Comments on: Dub Room Special (DVD)

By: HG Montgomery

HG Montgomery — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:50:05 +0000

yeah napoleon is excellent throughout the 70s stuff. the 80s stuff is okay but not my favourite zappa era by any stretch, so i guess i would have been happier with roxy era footage all the way…
having said that, cocaine decisions is one of ym favourite 80s tracks! and i like bruce bickford’s animation, it terrified me as a kid when my dad was watching the city of tiny lites video… but yeah the sound effects are a bit irritating. they’re not really in time with the music either which is surprising considering the author.
i bought this last year but haven’t watched it that much, it’s got some gold on there but a lot to skip inbetween… i liked ‘does humour belong in music?’ better as a document of the 80s zappa, and the 70s mothers deserve ten whole dvds of their own.

By: KnirpsForMoisture

KnirpsForMoisture — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:06:35 +0000

Great to watch Napoleon Murphy Brock leaping about the stage!!!!
Love his expressions during “Florentine Pogen”

Not to forget Mort Libov who FZ gets on stage and stops him from escaping - the look of dread on that fellas face still makes me laugh!!!

By: jim

jim — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:09:08 +0000

A real blast, this … I think this one was a case where FZ truly no longer gave a rat’s ass what anybody would think about his baffling pursuit of cinema … which thus helps make room for MORE FUN … fun in which both the genius & the cheepnis are proudly shining through.

Only brevity keeps it from being as sweet as Baby Snakes for me, hell, I even like the dorky C64-style 80’s sound FX blithely glertching out all over the tunes - why? Because it’s Option-Tastic … like the drastic headband mic on the cover. YOW! APPLIANCE!

Have to enjoy the irony-quotient of this also including a Valley Girl Doc, given that he & Moon rather despised what their little joke song unwittingly unleashed on the world, but hey, pobody’s nerfect.

That Massimo song with the monkey & the chicken is sincerely hated by nearly all - heck, Zappa himself may’ve secretly loathed it but been unable to resist doing it - & it never fails to get me violently fruging with joy in a frenzy of strenuous identification, dizzy like a teenage girl in love … not to mention we get a brief anthropolgy clip from that Bitchen Sicily Riot Of ‘82, where the flak jackets are a tip-off that The Gig Has Gone BAD.

Also kicks big smokin’ holes in the walls of the mind via “Montana” or “Florentine Pogen” or “Inca Roads” or a very edifying schtick with “Approximate” … & I’m pretty sure that that “Dog/Meat” editing is SUPPOSED to zap yer eyes & brain, eh? It makes my Inner Punk sneer with satisfaction, going along as it does with such sterling material. 1970’s Cyberpunk?! Heh heh heh.

This was sincerely intended as an actual TeeVee Special - wonder if any network ran it?

By: jeroen

jeroen — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 23:39:45 +0000

The high lights are extremely high on this release.
However: the sound effects during the Bickford incidents are much too loud, and that included parts of Inca Roads that sound very good.
Another “complain” is about the often inaudible Steve Vai parts. We know from Stage 3 that the last part of the Stevie’s Spanking solo is a duel, you can see him play the shit out of his guitar here, but no sound.

But, I repeat: the high lights are worth it. Approximate is hilarious, Inca Roads can make any music lover go crazy, the pompous instrumental section of Easy Meat is a treat and finally: the beautiful guitar tones, often very different from other recordings, by FZ.

By: HairFarmer

HairFarmer — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 06:25:30 +0000

Yeah Frank’s obviously in either a more serious mindset or just plain pissed at the 82 concert, hard to be certain which. I’ve had a bootleg copy of the original VHS release of this for years but at least with the DVD release I finally have a stereo soundtrack and the ability to jump to specific songs without weakening the tape. I’m pretty sure, given Frank’s propensity to start with live recordings and edit or overdub the missed parts that the animation overlays are there to cover up those kind of mistakes or in the case of the guitar solo in Inca Roads, cover up a performance that the boss didn’t care for. Over-all very glad to have this out on DVD.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:22:13 +0000

I agree with xorg. Frank sounded like he was having a wonderful time with the 1974 band; in fact, one of the things that first turned me on to Zappa was listening to his Preambles on Roxy and hearing how much fun he was having.

By: xorg

xorg — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 19:20:50 +0000

Excellent. A fine juxtaposition of two periods in Zappa’s live performance history. I get the impression however that the 1974 band (and FZ) seem happier than the 1981 band…

By: carlos zappazerpa

carlos zappazerpa — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 01:14:18 +0000

Esa bella y pícara sonrisa de Zappa cantando Cosmik Debrise
Veo y veo y vuelvo a ver y a escuchar el video en donde Frank Zappa interpreta lleno de vida y de energía la pieza Cosmik Debrise en el DVD “Dub Room Special”
Ver la maestría del maestro tocando la guitarra o a la Ruth Underwood moviéndose con tanta agilidad entre tambores y xilófonos es estupendo… Pero cuando la cámara hace un close up del Zappa y este sonríe es lo máximo, pues es tan contagiosa esa sonrisa que de inmediato yo también sonrío…
De verdad disfruto mucho de Cosmik Debrise y mas cuando veo esa bella y pícara sonrisa de mi idolo Frank Zappa cantando, dirigiendo a su banda y tocando su guitarra eléctrica.

By: Frunobulax

Frunobulax — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 00:42:02 +0000

I’m a pit of useless factoids, as well as Zappa knowledge. I’m like your go-to answer guy.

By: jonnybutter

jonnybutter — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 23:39:36 +0000

Talkin’ bout the tiny cookies…

I should’ve known that no detail has not, by now, been covered! I found this out taking an airline flight in the early 80s sometime. After a meal, they handed out these little shortbread cookies with raspberry jam in the middle. Of course, I was the only person on the plane who was impressed and said, ‘Hey! Florentine Pogens! WOW!’.