Weasels Ripped My Flesh [Original recording remastered]

From the Label
The second collection in a row of archival Mothers material, a mix of live and studio recordings (following BURNT WEENY SANDWICH), originally released in 1970. Said Rolling Stone, "...finds the group peerless in the field of amalgamating satire, musical adventuresomeness and flash. This could be because they're the only ones attempting it, but no matter."

Perhaps the most diverse Mothers album of its time, WEASELS ranges from the avant excursion "Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbeque" to the relatively tuneful "Orange County Lumber Truck," from the onstage hijinks on "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask" to the social satire, a la WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY, heard on "Oh No". "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" would sum up rock'n'roll brattiness for years to come; some kid named Dweezil Zappa even recorded it in the '80s. And there's a Little Richard cover ("Directly From My Heart to You") in the middle of all this? Sure.

Weasels Ripped My Flesh,Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention,Rykodisc,Album Rock,Comedy Rock,Experimental Rock,Fusion,Hard Rock,Jazz-Rock,Pop,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Rock,Rock/Pop

Weasels Ripped My Flesh [Original recording remastered]

Average customer rating:

Best (hardcore) Zappa
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
"FIVE STARS, CONDITIONALLY"
descuido prolijo de un genio.....
loose disconnected

Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
Manufacturer: Zappa Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Hot Rats
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ASIN: B0000009S6
Release Date: 1995-05-02

Tracks:

Didja Get Any Onya?
Directly From My Heart To You
Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Sexually Aroused Gas Mask
Toads Of The Short Forest
Get A Little
The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue
Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwart Nebula
My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama
Oh No
The Orange County Lumber Truck
Weasels Ripped My Flesh

Customer Reviews:

Best (hardcore) Zappa.......2007-06-03

Pam Zappa has described how her husband piled up the reels of recordings from the studio and on tour, down in their basement where he listened to them incessantly, taking the clips he thought were the best, and compiling them, over and over again. He released two such compilations after he broke us the original Mothers (and made Hot Rats). The first, Burnt Weeny Sandwich is fabulous.

Weasels is even better. Not only is it riskier and edgier, in its own weird way it's warm and nostalgic in a manner that eluded Zappa in his more calculated efforts. Maybe I'm just a sucker for Ray Collins singing the original OH NO. But even the more bee czar stage bits betray the sense of familial humor that abounded in this dysfunctional bunch.

While he would later collect musicians of greater sophistication and enjoy a more dedicated following, there was a magic to the first band, especially when he was pushing it to take chances while they still managed to hang onto their unique identities. Weasels is not mainly rock, but not mainly jazz either. Something more attitudinal, maybe even DADA. Definitely alternative.

This is daring stuff, but not so much room clearing as has been ascribed of it. Cutting and yet warm and fuzzy at the same time. Just like an electric rodent razor. (You can't accuse Neon Park of lacking truth in advertising. This cover, along with Feets Don't Fail Me Now both go in to the illustrators hall of fame.)

Weasels Ripped My Flesh.......2007-04-03

The music on this album is very early stuff from MOI, and they tried to do a lot! Its not neccessarily "bad" but FZ and the MOI have done better. If you are not familliar to Zappa, this album would sound very odd to you. If you are a true Zappa fan, you would find this fascinating early music and in that case this album is a must-own!! Highlights of the album are Directly From My Heart To You, Toads Of The Short Forest, Get A little, Dwarf Nebula, Oh No, And The Orange County Lumber Truck.

"FIVE STARS, CONDITIONALLY".......2007-02-27

If you don't like unusual music, please avoid this. But, if you like it, by all means, pick this up.

"Weasels" is a sampler of performances by the original Mothers Of Invention in the late 1960's, live and studio. Some of the live material is of questionable quality, but it does faithfully convey some of the more out-there work by this troup of gifted musicians. You can use this to bend the ear of folks you don't like, as another reviewer said on this page, but actually, pieces like "Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Sexually Aroused Gas Mask," as grating as it is, when you give it a little concentrated listening, are really intricate, well-rendered works. But, keep in mind, if you haven't heard this material before, you have been warned. If you don't like really bizarre music (some of this, one would say, isn't music), you will not like this at all. Of course, fans of Frank Zappa, and particularly, The Mothers Of Invention, fully appreciate this stuff; the odder, usually, the better. This is why I titled this review, "FIVE STARS, CONDITIONALLY;" you will either love it, or you will hate it, no in-between.

But, strangeness out of the way, included are some pieces of a delicate beauty, the first half of "Dwarf Nebula..." for instance. This band can, on a moment's notice, change a smooth, easily listenable piece of music into a chaotic jumble of the most seemingly undisciplined nonsene imaginable, and vice versa. Never a dull moment.

And, what I thought was a bit of marketing and artistic genius, would be the title track. The final medly, a studio recording of the song "Oh, No" segues into an excerpt from London's Festival Hall performance, the main body of "The Orange County Lumber Truck (a reference to bassist Roy Estrada's job before being a full-time musician), which abruptly splices into the title track, aptly named "Weasels Ripped My Flesh;" almost two minutes of screeching feedback and assorted other noise from the stage until Frank Zappa says to the audience, "Good night, boys and girls...Thank you for coming to our concert." Fade the applause, and it becomes a good ending to the record.

A little extra for the purchasers of the CD: The opening number, "Didja Get Any Onya?" is restored to its full-length, the second half isn't available on the vinyl release. And the sound throughout the disc is remixed and remastered to include arrangements previously not audible in previous releases.

So, just be prepared for one of the weirdest records you'll ever hear, and you won't be disappointed.

descuido prolijo de un genio............2006-09-29

que hacer con tantas grabaciones desperdiciadas por excesiva experimentacion o busqueda..que hacer con ensayos,improvisacion sin inspiracion....esto es lo que podemos escuchar en este album..ya se que muchos diran que son genialidades del maestro, que el oido comun no esta a su altura y que se yo ...yo soy de los que aman a zappa, pero tambien tengo oidos y el criterio musical suficiente para advertir un bodrio...ya se que esta lowell george, que estan los mothers..y que ?? esto no es una genialidad..es solo un paso en falso, una busqueda inconclusa..no busquemos explicaciones complejas a lo sencillo...este disco es un rejunte de material, desprolijo, mediocre, irregular..solo dos canciones podrian reconocer este formato, lo demas son inspirados y sarcasticos titulos con ruido de fondo.....no lo disfracemos de arte incomprendido....nadie va a discutir la genialidad del gran frank zappa, pero como todos nosotros, fue humano y tambien la pifiaba, seamos honestos...una obra para coleccionistas, nada mas..

loose disconnected.......2006-09-12

The album cover is great and the music certainly is wonderful for driving away annoying persons whether they be family, Mormons or some woman in love with Steve Perry. The cover is something that belongs on every single middle aged woman's bedroom wall.

The tunes are a loose hodgepodge of live and studio stuff that still manages to maintain his odd conceptual contiuity. Weasels is definitely worth picking up for any fan but probably not the place for someone to loose their Zappa cherry.