound drama about garage bands, groupie sex, and all-American sleaze. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1981 October

Vol. 46 No. 10

 

Frank Zappa: Tinsel Town Rebellion
By Marc Peel, p 99


I began listening to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in high school, more than thirteen years ago, and for years afterward I devoured each new release of his with unseemly passion. Among the things of lasting value Zappa introduced me to were contemporary jazz, twentieth-century classical composers, and healthy skepticism. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1982 December

Vol. 47 No. 12

 

Frank Zappa: Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch
By Peter Reilly, p 102


Five of the songs on this album are standard Frank Zappa tirades about almost anything and everything delivered with his usual petulance. The sixth, however, Valley Girl, is a lightly wicked piece of genuine satire. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1983 November

Vol. 48 No. 11

 

Zappa
By Mark Peel, p 102


There are reviews of Zappa's albums London Smphony Orchestra, Volume 1 and The Man from Utopia.

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1985 March

Vol. 50 No. 3

 

Frank Zappa Established
By Mark Peel, p 76


Zappa's albums Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger and Them or Us reviewed.

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1987 June

Vol. 52 No. 6

 

Zappa
By Michael Smolen, pp 93-95


"Narrow-mindedness has always been one of the prime factors in American society," Zappa told me recently over coffee at New York's Mayfair Hotel. "It's a big blind spot in America, the closed-mindedness, the small-mindedness, the resistance to change. There's a resistance to change and an artificial support of things that are new, because Americans have a resistance to going all the way. So when people say 'That's not music,' that's just another manifestation of closed-mindedness. It's an educational problem."  (read more)

Source: americanradiohistory.com

 

1992 October

Vol. 57 No. 10

 

Frank Zappa: Beat The Boots, Vol. 2
By Steve Simels, p 86


FRANK ZAPPA: Beat the Boots, Volume 2. RHINO R2 7 1017/7 1023 (eight discs).
Another collection of bootleg Zappa recordings, made between 1968 and 1978, reclaimed and rereleased by the artist himself, with the original sometimes cool, sometimes dingy artwork and highly variable sound quality left intact. It pales compared with FZ's carefully compiled "You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore" series, but the package has a strange appeal, like a reprocessed piece of underground pop-culture history.

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1994 March

Vol. 59 No. 3

 

Track Records
By Parke Puterbaugh, p 98


"Here are the ones I'd say no home should be without: Absolutely Free, We're Only in It for the Money, Uncle Meat, Tinsel Town Rebellion, The Best Band ou Never Heard in Your Life, You Can't Do That Onstage Anmore, Vol. 5."

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1995 July

Vol. 60 No. 7

 

Perfectly Frank
By Steve Simels, p 81


The late Frank Zappa wore many hats during his career – composer, bandleader, satirist, guitarist, anticensorship crusader – but he won my heart in particular for perhaps the greatest album title of all time, "Weasels Ripped My Flesh." So I am gratified to report that virtually all of Zappa's recorded output (nearly sixty albums, including "Weasels" from 1970) has just arrived on CD, courtesy cf Rykodisc. All were remastered by Zappa himself before his untimely death in 1993, and most feature revamped artwork by the original designer, Cal Schenkel. Pick hit: "We're Only in It for the Money," in a cleaned-up version of the original 1968 mix (the first CD reissue featured updated rhythm tracks that most fans disliked).

Source: worldradiohistory.com

 

1997 January

 

Frank Zappa: Läther
By Parke Puterbaugh, pp 100-101


"Läther" represents both the best and the worst of Frank Zappa. My advice: Savor the best, overlook the worst. (read more)

Source: worldradiohistory.com