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{{Infobox album
{{pp-move-indef}}
| name = You Are What You Is
{{Infobox album | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums -->
| Name = You Are What You Is
| type = [[Double album]]
| Type = [[Double album]]
| artist = [[Frank Zappa]]
| Artist = [[Frank Zappa]]
| cover = Zappa You Are What You Is.jpg
| Cover = Zappa You Are What You Is.jpg
| alt =
| Released = September 23, 1981
| released = September 23, 1981
| Recorded = July 18–September 11, 1980<br />UMRK
| recorded = July 18–September 11, 1980
| Genre =
| venue =
| studio = [[Utility Muffin Research Kitchen|UMRK]] (Los Angeles)
*[[Hard rock]]
⚫
| genre =
*[[comedy rock]]
| length = {{Duration|m=71|s=24}}
*[[progressive rock]]
⚫
| label = [[Barking Pumpkin Records|Barking Pumpkin]]
⚫
| Length = 67:11
⚫
| producer = Frank Zappa
⚫
| Label = [[Barking Pumpkin Records|Barking Pumpkin]]
⚫
| prev_title = [[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]]
⚫
| Producer = Frank Zappa
| prev_year = 1981
⚫
| Last album = ''[[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]]''<br />#31, #32, #33 (1981)
⚫
| next_title = [[Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch]]
| This album = '''''You Are What You Is'''''<br />#34 (1981)
| next_year = 1982
⚫
| Next album = ''[[Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch]]''<br />#35 (1982)
| Misc = {{Singles
| misc = {{Singles
| Name = You Are What You Is
| name = You Are What You Is
| Type = studio
| type = studio
| Single 1 = Harder Than Your Husband
| single1 = Harder Than Your Husband
| Single 1 date = 1981
| single1date = 1981
| Single 2 = [[You Are What You Is (song)|You Are What You Is]]
| single2 = [[You Are What You Is (song)|You Are What You Is]]
| Single 2 date = 1981
| single2date = 1981
| Single 3 = Goblin Girl
| single3 = Goblin Girl
| Single 3 date = 1981
| single3date = 1981
}}
}}
}}
}}
⚫
{{Album ratings
⚫
| rev1 = [[Allmusic]]
⚫
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r53163/review |title=You Are What You Is - Frank Zappa &#124; AllMusic |first=S. |last=Huey |work=allmusic.com |year=2011 |quote=Zappa |accessdate=22 July 2011}}</ref>


'''''You Are What You Is''''' is a 1981 [[double album]] by American musician [[Frank Zappa]]. His 34th album, it consists of three [[musical suite]]s which encompass [[Pop music|pop]], [[doo-wop]], [[jazz]], [[hard rock]], [[reggae]], [[Soul music|soul]], [[blues]], [[New wave music|new wave]] and [[country music|country]]. The album's lyrics satirize a number of topics, including [[hippies]], [[socialites]], [[fashion]], narcotics use, [[cultural appropriation]], religion, [[televangelists]] and the military draft.
⚫
}}
'''''You Are What You Is''''' is a [[double album]] by [[Frank Zappa]]. It was originally released as a [[double album]] in 1981 and later by [[Rykodisc]] as a 20-song [[Compact disc|CD]].


==Production==
==Production==
After the release of ''[[Joe's Garage]]'', Frank Zappa set up his home studio, the [[Utility Muffin Research Kitchen]], and planned to release a triple LP live album called ''Warts and All''. As ''Warts and All'' reached completion, Zappa found the project to be "unwieldy" due to its length, and scrapped it, later conceiving ''Crush All Boxes''.<ref name="Lowe2007">{{cite book|author=Kelly Fisher Lowe|title=The Words and Music of Frank Zappa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAYfqgGf4yYC&pg=PA161|year=2007|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=0-8032-6005-9|pages=161–}}</ref><ref name="Slaven2009"/> ''Crush All Boxes'' would have been a single LP containing the studio recordings "Doreen", "Fine Girl", "Easy Meat" (a live recording with [[overdubbing|studio overdubs]]) and "Goblin Girl" on the first side, with the second side being occupied by a suite consisting of the songs "Society Pages", "I'm A Beautiful Guy", "Beauty Knows No Pain", "Charlie's Enormous Mouth", "Any Downers?" and "Conehead".<ref name="Slaven2009"/>
After the release of ''[[Joe's Garage]]'', Frank Zappa set up his home studio, the [[Utility Muffin Research Kitchen]], and planned to release a triple LP live album called ''Warts and All''. As ''Warts and All'' reached completion, Zappa found the project to be "unwieldy" due to its length, and scrapped it, later conceiving ''Crush All Boxes''.<ref name="Lowe2007">{{cite book|author=Kelly Fisher Lowe|title=The Words and Music of Frank Zappa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAYfqgGf4yYC&pg=PA161|year=2007|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=978-0-8032-6005-4|pages=161–}}</ref><ref name="Slaven2009"/> ''Crush All Boxes'' would have been a single LP containing the studio recordings "Doreen", "Fine Girl", "Easy Meat" (a live recording with [[overdubbing|studio overdubs]]) and "Goblin Girl" on the first side, with the second side being occupied by a suite consisting of the songs "Society Pages", "I'm A Beautiful Guy", "Beauty Knows No Pain", "Charlie's Enormous Mouth", "Any Downers?" and "Conehead".<ref name="Slaven2009"/>

⚫
During the production of ''Crush All Boxes'', Zappa decided to scrap the album and conceive a set of releases drawing from both ''Warts and All'' and ''Crush All Boxes'', which would emphasize different aspects of his multiple talents, re-formatting the two albums into ''You Are What You Is'', ''[[Tinsel Town Rebellion]]'' and ''[[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]]''. All the tracks intended for ''Crush All Boxes'' were released across these albums, as were several ''Warts and All'' tracks, with others later appearing as parts of ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore''.<ref name="Slaven2009">{{cite book|author=Neil Slaven|title=Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lyCSdW78-sC&pg=PA287|date=17 November 2009|publisher=Music Sales Group|isbn=978-0-85712-043-4|pages=287–}}</ref>


Zappa had performed most of the material from ''You Are What You Is'' on a tour running from March to July 1980 with a band including [[Ike Willis]] and [[Ray White]] on guitar and vocals, [[Tommy Mars]] on keyboards, [[Arthur Barrow]] on bass and keyboards and David Logeman on drums.<ref name=FZShows>{{cite web |url= https://www.zappateers.com/fzshows/80.html |title=1980 - Spring-Summer Tours |work=zappateers.com |access-date=24 December 2022}}</ref> In 2023, Zappa Records/UMe released the live album ''Zappa '80: Mudd Club/Munich'' including the band's performance at the [[Mudd Club]] on May 8, 1980, as well as the tour's final show in Munich on July 3, 1980.<ref name="Zappa.Com">{{cite web |url= https://www.zappa.com/from-nightclub-to-arena-frank-zappas-short-lived-1980-lineup-showcased-on-latest-vault-treasure-zappa-80-mudd-club-munich/#/|title=Zappa.com |date=3 March 2023 |access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref>
⚫
During the production of ''Crush All Boxes'', Zappa decided to scrap the album and conceive a set of releases drawing from both ''Warts and All'' and ''Crush All Boxes'', which would emphasize different aspects of his multiple talents, formatting the two albums into ''You Are What You Is'', ''[[Tinsel Town Rebellion]]'' and two series of live albums, ''[[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]]'' and ''You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore''.<ref name="Slaven2009">{{cite book|author=Neil Slaven|title=Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lyCSdW78-sC&pg=PA287|date=17 November 2009|publisher=Music Sales Group|isbn=978-0-85712-043-4|pages=287–}}</ref>


Zappa had performed most of the material from ''You Are What You Is'' on a tour running from March to July 1980 with a band including [[Ike Willis]] and [[Ray White]] on guitar and vocals, [[Tommy Mars]] on keyboards, [[Arthur Barrow]] on bass and keyboards and David Logeman on drums. This band recorded the basic tracks of the album in the summer of 1980 after finishing the tour, with guitarist [[Steve Vai]] and vocalist Bob Harris adding overdubs and joining the group for Zappa's fall 1980 tour. However, ''You Are What You Is'' was not released until after ''Tinseltown Rebellion'' and ''Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar'' although the latter two albums included material from the fall tour.
This band recorded the basic tracks of the album in the summer of 1980 after finishing the tour, with guitarist [[Steve Vai]] and vocalist Bob Harris adding overdubs and joining the group for Zappa's fall 1980 tour.<ref name="Barrow">{{cite book|author=Arthur Barrow|title=Of Course I Said Yes!|year=2016|publisher=Cydonian Music|isbn=9781522979838|pages=107–109}}</ref> However, ''You Are What You Is'' was not released until after ''Tinsel Town Rebellion'' and ''Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar'', although the latter two albums included material from the fall tour.<ref name="Official Discography">{{cite web |url= https://www.zappa.com/music/official-discography/#/ |title=Official Discography Archives |work=zappa.com |access-date=24 December 2022}}</ref>


The album also included guest appearances from former band members, including [[Jimmy Carl Black]] and [[Euclid James Sherwood|Motorhead Sherwood]] from the 60's Mothers of Invention, as well as the first appearances on record of Zappa's children [[Moon Unit Zappa|Moon Unit]] and [[Ahmet Zappa|Ahmet]].
The album also included guest appearances from former band members [[Jimmy Carl Black]] and [[Euclid James Sherwood|Motorhead Sherwood]], from the original ‘60s incarnation of Zappa's former band [[the Mothers of Invention]], as well as the first recorded solo vocals of Zappa's children [[Moon Zappa|Moon]] and [[Ahmet Zappa|Ahmet]].


== Music and lyrics ==
== Music and lyrics ==
''You Are What You Is'' was described by [[uDiscoverMusic]] writer Jamie Atkins as "a thrilling ride through 20th-century [[pop music]]. [[Doo-wop]], [[jazz]], [[hard rock]], [[reggae]], [[Soul music|soul]], [[blues]], [[New wave music|new wave]], and [[Country music|country]] are all negotiated with aplomb over a series of three sharply edited suites, rammed with witty musical phrases, call-backs, and reference points."<ref name=uDiscoverMusic>{{cite web |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/frank-zappa-you-are-what-you-is-feature/ |title='You Are What You Is': Frank Zappa's Savagely Satirical Pop Masterclass |last=Atkins |first=Jamie |date=September 23, 2022 |publisher=uDiscoverMusic |access-date=2022-09-27}}</ref> The album is made up of three suites. The first two suites are single sides of the vinyl edition's first record, while the third suite is spread across both sides of the second record.<ref name=uDiscoverMusic/> "Harder than Your Husband" is a [[country rock]] song, while Atkins classifies "Doreen" as "[[Power pop|power doo-wop]]".<ref name=uDiscoverMusic/> The reggae song "Goblin Girl" includes musical quotations from "Doreen".<ref name=uDiscoverMusic/> "Theme from the 3rd Movement of Sinister Footwear" is a [[jazz fusion]] instrumental which took guitarist Steve Vai between one and two weeks to learn, due to its complexity. It closes the album's first suite.<ref name=uDiscoverMusic/> "Mudd Club" combines [[barbershop quartet]]-style vocals and "malevolent monologues" with a "slow reggae skank".<ref name=uDiscoverMusic/>


The album's lyrics satirize a number of topics, including [[hippies]] ("Teen-age Wind"), [[socialites]], [[fashion]] and narcotics use (the entirety of the suite that takes up side two of the album's vinyl release's first record), [[cultural appropriation]] ("You Are What You Is"), religion ("Dumb All Over"), [[televangelists]] ("Heavenly Bank Account") and the military draft ("Drafted Again").<ref name=uDiscoverMusic/>
Like many of Zappa's albums, some of the tracks are bound together, and the album lacks an overall storyline. The title track "You Are What You Is" is an up-tempo pop rock style song that was released as a music video in 1984.


== Release history ==
== Release and reception ==
⚫
{{Album ratings

⚫
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
The album was first issued on LP by Barking Pumpkin Records (distributed by CBS) in 1981. In 1981, it also received a very brief (and now very rare) issue on 8-track tape, catalog number WAX-37537 (Barking Pumpkin label, distributed by CBS). It received a worldwide release on both Ryko and Zappa Records CD in 1990, and was standardized under the Ryko banner in 1995.
⚫
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name=Huey>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r53163/review |title=You Are What You Is - Frank Zappa &#124; AllMusic |first=S. |last=Huey |work=allmusic.com |year=2011 |quote=Zappa |access-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
|rev2score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="RS">{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |pages=799, 801}}</ref>
⚫
}}
The [[You Are What You Is (song)|title song]] was the only song of Zappa's career to have a [[music video]].<ref name=uDiscoverMusic/> The video contained a sequence in which a man resembling President [[Ronald Reagan]] was electrocuted in an [[electric chair]]. [[MTV]] banned the video from airing on its network.<ref name=uDiscoverMusic/> In 1981, the album charted at No. 93 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Billboard 200|200]].<ref name=Billboard/>


In a retrospective review, [[AllMusic]]'s Steve Huey wrote that while "'Jumbo Go Away' is perhaps the most offensive song in Zappa's huge canon of potentially offensive songs, [''You Are What You Is''] is quite ambitious in scope and in general one of Zappa's most accessible later-period efforts; it's a showcase for his songwriting skills and his often acute satirical perspective, with less of the smutty humor that some listeners find off-putting."<ref name=Huey/> ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' noted that the album found Zappa "reclaiming the stand-up stage."<ref name=RS/>
===Digital errors===
The digital master prepared for both the original Ryko/Zappa Records release and the later Ryko 1995 rerelease suffered from several severe audio problems and also contained a shortened version of the track "Dumb All Over," omitting the guitar solo that closed side three of the original LP in favor of an edit to the reprise of the "Dumb All Over" chorus heard at the beginning of side four of the LP. In 1998, the problems of these previous CD issues were fixed in an unannounced reissue, including a near-complete restoration of the guitar solo from "Dumb All Over".<ref>http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/vinylvscds/you_are_what_you_is.html</ref> A further reissue in 2012 included the full "Dumb All Over" ending and fadeout from side three of the LP, as well as the reprise from the beginning of side four.


==Track listing==
==Track listing==
{{Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| headline = Side one
| total_length = {{Duration|m=18|s=21}}
| title1 = Teen-Age Wind
| title1 = Teen-Age Wind
| length1 = 3:02
| length1 = 3:01
| title2 = Harder Than Your Husband
| title2 = Harder Than Your Husband
| length2 = 2:28
| length2 = 2:29
| title3 = Doreen
| title3 = Doreen
| length3 = 4:44
| length3 = 4:43
| title4 = Goblin Girl
| title4 = Goblin Girl
| length4 = 4:07
| length4 = 4:07
Line 71: Line 75:
{{track listing
{{track listing
| headline = Side two
| headline = Side two
| total_length = {{Duration|m=17|s=58}}
| title6 = Society Pages
| title6 = Society Pages
| length6 = 2:27
| length6 = 2:27
Line 76: Line 81:
| length7 = 1:56
| length7 = 1:56
| title8 = Beauty Knows No Pain
| title8 = Beauty Knows No Pain
| length8 = 3:02
| length8 = 3:01
| title9 = Charlie's Enormous Mouth
| title9 = Charlie's Enormous Mouth
| length9 = 3:36
| length9 = 3:36
| title10 = Any Downers?
| title10 = Any Downers?
| length10 = 2:08
| length10 = 2:09
| title11 = Conehead
| title11 = Conehead
| length11 = 4:24
| length11 = 4:20
}}
}}
{{track listing
{{track listing
| headline = Side three
| headline = Side three
| total_length = {{Duration|m=17|s=04}}
| title12 = [[You Are What You Is (song)|You Are What You Is]]
| title12 = [[You Are What You Is (song)|You Are What You Is]]
| length12 = 4:23
| length12 = 4:22
| title13 = Mudd Club
| title13 = Mudd Club
| length13 = 3:11
| length13 = 3:11
Line 93: Line 99:
| length14 = 3:10
| length14 = 3:10
| title15 = Dumb All Over
| title15 = Dumb All Over
| length15 = 5:45
| length15 = 5:50
}}
}}
{{track listing
{{track listing
| headline = Side four
| headline = Side four
| total_length = {{Duration|m=18|s=01}}
| title16 = Heavenly Bank Account
| title16 = Heavenly Bank Account
| length16 = 3:44
| length16 = 4:03
| title17 = Suicide Chump
| title17 = Suicide Chump
| length17 = 2:49
| length17 = 2:50
| title18 = Jumbo Go Away
| title18 = Jumbo Go Away
| length18 = 3:43
| length18 = 3:42
| title19 = If Only She Woulda
| title19 = If Only She Woulda
| length19 = 3:48
| length19 = 3:47
| title20 = [[I Don't Wanna Get Drafted|Drafted Again]]
| title20 = [[I Don't Wanna Get Drafted|Drafted Again]]
| length20 = 3:07
| length20 = 3:05
}}
}}


Line 112: Line 119:


===Musicians===
===Musicians===
⚫
* [[Frank Zappa]] – [[lead guitar]], [[singing|vocals]]
⚫
* [[Ike Willis]] – [[rhythm guitar]], vocals
* [[Ray White]] – rhythm guitar, vocals
⚫
* Bob Harris – [[boy soprano]], [[trumpet]]
⚫
* [[Steve Vai]] – [[Fender Stratocaster]]
⚫
* [[Tommy Mars]] – [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]]
* [[Arthur Barrow]] – [[bass guitar]]
* [[Arthur Barrow]] – [[bass guitar]]
⚫
* [[Jimmy Carl Black]] – [[human voice|vocals]]
⚫
* Bob Harris – [[boy soprano|Boy Soprano]], [[trumpet]], [[vocals]]
⚫
* David Logeman – [[drum kit|drums]]
* [[Ed Mann]] – [[percussion]]
* [[Ed Mann]] – [[percussion]]
⚫
* David Ocker – [[clarinet]], [[bass clarinet]]
⚫
* [[Tommy Mars]] – [[electronic keyboard|keyboards]], vocals
⚫
* David Ocker – [[bass clarinet]], [[clarinet]]
⚫
* Mark Pinske – vocals
* [[Euclid James Sherwood|Motorhead Sherwood]] – [[tenor saxophone]], vocals
* [[Euclid James Sherwood|Motorhead Sherwood]] – [[tenor saxophone]], vocals
⚫
* [[Denny Walley]] – [[slide guitar]], vocals
⚫
* David Logeman – [[drum kit|drums]]
* Craig "Twister" Stewart – [[harmonica]]
* Craig "Twister" Stewart – [[harmonica]]
⚫
* [[Jimmy Carl Black]] – vocals
⚫
* [[Steve Vai]] – guitars<ref>credited as "[[Fender Stratocaster|Strat]] Abuse"</ref>
⚫
* [[Denny Walley]] – vocals, [[slide guitar]]
⚫
* [[Ray White]] – [[rhythm guitar]], vocals
⚫
* [[Ike Willis]] – rhythm guitar, vocals
* [[Ahmet Zappa]] – vocals
* [[Ahmet Zappa]] – vocals
* [[Frank Zappa]] – [[composer]], [[arrangements|arranger]], vocals, guitar
* [[Moon Unit Zappa]] – vocals
* [[Moon Unit Zappa]] – vocals
⚫
* Mark Pinske – vocals


===Production staff===
===Production staff===
⚫
* Frank Zappa – [[record producer|producer]]
⚫
* Mark Pinske – [[audio engineer|engineer]]
⚫
* Alan Sides – engineer
* Bob Stone – remix engineer
⚫
* George Douglas – engineering assistant
* David Gray – engineering assistant
* Amy Bernstein – artwork
* Amy Bernstein – artwork
⚫
* George Douglas – assistant [[audio engineering|engineer]]
* Jo Hansch – [[audio mastering|mastering]]
* Jo Hansch – [[audio mastering|mastering]]
* John Livzey – [[photography]], cover photo
* John Livzey – [[photography]], cover photo
* Thomas Nordegg – Franks personnel assistant
* Thomas Nordegg – Frank's personnel assistant
⚫
* Mark Pinske – chief engineer
* Santi Rubio – Studio Secretary
* Santi Rubio – Studio Secretary
⚫
* Allen Sides – engineer
* Dennis Sager – digital engineer
* Dennis Sager – digital engineer
* Bob Stone – remixing, [[remaster|digital remastering]]
* John Vince – artwork, graphic design
* John Vince – artwork, graphic design
⚫
* Frank Zappa – [[record producer|producer]]


==Charts==
==Charts==
'''Album''' - ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' (United States)
'''Album''' - ''Billboard'' (United States)
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Year
Line 152: Line 160:
|-
|-
|1981
|1981
|[[Billboard 200]]
|''Billboard'' 200
|align="center"|93<ref>{{cite web |url={{Allmusic|class=album|id=r53163/charts-awards|pure_url=yes}} |title=Charts and Awards for ''You Are What You Is'' |accessdate=2008-08-22 |publisher=[[Allmusic]]}}</ref>
|align="center"|93<ref name=Billboard>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r53163/charts-awards|pure_url=yes}} |title=Charts and Awards for ''You Are What You Is'' |access-date=2008-08-22 |publisher=[[Allmusic]]}}</ref>
|}
|}


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{{Frank Zappa albums}}
{{Frank Zappa albums}}


{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Frank Zappa albums]]
[[Category:1981 albums]]
[[Category:1981 albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Frank Zappa]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Frank Zappa]]
[[Category:Barking Pumpkin Records albums]]
[[Category:Barking Pumpkin Records albums]]
[[Category:Frank Zappa albums]]
[[Category:Religious parodies and satire]]

Latest revision as of 23:06, 13 November 2024

You Are What You Is
Studio album by
Frank Zappa
ReleasedSeptember 23, 1981
RecordedJuly 18–September 11, 1980
StudioUMRK (Los Angeles)
Length71:24
LabelBarking Pumpkin
ProducerFrank Zappa
Frank Zappa chronology
Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar
(1981) 		You Are What You Is
(1981) 		Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch
(1982)
Singles from You Are What You Is
  1. "Harder Than Your Husband"
    Released: 1981
  2. "You Are What You Is"
    Released: 1981
  3. "Goblin Girl"
    Released: 1981

You Are What You Is is a 1981 double album by American musician Frank Zappa. His 34th album, it consists of three musical suites which encompass pop, doo-wop, jazz, hard rock, reggae, soul, blues, new wave and country. The album's lyrics satirize a number of topics, including hippies, socialites, fashion, narcotics use, cultural appropriation, religion, televangelists and the military draft.

Production

[edit]

After the release of Joe's Garage, Frank Zappa set up his home studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, and planned to release a triple LP live album called Warts and All. As Warts and All reached completion, Zappa found the project to be "unwieldy" due to its length, and scrapped it, later conceiving Crush All Boxes.[1][2] Crush All Boxes would have been a single LP containing the studio recordings "Doreen", "Fine Girl", "Easy Meat" (a live recording with studio overdubs) and "Goblin Girl" on the first side, with the second side being occupied by a suite consisting of the songs "Society Pages", "I'm A Beautiful Guy", "Beauty Knows No Pain", "Charlie's Enormous Mouth", "Any Downers?" and "Conehead".[2]

During the production of Crush All Boxes, Zappa decided to scrap the album and conceive a set of releases drawing from both Warts and All and Crush All Boxes, which would emphasize different aspects of his multiple talents, re-formatting the two albums into You Are What You Is, Tinsel Town Rebellion and Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar. All the tracks intended for Crush All Boxes were released across these albums, as were several Warts and All tracks, with others later appearing as parts of You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore.[2]

Zappa had performed most of the material from You Are What You Is on a tour running from March to July 1980 with a band including Ike Willis and Ray White on guitar and vocals, Tommy Mars on keyboards, Arthur Barrow on bass and keyboards and David Logeman on drums.[3] In 2023, Zappa Records/UMe released the live album Zappa '80: Mudd Club/Munich including the band's performance at the Mudd Club on May 8, 1980, as well as the tour's final show in Munich on July 3, 1980.[4]

This band recorded the basic tracks of the album in the summer of 1980 after finishing the tour, with guitarist Steve Vai and vocalist Bob Harris adding overdubs and joining the group for Zappa's fall 1980 tour.[5] However, You Are What You Is was not released until after Tinsel Town Rebellion and Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar, although the latter two albums included material from the fall tour.[6]

The album also included guest appearances from former band members Jimmy Carl Black and Motorhead Sherwood, from the original ‘60s incarnation of Zappa's former band the Mothers of Invention, as well as the first recorded solo vocals of Zappa's children Moon and Ahmet.

Music and lyrics

[edit]

You Are What You Is was described by uDiscoverMusic writer Jamie Atkins as "a thrilling ride through 20th-century pop music. Doo-wop, jazz, hard rock, reggae, soul, blues, new wave, and country are all negotiated with aplomb over a series of three sharply edited suites, rammed with witty musical phrases, call-backs, and reference points."[7] The album is made up of three suites. The first two suites are single sides of the vinyl edition's first record, while the third suite is spread across both sides of the second record.[7] "Harder than Your Husband" is a country rock song, while Atkins classifies "Doreen" as "power doo-wop".[7] The reggae song "Goblin Girl" includes musical quotations from "Doreen".[7] "Theme from the 3rd Movement of Sinister Footwear" is a jazz fusion instrumental which took guitarist Steve Vai between one and two weeks to learn, due to its complexity. It closes the album's first suite.[7] "Mudd Club" combines barbershop quartet-style vocals and "malevolent monologues" with a "slow reggae skank".[7]

The album's lyrics satirize a number of topics, including hippies ("Teen-age Wind"), socialites, fashion and narcotics use (the entirety of the suite that takes up side two of the album's vinyl release's first record), cultural appropriation ("You Are What You Is"), religion ("Dumb All Over"), televangelists ("Heavenly Bank Account") and the military draft ("Drafted Again").[7]

Release and reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]

The title song was the only song of Zappa's career to have a music video.[7] The video contained a sequence in which a man resembling President Ronald Reagan was electrocuted in an electric chair. MTV banned the video from airing on its network.[7] In 1981, the album charted at No. 93 on the Billboard 200.[10]

In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Steve Huey wrote that while "'Jumbo Go Away' is perhaps the most offensive song in Zappa's huge canon of potentially offensive songs, [You Are What You Is] is quite ambitious in scope and in general one of Zappa's most accessible later-period efforts; it's a showcase for his songwriting skills and his often acute satirical perspective, with less of the smutty humor that some listeners find off-putting."[8] The Rolling Stone Album Guide noted that the album found Zappa "reclaiming the stand-up stage."[9]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Teen-Age Wind"3:01
2."Harder Than Your Husband"2:29
3."Doreen"4:43
4."Goblin Girl"4:07
5."Theme from the 3rd Movement of Sinister Footwear"3:34
Total length:18:21
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Society Pages"2:27
7."I'm a Beautiful Guy"1:56
8."Beauty Knows No Pain"3:01
9."Charlie's Enormous Mouth"3:36
10."Any Downers?"2:09
11."Conehead"4:20
Total length:17:58
Side three
No.TitleLength
12."You Are What You Is"4:22
13."Mudd Club"3:11
14."The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing"3:10
15."Dumb All Over"5:50
Total length:17:04
Side four
No.TitleLength
16."Heavenly Bank Account"4:03
17."Suicide Chump"2:50
18."Jumbo Go Away"3:42
19."If Only She Woulda"3:47
20."Drafted Again"3:05
Total length:18:01

Personnel

[edit]

Musicians

[edit]

Production staff

[edit]
  • Frank Zappa – producer
  • Mark Pinske – engineer
  • Alan Sides – engineer
  • Bob Stone – remix engineer
  • George Douglas – engineering assistant
  • David Gray – engineering assistant
  • Amy Bernstein – artwork
  • Jo Hansch – mastering
  • John Livzey – photography, cover photo
  • Thomas Nordegg – Frank's personnel assistant
  • Santi Rubio – Studio Secretary
  • Dennis Sager – digital engineer
  • John Vince – artwork, graphic design

Charts

[edit]

Album - Billboard (United States)

Year Chart Position
1981 Billboard 200 93[10]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Kelly Fisher Lowe (2007). The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 161–. ISBN 978-0-8032-6005-4.
  2. ^ a b c Neil Slaven (17 November 2009). Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa. Music Sales Group. pp. 287–. ISBN 978-0-85712-043-4.
  3. ^ "1980 - Spring-Summer Tours". zappateers.com. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Zappa.com". 3 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  5. ^ Arthur Barrow (2016). Of Course I Said Yes!. Cydonian Music. pp. 107–109. ISBN 9781522979838.
  6. ^ "Official Discography Archives". zappa.com. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Atkins, Jamie (September 23, 2022). "'You Are What You Is': Frank Zappa's Savagely Satirical Pop Masterclass". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  8. ^ a b Huey, S. (2011). "You Are What You Is - Frank Zappa | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 22 July 2011. Zappa
  9. ^ a b The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 799, 801.
  10. ^ a b "Charts and Awards for You Are What You Is". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
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