The Man from Utopia
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| The Man from Utopia | ||
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| Studio album by Frank Zappa | ||
| Released | March 1983 | |
| Recorded | ??? | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 40:21 | |
| Label | Rykodisc | |
| Producer(s) | Frank Zappa | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Frank Zappa chronology | ||
| Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch (1982) |
The Man from Utopia (1983) |
Baby Snakes (1983) |
The Man from Utopia is a 1983 album by Frank Zappa. It is a more song-driven, and less conceptual work than many others in Zappa's oeuvre. The album is named after a 1950s song, written by Donald and Doris Woods, which Zappa covers as part of "The Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou".[1]
The sleeve art features the work of RanXerox artist Tanino Liberatore. It portrays Zappa (with a superhero body like RanXerox') on stage trying to kill mosquitos. The back cover shows the audience as seen from the stage. Chaos prevail, and the cover is meant to show the events at a disaterous concert in Palermo, Italy, July 14, 1982. At that concert, fans kept trying to rush the stage, and the local security force began firing tear-gas canisters into the crowd. Zappa and his band continued to perform, but were forced to flee when the gas became unbearable, and live ammunition (presumably from the audience) was fired. Backstage footage can be found on The Dub Room Special. The album was the second of two to credit Steve Vai with "impossible guitar parts" (the first being Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch).
The album's opening track "Cocaine Decisions", with its Zappa groove redolent of skiffle washboards, has contributed to the great mis-rhymes of rock history: "...you are a doctor or a lawyer / you got an office with a foyer..." Also included is "Dangerous Kitchen", a track which describes a place "where the cream is all clabbered and the salad is frightful..." and "the milk can hurt you". In a similar vein is the satire on 1950s sci-fi B-movies, "The Radio Is Broken". Both those tracks and "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" feature Zappa's unique "melt-down" style, similar to sprechgesang or sprechstimme. The original album had instrumentals ending each side, the first one being the difficult yet catchy "Mōggio" and the second the equally catchy and tricky "We Are Not Alone," featuring Marty Krystall on saxophone.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Frank Zappa, except where noted.
[edit] Original release
The album was originally released on vinyl in 1983.
[edit] Side one
- "Cocaine Decisions" – 2:56
- "The Dangerous Kitchen" – 2:51
- "Tink Walks Amok" – 3:40
- "The Radio Is Broken" – 5:52
- "Mōggio" – 3:05
[edit] Side two
- Medley consisting of "The Man from Utopia" (Donald and Doris Woods) and "Mary Lou" (Obie Jessie) – 3:19
- "Stick Together" – 3:50
- "SEX" – 3:00
- "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" – 4:30
- "We Are Not Alone" – 3:31
[edit] Re-release
The album was re-released on CD in 1995.
- "Cocaine Decisions" – 3:53
- "SEX" – 3:44
- "Tink Walks Amok" – 3:39
- "The Radio Is Broken" – 5:51
- "We Are Not Alone" – 3:18
- "The Dangerous Kitchen" – 2:51
- "The Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou" – 3:22
- "Stick Together" – 3:14
- "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" – 4:29
- "Luigi & the Wise Guys" (Bonus track) – 3:25
- "Mōggio" – 2:35
[edit] Personnel
- Frank Zappa – guitar, vocals, drum machine, ARP 2600
- Steve Vai – guitar, acoustic guitar
- Ray White – guitar, vocals
- Roy Estrada – vocals
- Bob Harris – boy soprano
- Ike Willis – vocals
- Bobby Martin – keyboards, saxophone, vocals
- Tommy Mars – keyboards
- Arthur Barrow – keyboards, bass, micro bass, rhythm guitar
- Ed Mann – percussion
- Scott Thunes – bass
- Chad Wackerman – drums
- Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
- Craig "Twister" Steward – harmonica
- Dick Fegy – mandolin
- Marty Krystall – saxophone
