Album Reviews

One Size Fits All is arguably the peak of Frank Zappa’s acclaimed mid-1970s incarnation of The Mothers of Invention, an assemblage that helped him deliver two smash-hit albums, September 1973’s Over-Nite Sensation and March 1974’s Apostrophe (’). Read Mark Smotroff’s review of both the 180g 1LP and 2LP color-variant special editions of June 1975’s One Size Fits All that have been released in celebration of the 50th anniversary of an album universally revered as one of the maestro’s rock masterworks to see if they pass the “Sofa” playback test, if you will. . .

In the aftermath of The Mothers’ September 1973 hit LP Over-Nite Sensation, Frank Zappa began a process of trying to capture his amazing band on video for a hopeful television program. It took the better part of a year to eventually accomplish the task, as two trial efforts were deemed unusable at the time. Thankfully, modern restoration techniques have helped salvage such historic works in these 21st century tymes (sic), and that second session — now officially titled Cheaper Than Cheep — is being released by Zappa Records/UMe today, June 27, 2025, as a 180g 3LP set. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see why Cheep is anything but, and is instead another worthwhile addition to the Zappa-on-vinyl canon. . .

The once-buried archival recordings that comprise Frank Zappa’s new 180g 2LP set Funky Nothingness are not just the components of a lost album, but more of an insightful transitional link into FZ’s compositional mindset. This new album also connects many musical dots between the aftermath of FZ’s October 1969 landmark jazz fusion masterpiece Hot Rats and October 1970’s Chunga’s Revenge — and beyond. Read Mark Smotroff’s review to see just how quickly Funky Nothingness should jump to the front of your LP listening queue. . .

Gabriel's new album is Up in name only: the album--his first in a decade (aside from some instrumental soundtracks)--is yet another exploration into life's mysteries and the dark places of Gabriel's mind. If truth-in-packaging laws applied to album titles, this would have to be renamed Down.

Johnny Shines labored long and unfairly in the shadow of Robert Johnson, who he'd met and traveled with briefly, shortly before the blues legend's death. Like Johnson, Shines was a genuine country-bred Delta bluesman. Even when he moved to the city, he retained his rural sound.

Gene Clark went from superstar status to cult favorite faster than probably any artist in rock’s history. Departing from The Byrds at the very height of their powers (immediately after “Eight Miles High”, which he was the major architect of), he bounced from label to label, cutting some of the greatest albums of the late-60’s and early 70’s in the process. He progressed, flowered and remained, in a quiet way, one of the finest singer-songwriters of the period, and in hindsight, chronicled the stylistic shifts in music and social mores as well as anyone, including larger lights such as Neil Young. Some of his finest work was for A&M Records, either in tandem with Doug Dillard (The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard & Clark, which mid-wife’d the ‘country rock’ genre) and 1971’s Gene Clark - also known as White Light to many fans; as good as any ‘singer-songwriter’ record from the early 70’s. On this album, none other than Bob Dylan commented that one song, the epic “Spanish Guitar”, was one that he wished he’d written.