Frank Zappa: The Torture Never Stops Review

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I have to throw the disclaimer in right away. Although I’ve heard various Frank Zappa tunes over the years, of which only a few I would be able to recall the title of or hum a melody or line to, I’ve never seen any live footage of Frank Zappa before watching Eagle Vision’s release of The Torture Never Stops, and wow, what an interesting individual and institution Zappa was and is.

With an All-star cast that consisted of Ray White and Steve Vai on guitars, Tommy Mars on keyboards, Scott Thunes on bass, Ed Mann on percussion, Bobby Martime on keyboards and sax, and Chad Wackerman on drums, Zappa and company blew the roof of The Palladium in New York City on Halloween Night 1981.

The DVD is approximately 120 minutes of “premeditated randomness” that include some of the most progressive music, especially the guitar riffs, of the century. The filming of the concert, and the editing of the video, was ingeniously creative.

It is apparent that the manner in which the editors and producers set up the different parts of the stage and different players flickering in and out of the frames, while Zappa takes brilliant solos on his guitar that Zappa and the producers of this video footage were “probably definitely” catering to a pro-psychedelic audience. Not that I’m speaking from experience, but I read an article in a medical journal once.

Bassist Scott Thunes provides an outrageous story in the liner notes about coming up as a young musician and how it led him away from, and then to, playing in Zappa’s band, among other cool stories, but I will leave it at that as it is definitely worth reading for one’s self.

But the liner notes are not the only reason to pick up this DVD. It is two hours full of literally non-stop music that includes “Montana,” Broken Hearts are for Assholes,” Harder Than Your Husband” and the title track “The Torture Never Stops,” as well as other Zappa classics and fan favorites.

Zappa’s awesome blend of deep, double-sided lyrics delivered in his signature blend of Sprechstimme and pre-rap-like sound are combined with his facial antics and conducting to make this a truly entertaining and mind-expanding experience.

After further research, I discovered that this show was nicknamed “The Big One” and was three hours long. One can only wonder what happened during that other hour. Maybe this could be the next production and release from Eagle Vision?

I personally would wait in line for that DVD.

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