You Are What You Is

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You Are What You Is
Studio album by Frank Zappa

Publication
(s)

September 23, 1981

Label (s) Barking Pumpkin Records , CBS , EMI , Rykodisc , Zappa Records (CD)

Format (s)

LP vinyl , CD

Genre (s)

Rock music

Title (number)

20th

running time

67:11

occupation

Guest singing:

Studio (s)

Utility Muffin Research Kitchen

chronology
Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar
(1981) 		You Are What You Is Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch
(1982)

You Are What You Is (Eng. You are what you are ) is a rock album by Frank Zappa , which was released on record in 1981 . The album was largelyrecorded and producedin Zappa's own studio, Utility Muffin Research Kitchen . Zappa made extensive use of overdubbing techniques. You Are What You Is originally appeared as a double album , with each pagedevoted to its own subject area in themanner of a concept album . The individual pieces merge into one another and are partly linked by spoken transitions. Zappa clearly criticizes American society in the era of the Reagan administration ; he parodies the aspirations of teenagers, the self-love and vanity of yuppies, as well as those of older women in society in small towns. He alsodenounces religion as the driving force behind war and destruction and the TV preachers' pursuit ofprofit.

Track list

  1. Teen-Age Wind - 3:02
  2. Harder Than Your Husband - 2:28
  3. Doreen - 4:44
  4. Goblin Girl - 4:07
  5. Theme from the 3rd Movement of Sinister Footwear - 3:34
  6. Society Pages - 2:27
  7. I'm a Beautiful Guy - 1:56
  8. Beauty Knows No Pain - 3:02
  9. Charlie's Enormous Mouth - 3:36
  10. Any downers? - 2:08
  11. Conehead - 4:24
  12. You Are What You Is - 4:23
  13. Mudd Club - 3:11
  14. The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing - 3:10
  15. Dumb All Over - 5:45
  16. Heavenly Bank Account - 3:44
  17. Suicide Chump - 2:49
  18. Jumbo Go Away - 3:43
  19. If Only She Woulda - 3:48
  20. Drafted Again - 3:07

reception

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
You Are What You Is
  US 93 October 24, 1981 (7 weeks)

Zappa himself called the album one of his best but complained that it was not accepted by the audience. The album reached number 93 on the Billboard Charts . Kelly Fisher Lowe sees You Are What You Is Zappa's clearest political work since Absolutely Free or We're Only in It for the Money . It is an incredibly good work in terms of songwriting and studio work. Ben Watson writes that the album remains one of the most ambitious public counterpositions to Reaganism .

literature

  • Kelly Fisher Lowe: The Words and Music of Frank Zappa . University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London 2007, ISBN 978-0-8032-6005-4 , Chapter 6, Section You Are What You Is , p. 167-177 .
  • Ben Watson: Frank Zappa. The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play . Quarted Books Ltd., London 1996, ISBN 0-7043-0242-X , Chapter 8, Section You Are What You Is , p. 388-395 .
  • Frank Wonneberg : Grand Zappa - International Frank Zappa Discology . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2010, ISBN 978-3-89602-581-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Frank Zappa Album Versions Guide. You Are What You Is . Retrieved June 21, 2011 .
  2. ↑ Frank Zappa. Texts and background information on You Are What You Is on globalia.net. Retrieved June 21, 2011 .
  3. ↑ Charts US
  4. ↑ Kevin Courrir: The Dangerous Kitchen: The Subversive World of Frank Zappa . Toronto, S. 363 . , quoted in Lowe 2007, p. 176
  5. ↑ Kelly Fisher Lowe: The Words and Music of Frank Zappa . University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London 2007, ISBN 978-0-8032-6005-4 , Chapter 6, Section You Are What You Is , p. 167-177 .
  6. ↑ Ben Watson: Frank Zappa. The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play . Quarted Books Ltd., London 1996, ISBN 0-7043-0242-X , Chapter 8, Section You Are What You Is , p. 388-395 .