I was a little wary of buying this one at first---I wanted disc two (featuring the 1982 band) but not disc one (featuring the 1960s Mothers). I like the Original Mothers, but after Weasels and Uncle Meat and the Ark and the Mystery Disc, etc, I was a little Mothered-out.

But disc one exceeded my expectations: it's much funnier than I thought it would be, and there are some really exciting musical tracks. My one complaint is that the dialogue-to-music ratio is a bit high.

Disc two is extraordinary. Some of the songs were played better on other recordings, I think, especially Easy Meat and Dead Girls of London (on Tinseltown Rebellion and the bootleg Any Way the Wind Blows), but What's New in Baltimore and Moggio are superb, and I was surprised at how well A Pound for a Brown came out. RDNZL is a personal favorite as well. Disc two contains almost no dialogue, which is a nice contrast to the first disc. (I also think Scott Thunes plays better on this disc than any other.)

Keep in mind that FZ's not-so-secret agenda in the YCDTOSA series (-especially- this volume) was to demonstrate how bad the Original Mothers were compared to later bands, such as 1974 and 1982. Well...it worked...although the Original Mothers were a lot more talented than FZ makes them out to be.

This is definitely a fine CD for the Zappaphile to own. I'm not a huge fan of the guitar/synth Zappa line-ups of the late '70s and early '80s, but they possessed a lot of skill and are worth checking out.

One thing I see all the time, is when people review volume 5 of "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore," (or any, for that matter), and think that Zappa's comment in the sleeve notes in the series about the original Mothers' talent, compared to later bands, is supposed to show a lack of ability and talent on the part of the original band. This is glaringly wrong. To parse this quote: 'Great care has been taken throughout to ensure the best audio quality, however early selections of historical interest performed by the original Mothers Of Invention, though not exactly "hi-fi," have been included for the amusement of those fetishists who still believe the only "good" material was performed by that particular group.' This is his gift to fans of the original band. He was aware of a segment of his fan base that still prefers the early material.
"Hopefully, comparisons to recordings by the later ensembles will put an end to that particular misconception." This only means that one of his favorite ensembles, the 1982 touring band, is a good contrast to the old material. If he didn't like any of it, there would be as little of it included here as possible. Disc one is a cross section of the early players, not just the performances, but the attitude of that particular band. Jim Black singing on the tour bus like some drunk ready to be thrown out of a bar, is an anthropological recording, a statement of how the guys carried on in those days. Not a spotlight of "talent," but more, what they were about. And FZ's disparaging comments about the original Mothers notwithstanding, they were one of the best bands to perform, in a studio, or on stage.

Disc Two, is a cross section of performances by the 1982 band, which, he has said numerous times, played "beautifully." Hearing this disc, is almost like attending a single live performance by this particular band. Pretty representative of a typical early 80's show. Some commercial material ("Dancin' Fool"), extended jams ("A Pound For A Brown"), displays of the bands individual chops ("RDNZL"), and my particular favorite part of the disc, "Geneva Farewell." Some idiot threw something onto the stage, and if you follow Frank Zappa's live performances, even casually, you'll notice he always stressed, "Don't throw stuff onto the stage," this was a common announcement he made from the stage at his shows. So, at this point, he says, "Okay, if you throw anything else onto the stage, the concert's over." You then hear a translator plead to the audience what Zappa said. Then the moron in the audience doesn't take him seriously, and throws something at him anyway. The response? "Houselights! The concert's over." And I hope the people in the audience taught this guy a lesson.

I'll review the other volumes of this series as time and circumstance will allow, but I chose this one first, mostly because of what I saw in reviews about the Mothers on Disc 5, and misconceptions about the comments about misconceptions concerning the early band. If this makes any sense. :-)

Also: A reference to FZ's solos on "Underground Freak Out...". The guitar solos in question, are Lowell George's. Zappa conducted the band here, like an orchestra.

In case you don't read my sprawling,self indulgent review below, you should get this album for one reason:CD2. THE 82 BAND. Highlights include an awesome pound for a brown, a monstrous black page, an earth-shattering what's new in baltimore, an incredible easy meat, a sensational rdnzl, a fabulous moggio, a super advance romance, a ... city of tiny lights, a just plain marvellous shall we take ourselves seriously. It's as good as it gets. CD1 has some nice things in it too, notably 'here lies love', 'underground freak out music', 'charles ives', 'my guitar' and 'baked bean boogie'. Plenty of treats on this disc too, let's not forget that this contains music from the original mothers of invention, the original, and the best (except for the 82,73,74,88,77,78,75,79,81,76,84 bands) thank you.

For those of us who are diehard Zappa fans, this volume of YCDTOSA is very interesting. It its FZ's way to prove to us that, whatever we say, the 82 band was musically light years ahead of our beloved original Mothers.

Disc 1 is devoted to the (nearly) original band from 69. If you know your Zappa, you'll be pleased to hear yet another version (under a different name) of the Gas Mask, or some wonderful Garret Theater type sessions, or even a King Kong without the theme. I would say this is only for the initiated who will appreciate the coarse subtelties (if you allow the contradictory statement) of the time. Roy Estrada at his yelling best.

Disc 2 is fully devoted to the wondeful musicianship of the 82 band. Absolutely impeccable even when having syringes thrown at them. Just listen to the Black Page.

Not a begginers' record.

On Disc 1, the `excerpts and edits' approach doesn't quite work. Items like `Proto-Minimalism' and `Meow' don't really communicate anything when taken out of context; the Mozart Ballet clearly needs to be seen as well as heard; `Baked Bean Boogie' and `Underground Freak-Out' (a King Kong excerpt) only emphasize the fact that Zappa was the worst soloist in his own group at the time; a different edit of `Black Beauty' (aka `No Waiting...') is used to pad out the disc - this, an incomplete `Trouble' with near-inaudible vocals, and a mere snippet of `Little House'/'Hunchback Duke' were not necessary inclusions...and `Where's Our Equipment' (merely three minutes, from the same show as `Ian Underwood Whips It Out') only leaves you gagging for more.

On the credit side, Zappa-the-editor manages to make something interesting out of yet another Gas Mask + sex noises routine (`Right There', a variant of `Skweezit'), there are some important obscurities (the terrific `Downtown Talent Scout', `Charles Ives', Lowell's vocal `Here Lies Love' and `Chocolate Halvah'), and even if some of the extracted dialogue/bad-singing-by-JCB is worthless, `German Lunch' is actually funny the first few times you hear it.

Having said all that, the deleted `official bootlegs' - `Our Man In Nirvana' and `Electric Aunt Jemima' - are a better way to experience the original Mothers in far out mode.

Disc 2 is where the action is - other reviewers have said it all, I'll simply add that this is the only place you can get `Shall We Take Ourselves Seriously'. A disc with the `Easy Meat' (the finished version), `Moggio/What's New In Baltimore', `RDNZL', `Pound...' and `Black Page' recommends itself.