This is a great cd! Most of the tracks have either been remixed, remastered, edited or totally reconstructed by FZ himself. Dumb All Over is a live never before released gem with a great FZ guitar solo! The sound is fabulous. Zappa perfected a genre that could be called song-stos or short stories in song, using the rhapsodic techniques he had developed. The interest of the listener is kept through myriad changes in the drum meters, riffs, fills, background vocals, special effects, unusual chord sequences, swift tranformations in mood and tone, and the like. It's a powerful genre, and Zappa's researches point out a new direction for American operatic form. There is something in this collection to offend everyone - ..., Jewishes princesses, feminists, Christains, satanists, record executives, the Musicians union, young women from the San Fernando Valley, partisans of the Parisian toilet kiosk, insecure young men who like to dance in clubs, Jimi Hendrix fans, and punkers with chops, to mention a few. Satirical anthropology, pure and simple.

Forget the Commercial Ballehoo of Stictly Commercial: The best of Frank Zappa that humorless pot of unemotiolnal Frank. If you want to learn about the real Frank Zappa buy this album. Not only does it have Zappa classics like Bobby Brown Goes Down, Dumb all over and Titties and Beer (The theme song of saturday nights with the guys) it also has liner notes about the real Frank Zappa. THe Caring Zappa. The Zappa that wants to do away with Censurship of any kind. So just forget about purchasing his greatest hits and get this album. You won't be disappointed.

This is about as good of a compilation as one could ask for, at least on one cd anyway. Some will say that Frank had a lot more "offensive" stuff than what is on here, but whether or not you find it to be offensive, well, I guess that just depends on what kind of person you are. Let's see, I'm not Jewish, I'm not Catholic, I'm not gay, I'm not a Conservative, and I'm not a religious fanatic. Even if you are a member of one of those said groups, chances are you won't be offended either. Everything is done in such a light-hearted fashion, it's really hard to get stirred up over anything that's here. It's all in good fun. Much like "Strictly Commercial" and "Cheap Thrills" this is great for newcomers and like another reviewer said, if you have any musical integrity whatsoever, it will inspire you to dig deeper. It's good for anyone really, whether you're just a casual fan or a die-hard. This is essential.

If you're a Jewish girl, Catholic, Gay, Religious, or live in Southern California you may well be offended. But if you have a good sense of humor, you shouldn't be. One again, Frank shows us how to laugh while blowing us away with his great arrangements and mind-blowing guitar playing. This is not the definative Frank Zappa album, but does give you some insight to his brand of humor. For more serious musical appreciation of this gifted artist, try some of his other numerious works.

Same problem as Strictly commercial: you think that you have essential Zappa songs, but if you have any taste / musical integrity, you'll end up wanting more Zappa albums. This one has the added benefit of many new mixes and two new live versions, so you might consider it essential anyway