ROXY & ELSEWHERE is arguably Zappa's best live album. It features what was, for my tastes, the best lineup of musicians he ever shared a stage with: Napoleon Murphy Brock, Bruce and Tom Fowler, Ruth Underwood, the demon-fingered George Duke, and several others you can read about in the liner notes. (Anybody who enjoyed this cast of characters should also check out the studio album ONE SIZE FITS ALL.)

Zappa is comfortable and at ease with his audience on this album; he delivers a couple of relaxed monologues about, e.g., monster movies, and his guitar work is always both brilliant and accessible. His musical arrangements are funky and tasteful; his lyrical satire is in top form, has left behind the snide contemptuousness of some of his early stuff, and hasn't yet taken on the bitter, curmudgeonly edge that came to characterize some of his later work. In short, he comes across as what he was: a genius guitarist and composer who was enjoying himself onstage with both the audience and the band.

There are some serious Zappa classic on this album -- notably "Cheepnis," his hilarious but appreciative parody of low-budget monster movies (". . . the monster, which the peasants in this area call FRUNOBULAX . . . "); a redux version of FREAK OUT's "Trouble Every Day," rendered this time out as a slow and bluesy number with an achingly brilliant guitar solo; and the very, very long "Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen's Church)," which occupied an entire album side on the original LP and features both Zappa's signature "audience participation" and some terrific keyboard-and-vocal work from George Duke ("This is BEEEEEEEEEEEEE-bop, even though you think it doesn't sound like that . . . ") -- plus some others I won't list here.

Classic stuff. In short, Zappa at his finest, and a must for FZ fans and neophytes alike.

Many will disagree with me here, but honestly, right before this album came out, I was finding my devotion to my utmost musical hero severely tested. Overnite Sensation was fun, but not as amazing as what I was used to from FZ. Apostrophe' plain left me cold, despite how popular it was amongst new Zappa converts.

Roxy and Elsewhere restored much needed faith. I had seen some of this material played live in concert, heard something about a PBS special he was working on, forked out my hard-earned neo-teenage cash for a double live album, and was dancing on the ceiling from the first listening. I'd never heard such a great live recording, and the energy from the performance brought a much-needed element missing from the bottom-heavy, too-clean production of the two previous albums.

"Penguin in Bondage" is a hilarious view of sexual deviance, made somehow more so due to the restraints of having the performance recorded for television broadcasts; since he could not resort to outright raunch, the lyrics are peppered with strange, suggestive images (ie: kleenex on a coat-hang wire), and the song becomes a surrealistic goof on the whole 70s S&M phenomena. Zappa later pays homage to creature features of the 50s and 60s in "Cheepnis", a love letter to all those who ever sat out late night movies on TV just to look for costume zippers, 2x4s on fake cave sets, and visible nylon strings on giant insects.

A highlight of the album kicks off with an affectionate (yes, Frank COULD be affectionate) recollection of life in Palmdale, "Village of the Sun", famous for its turkey farms. Without missing a beat the band segues into a phenomenal instrumental of shifting rhythms, textures, keys, sounding by turns jazzy and cartoonish, even quite beautiful (Bruce Fowler's tromboning can ellicit chills), and through it all Zappa maintains the theatrical aspect as well ("ladies and gentlemen .... WATCH RUTH!"). Not only are his musicians expected to play complex, very difficult music ..... they also had to make it look fun.

This is exemplified in the final piece, "Be-Bop Tango", whose live performance borders on the athletic. In between the two tightly-structured sections his musical crew is given license to improvise, free-form, around a series of secret hand signals before coming back together to bring the piece to an abrupt finish. At one point during the proceedings, Zappa explains "Jazz isn't dead; it just smells funny."

In the five or so years that were to follow this album's release, Frank Zappa would go on to create the most extraordinary music of that decade, some of which was not to be heard until nearly twenty years later (see Laether). Apostrophe' snagged him a gold album, but it was this later release which really clues the listener in to the direction he was going. He was not finished pushing the limits yet. ... .

This is simply the best-sounding live recording I have ever heard. Most of the disc was recorded using 16-track equipment, a rarity for 1973. It sounds like you're in a small-club, in the third-row, center. Not only is the listener hit with a jazz/funk/blues small-big band-big bang (11 members: 3 guitars, 2 keyboards, 3 percussion, 3 brass) fronted by the free world's most underrated guitarist (see solo on "More Trouble Every Day") but Mr. Zappa's spoken and compositional humor is at a peak. (see "Cheepnis") Mostly songs with words, this disc features two inconceivable-for-stage instrumentals which are effectively nailed. This album is virtual Zappa and, although no substitute for the real thing, offers a slight return to perhaps Zappa's most astute combo. A 10? This one goes to 11. Get it, folks, even if you have to hide it from the spouse.

You know it... You love it... You can't live without it!

I'd recommend buying this one for a friend who doesn't know or thinks (like most people) that he/she doesn't like Frank Zappa because he's too weird.

This album is most likely ranked in every Zappa fan's top 5 of the 70 official releases. It is a brilliant live recording full of astounding playing by Frank on guitar and the incomparable rhythm section of Ruth Underwood on percussion, George Duke on keyboard, Chester Thompson and Ralph Humphries on drums (although not both together on all tracks, gets into a serious drumming duel on "Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?") along with the Fowler Brothers on horn and bass, not to mention Napoleon Murphy Brock on Sax and vocals and just to keep it real, Don Preston on synthesizer in this jazz-rock extravaganza!

Fans of Zappa's humorous side will delight in Frank's storytelling on such tracks as "Cheepnis" and his way with audience members in the "hard one to play" Be-Bop Tango. Fans of Frank's guitar playing will marvel at the always uncompromising playing on "Penguin In Bondage", "Son of Orange County" and "More Trouble Every Day" to name a few.

Definitely one of the best Zappa/Mothers live recordings. There are, of course, many others but this one is probably most easily digestable to the uninitiated or Zappa skeptic.

Sounds as fresh today as it did nearly 30 years ago when first recorded. A two-record set fit perfectly onto one disc and NOT remixed by Frank - a complaint and sticking point on numerous other releases by Frank when put out on CD.

I've listened to many zappa albums. And people say this is like one of his greatest EVER! I think it's overrated. Because it is very jazzy, most of these were never on studio albums before (only trouble every day is from freak out) and there's not much humor.

Penguin In Bondage - This is one of the best songs.
Pingwy Twylyte - Not a very good track. Seems unnecessary.
Dummy Up - This is alright. I prefer the original mothers talking during concerts than george duke.
Village of the sun - Don't really like this one that much.
Echdina's Arf (Of You) - Jazzy song that goes right into...
Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? - Good one. One of my faves.
Cheepnis - Mediocre.
Son Of Orange County - Not that great.
Trouble Every Day - Allright version. Not the best one though.
Bee-bop Tango - I'm sure the dancing part would have been cooler if seen. But the places where they play music are good.
I wouldn't recommend this album for beginners. If you want radio friendly zappa, get apostrophe or overnite sensation. If you want crazy mothers zappa. Get WOIIFTM. If you want post mid 70s zappa, get Joe's Garage, or One size fits all. If you want jazzy zappa get Hot Rats, or Burnt Weeny Sandwich or Uncle Meat or Grand Wazoo. But this is not a good first try.