Search - Grandmothers :: Mother of an Anthology

Uneven

David Goodwin | Westchester, NY United States | 07/30/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Well, it's stuff from the ex-Mothers...what else did you expect? This disc is incredibly uneven, although that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad; the ex-Mothers just played so many different styles that this Anthology can't help sounding extremely hodge-podgey.But it's almost all worth it for Mary Jane, which is up there with Zappa's "Aybe Sea" (from Burnt Weenie) in the category of unlikely, unexpected beauty. While I wouldn't go as far to suggest buying this comp for that one song, the surrounding material's probably accessible enough in general to Mothers/Zappa fans to warrant a purchase. Mary Jane is just a nice little highlight."

I've come home to my Mothers.

David Goodwin | 12/06/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A nice collection of songs by members of the original Mothers of Invention. Fans of Zappa's first band will certainly enjoy this collection. There are some previously unrelease tracks here, particularly from Jimmy Carl Black's band Geranimo Black. Bunk Gardner contributes so fine tracks as well. My only disappointed with this disc is the omission of the Don Preston tracks which appeared on the Grandmothers first two vinyl LP's. Too bad, as they were very strong tracks. If you can find the Rhino vinyl LP's, buy them. But this is a good outing by everybody's favorite Mothers."