Frank Zappa – Sheik Yerbouti (1979)

This is obviously a good piece of humour, right from the start with the album cover and title. If you are not from the Middle East, you would likely dig this album. It is a double album, and one of the highest selling Frank Zappa albums that you can still hear today. Without further hesitation, let’s take a listen to this album and see how it sounds. It’s also a double album which means that a decent amount of patience will be required to listen to this album.

First off is I Have Been In You which begins with a drum beat, glorious harmonies and a great deep sounding voice. It’s surprisingly catchy, and just sounds different and unique. It is also extremely humourous, and will get you laughing at times. An excellent piece of music that is obviously a parody, Frank Zappa has a great sense of humour here, discussing sexual relations. Towards the end is some nice dual pinched harmonic guitars, before returning to the deep vocals before flowing into the next track.

Up next is Flakes which begins with some quirky and unusual synchronized guitars and keyboards, before launching into a cynical and different piece of music that is kind of reminiscent of The Who’s Tommy somehow. Regardless, this is another parody that works extremely well. There is a good Bob Dylan joke part which is really different and adds some flavour to this track. This is weird, yet really excellent. Before long, it goes straight back into the Rock section, sounding really awesome. A great song to not take at all seriously, Frank Zappa’s music here is both timeless and humourous. You can kind of hear where Kid Rock may have got some of his ideas from, can’t you? It goes into a superb Rock jam towards the end with some additional sonic touches, such as the awesome backing vocals here. A really good piece of underrated music, it has some chanted vocals and interesting textures right at the end before continuing straight into the next track.

Broken Hearts Are For Assholes comes next, and begins with some upbeat guitar riffs before going into a pseudo-Punk music number, which is just as hilarious as it is musically accomplished. It is an excellent piece of music regardless, and is not at all serious in intent. It is laugh out loud funny, and the midsection “intermission” section is gold. This is a piece of music that is quite unlike anything else out there. Obviously the Dead Kennedys had some competition humour wise, it is pretty disgusting towards the end here, but funny all the same.

I’m So Cute comes next, and has some excellent guitar riffs to begin with, sounding somewhat like Black Sabbath. It’s another parody style song which is really funny, but is musically accomplished as well. It’s difficult to hear the meaning of this song, but is an amusing and twisted listen all the same. It is energetic, pulsating and totally wacky to hear, and the song title is chanted throughout. Weird and wonderful, but very, very good, Frank Zappa is in a league of his own musically. An excellent song and piece of artistry, this is quite an amazing listen sonically, with a variety of sounds and samples here. It ends abruptly after four minutes of chaos.

Next along is Jones Crusher which begins with some weird guitar sounds, before going into an unusual song that is another cynical parody here. Musically it is a big mish-mash of various sounds and a sort of holler vocal sound that is definitely unusual. A brilliant and energetic listening experience, Frank Zappa and crew do excellently here. Great sounds and interesting structures, not to be taken seriously, mind you. Good for a two and a half minute piece here.

Following is What Ever Happened To All The Fun In The World which is a short thirty second long piece, which has some random sounds and sound effects here, and sounds totally ridiculously weird. It quickly goes into the next piece.

Rat Tomago comes along next, beginning with some heavy guitar licks that are really awesome. This is a really excellent and superb intro to the song, showing that Frank Zappa had a few tricks up his sleeve in more ways than one. If you really dig Rock and guitar playing, you will find this a staple of your musical diet. A wonderful, loud and crazy sounding instrumental is here, with various structured sections and tempo changes here. Awesome stuff, it sounds loud, raw and rocking for those who need a bit of that in their lives. Great music and musicianship, this is really top music. Excellent from start to finish, a very inspired listen.

Wait A Minute is a thirty second piece of more nonsense chatter, which is weird. Obviously not to be taken seriously here, it samples a couple of men discussing some nonsensical matters of record making. It quickly goes into the next piece.

Next along is Bobby Brown Goes Down comes along, and is obviously another parody style piece. It is about a guy who is seemingly perfect in every way, and sounds hilarious and sexual in a weird way, especially lyrically, if you understand the song title. Very laugh out loud, it is a really incredible and excellent piece of music that must be heard if you like a laugh. Excellent music, and very much an essential listen.

Following is Rubber Shirt comes along next, and begins with some loose bass guitar notes and some Jazzy inspired playing from the bass guitar and drums on this track. A very nice shred piece on the bass guitar, the playing here is really fine and impeccably done. A really awesome piece of music, and one of the overlooked gems by Frank Zappa here. It just sounds different and gold here, a really nice piece of instrumental music. Great stuff.

The Sheik Yerbouti Tango comes along next, which is an excellent piece of guitar led playing and band groove from the start. It sounds rather Jimi Hendrix like in its phrasing, and just sounds sweet. With some really cool sounds and guitar playing to match, this is an incredible listen. Really awesome and totally different to anything else out there, the playing here is impeccable, different and spot on. A really awesome piece of music, this is an extraordinary listen from start to finish, with weird keyboard and other unusual sounds as well. It ends with some odd sound effects.

Baby Snakes comes next, and has a pounding Rock groove, and is about more weird sexual matters. It is a good song that is fun and catchy listening, and just sounds quite humourous, once again. A short piece just under two minutes, this is a really laugh out loud listen here. Great stuff. It finishes nicely.

Next along is Tryin’ To Grow A Chin comes next, and is a weird piece of music and is obviously not to be taken too seriously here. Very catchy and ridiculously unusual, but is a decent piece of music, despite the cynical and laugh out loud nature of the humour here. An excellent piece of music about teenage depression and other issues, this is super cool. A great and very odd sounding piece of music. Great sounding music.

Following is City Of Tiny Lites which begins with some unusual collection of sounds, before launching into a really cool piece of music with some really fine singing. There is some really excellent playing and musicianship here, and just sounds completely wacky and different from anything else ever recorded here. A scorching guitar solo is towards the middle here, and just sounds really cool and amazing. Frank Zappa and co. proved that they were individual and unique as musicians, and they sound incredibly gifted and tight as a musical unit. Excellent music to hear, it sounds really awesome. Great sounds to hear, and a decent sounding listen from start to finish. Wacky, weird and wonderful music by Frank Zappa.

Dancin’ Fool comes along next, and is likely here to blow Disco fans away, which was a big musical thing at the time. It certainly sounds like a Disco music parody, and just is really awesome listening here. Awesome stuff to hear, this is really excellent for a cynical/sarcastic take on the mainstream phenomenon. A hilarious listen, and still has relevance today to the nightclubs everywhere in the urban world of the cities of the world. It finishes with a one sided dialogue of a wacky conversation of a guy who buys a lady drinks, weird all right.

Jewish Princess continues from the previous track and sounds incredibly cheesy. It’s really controversial and laugh out loud funny, just sounding like something to annoy many people out there. A great three minute piece that is very politically incorrect and out there, it is weird, wacky and interesting listening. You can imagine Tipper Gore and co. being infuriated by songs such as this one. Excellent, good for a laugh.

Next along is Wild Love which is an excellent sounding piece from the start, sounding like a 1970s TV parody. A weird, wonderful and out there piece of music. Really cool listening here, there is a bit of a Tom Jones imitation section in the song here. Great and effortless sounding, Frank Zappa had many musical tricks up his sleeve. Clever, dynamic and different, a really wacky piece of sound here. Another great sounding joke styled piece as this album draws to a close.

Last here is Yo’ Mama which is over 12 minutes long. It begins with some excellent drum beats and xylophone, before launching into an excellent piece of musical parody. Great music and sounding very odd and weird, there are a huge array of musical elements here, with a keyboard led horn section, great guitar playing by Frank Zappa and some other cool sounds to boot. Really nice to hear, this is an extraordinary listen, particularly with the guitar soloing here, which has some feedback on it at times. This soloing continues for some time, before the keyboards return. The groove then kicks in, and sounds really awesome and cool. A fine listening experience, this is super awesome and really excellent music listening. Great music and a top piece to finish off this excellent album with, this is merely one part of Frank Zappa’s monumental career. He shows the world here that he is an underrated guitarist and historical musical figure here. Grand and excellent sounding, this instrumental is nothing short of awesome. The instrumental here is superb and fantastic, just sounding really great. A very monumental piece to enjoy, if you like instrumental playing and guitar solos, you will no doubt enjoy this. After around 10 minutes, the song section resumes and sounds really cool and quirky. A fine finish occurs here where the group finishes off very much like in a live concert Rock music setting, and a crowd cheers. Awesome.

If you really enjoy music that is not designed to be taken seriously, this is a very good starting point for that. It is also one of Frank Zappa’s best and most variable albums out there as well. A really great listen from beginning to end, and some of the imagery here is a bit out there, but don’t take it too seriously. Frank Zappa’s legacy lives on with albums such as these, and deservedly so.

Rock and Roll.

9/10