Trance-Fusion
October 24 2006
Tracklist:
- Chunga’s Revenge (7:01)
- Bowling On Charen (5:03)
- out-take from Wild Love - Good Lobna (1:39)
- out-take from Let’s Move To Cleveland - A Cold Dark Matter (3:31)
- out-take from Inca Roads - Butter Or Canons (3:24)
- out-take from Let’s Move To Cleveland - Ask Dr. Stupid (3:20)
- out-take from Easy Meat - Scratch & Sniff (3:56)
- out-take from City Of Tiny Lites - Trance-Fusion (4:19)
- out-take from Marque-son’s Chicken - Gorgo (2:41)
- out-take from The Torture Never Stops - Diplodocus (3:22)
- out-take from King Kong - Soul Polka (3:17)
- out-take from Oh No - For Giuseppe Franco (3:48)
- out-take from Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel - After Dinner Smoker (4:45)
- out-take from The Torture Never Stops - Light Is All That Matters (3:46)
- out-take from Let’s Move To Cleveland - Finding Higg’s Boson (3:41)
- out-take from Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel - Bavarian Sunset (4:00)
Rate This Album
(37 votes, average: 8.08 out of 10) 
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November 13th, 2006 at 10:02 am
Another “Guitar” album complied from mostly 1988 shows in Europe (with a few from 1984 , one from 1977 and one from 1979). If youlove FZ’s guitar improvizsations, you’ll be in heaven, if guitar solos bore you, then you are a lost soul so buy this anyway and experience religious conversion . This set opens and closes with duets with Dweezil, by the way. I don’t know why the long delay getting this disc released (business problems?) This is get stuff, I give it a 10+!
November 14th, 2006 at 6:51 am
Mixed feelings on this one. Though it contains one of my all time favourite solos (Bowling On Charen – also well known as “The Squirm”) and some surprises here and there most of it is business as usual. I don’t care for his ‘88 guitar tone and style. The same patterns over and over again. Comes 13 years too late.
Not a classic.
Shut Up And Play Your Guitar is unbeatable. I thought “Guitar” was already superflous.
M.
November 14th, 2006 at 11:30 am
After waiting so long for this release, it’s hard to be objective…There’s some great stuff in here, but as much as I love to hear his solos (even the ‘88 tones) I prefer to hear the whole songs. It’s still essential because it’s one of the last things FZ assembled himself. I like it more than Guitar.
November 16th, 2006 at 9:30 am
I haven’t heard TF yet, but generally agree with Michael Pabst. I find ‘Shut up and Play’ to be much better than ‘Guitar’. The reasons are tone, but also just musically (to the extent the two are separable). These are *improvisations*, and as such depend on the band as much as on Frank’s ideas. With all respect to Chad Wackerman, jamming with Vinnie Coliuta is completely different from jamming with Chad. The ‘Shut Up’ stuff is better (to my ear) because Coliuta was really on Frank’s wavelength, rhythmically.
I’ll still get TF, of course, being the love slave I am…
November 16th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
I love it. It’s a way of life. For me, this is not only the best form of audial entertainment I’ve experienced since I bought my last Zappa album (which was Quaudiophiliac not a month ago), and this is the first time I’m actually enjoying a full guitar-only album. It’s got all the right elements and it’s not too long. I should’ve bought two.
November 16th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Yes this was FZ’s last completed project, which makes it very cool to see which solos the man himself thought were worthy of another “solo” album. I agree with what Michael said above - the squirm/wild love is definitely a gem; I heard it before on apocrypha and was stunned.
As far as comparisons to the other solo albums go:
for me, the reason SUNPYG was so mind-blowing was because the songs on there stood alone as songs (Stucco Homes, Canard du jour, Heavy Duty Judy, Ship Ahoy), or the variations (Pink Napkins, Beat It w/your fist, five-five-FIVE) were so unique that they brought an entirely new musical angle to the song.
TF, however, reminds me more of Guitar, simply because you kind of get the feeling, “oh, another Hot Plate Heaven solo. oh, another cleveland solo.” (On Guitar, it was “oh, another Zoot Allures solo, oh, another Drowning Witch solo.”)
HOWEVER!
I turned the cd player back and listened to After-Dinner Smoker twice in a row.
Bottom line: there’s a reason FZ chose the songs on TF, and there’s a reason FZ chose the songs he did on SUNPYG, and they may not be the same reason.
ok, all done.
November 20th, 2006 at 1:10 am
I love the clean yet processed sound of FZ’s 88 guitar solo’s. It’s detailed without being too thin & I think it stands out well against the 88 live band. I can’t hear enough of it!
The more aggressive 84 style is present as well, which is nice as contrast & there are some sonic surprises, sounds and styles that are rare on regular releases.
All in all a well balanced treat for your late night guitar cravings.
My main problems with this album are:
1 - it’s too short
2 - the main keyboard line of ‘Cleveland’ is so distinctive at the end of a few solo’s I really miss the end of that song. It should have been there as album closer in stead of Bavarian Sunset, which is mostly Dweezil doing an Eddy Van Halen style - one chord work out. It’s not essential to say the least.
Two down sides, 15 great solo’s. This album should get a 13 on a 1 to 10 scale!!
November 20th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
Yes!!
After Dinner Smoker is a smoker all right! I did the same as Brian Walsh and listened to that track 2 times in a row.
I like the selections, I wish he would have left the Bowling on Charen/ The Squirm intact, it’s not the whole solo as it was played, and it’s not the same as the King Bisquit Flower Hour recording I am sure we all know of. I have thought that was on of my favorite solos, since I heard on the radio and recorded it to 8- track way back when it was aired.
I have awaited this as well as the restof us, and am happy with it for the most part. I for one like the 88 guitar tone, but the solos seemed to be a little shorter than they used to be. All in all I am a happy listener!!
December 7th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Wow. I was kinda bummed when I first saw this one because I have been reading about it since I got into Zappa which was 20 years too late. I was really hoping it would be another Shut Up but when I saw all the 88′ stuff I was a little bummed. After I listened to it I was very pleased. yes there is a lot of 88 stuff but it is really tasty. I have Guitar and I like it but it does not compare to Shut Up and I feel like Trance Fusion is somewhere inbetween.
I think Dweezil is so much better now after listening to the stuff on the disc and hearing him live this year. Dweezil is doing Frank proud nowadays. Glad he is rocking his dad’s stuff. Anyway, any fan of Guitar will love TF and any fan of Shut Up will like it alot too.
One last thing I have to say about the Trance Fusion is the shitty artwork. I mean it is professional and laid out well but what the fuck is with the dolphins. That is not very FZ. yeah I got that it makes the FZ logo but what the fuck. That is some hippie crystal burn your sage ass shit. How about more pictures of Frank instead? Or one on the cover.
December 9th, 2006 at 2:31 am
The original version of After Diner Smoker is
orgiastic. Listen to Torture never stops, 9.6.88,
one of these days the earth stood still.
January 9th, 2007 at 3:51 am
Hey - It’s Frank, so enjoy what you get. I’ll take it whatever it is. The Dweezil FZ duet on Chungas is a great version - no meandering intro - just the main phrase and away they go - and Dweezil does kick some ass here. Any great recordings of FZ and Dweezil from 88 are worth the price of admission alone. I would love to hear the outstanding Stairway to Heavens and other FZ/DZ duets that 88 offered, and I know they exist, but you gotta take what’s put out there. I agree that some selections are short compared to typical FZ guitar solo releases, but what are ya gonna do? It’s just music - and great music, so listen and dig it - then shut up and stop analyzing it.
January 9th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Trance-Fusion is a gorgeous audio treat, despite featuring the teenage whining guitar of Dweezil on two tracks. After years of waiting (and owning a crummy sounding bootleg of this album) it finally arrives and doesn’t disappoint.
May 5th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
If you don’t have anything nice to say, Shut Up N Play Yer Guitar
May 7th, 2007 at 9:36 am
What happened to all the fun in the world?
August 13th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I am a huge fan of Frank’s guitar, and I like Trance-Fusion a lot, but it does begin to sound like more of the same, almost like out-takes from “Guitar”.
I’d love to hear Dweezil do more “xenochronous” stuff with these solos, …
i.e., transcribe them for other instruments, and have vibes and horns playing unison and harmony lines with Frank’s notes, and have the drummer follow along (like Vinnie used to do), etc. Create whole new songs from the existing parts. You can convert audio to MIDI pretty easily now, so why not try it, Dweezil ?!?
August 15th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
“Trance-Fusion” revealed how badly FZ catalog needs a proper remastering. I finally can hear Scott’s bass in all its splendor (not the shallow lifeless plink-plank of the ‘88 live releases)! As for the FZ’s guitar playing - well, I certainly like TF less than SPNPYG and G: less variety, less chance-taking, more cliches.
December 8th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Out of “Shut Up…”, “Guitar” and “Trance-Fusion”, I’d go for “Guitar” anyday. It seems to have the best of both worlds…
Not to say that there is anything at all wrong with “Trance-Fusion”, it’s just a matter of personal taste. Sometimes I love the clean tone Z uses on his solos here, sometimes I find it a tiny bit lifeless. But saying that, there is something of interest on each and every track to be found on this CD. As someone said above, all these were chozen by FZ for a reason
Personal favourites are the opening ‘Chunga…” and ‘Ask Dr Stupid’. The sound is perfection itself, a lovely bit of mixing and sprucing up has been done here.
In fact, the only really duff thing about this CD is the bloody cover. I cannot think of a more unzappaish creature than a dolphin, they give the whole package a horrible turquoise newage feel…
December 19th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
dont be terrified its just a token of FRANK’S extreme.
January 12th, 2008 at 4:36 am
I like the cover, it gives the whole thing a crisp feeling- like cold water, somehow reminds me of QUADiophilliac… a highly enjoyable listen, simply beautiful, every track better than the last IMHO, ending in a lovely duet between father and son. The solos are intense but have a commercial, enjoyable melodious quality to them that makes the whole disc presentable for car rides.
3cds + 2cds + 1cd- there is an intensifying within the ‘Guitar’ series, it’s audible if you listen to them in order… Trancefusion is the best out of the whole series, go out and buy it.