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Funky Nothingness Image
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The three-disc compilation features 25 rare and unreleased tracks recorded in mostly in 1970 by Frank Zappa with Max Bennett, Aynsley Dunbar, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, and Ian Underwood.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Jul 13, 2023
    80
    With so many legacy-artist posthumous sets, it’s hard to avoid a certain level of brain mush. The final stretches often feel like pointlessly processed outtakes of alternate takes of fake takes of imaginary takes. It’s like extracurricular archaeology, and it’s often not very fun. But even when you’re working up a sweat with your shovel, Funky Nothingness rewards the strain.
  2. The Wire
    Jul 13, 2023
    80
    Funky Nothingness is, in any case, an enjoyable addition to his extensive discography. It may not disclose some previously hidden dimension, or even pursue the experimentation with overdubbing that gave Hot Rats its particular character, but Zappa’s sheer love for music and the playing of it, the insatiable essence of his artistic libido, oozes from the grooves. [Aug 2023, p.74]
  3. Aug 10, 2023
    75
    With this welcome offering of three and a half hours of unheard studio Zappa that follows one of his most celebrated albums, one can’t help but wonder what else might eventually escape from the Zappa vault.
  4. Uncut
    Jul 13, 2023
    70
    The material here moves in the jazzier vein of Zappa's early '70s LPs. [Aug 2023, p.51]
  5. Jul 13, 2023
    60
    Discs two and three mostly consist of unedited or alternate takes of material on the main disc. A full-length Transylvania Boogie, previously released in edited form, turns out to have been mostly a long, meandering shuffle with a drum solo. Hitherto undocumented titles Halos And Arrows and Moldred turn out to be, respectively, an exploratory guitar overdub piece (all that’s missing is Joni Mitchell at the mike) and a brief Tommy/Vincent composite with added bass. [Aug 2023, p.90]
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