Baby Snakes

I was never really into Zappa, but I am a stop motion animator and I have to say that this thing (2 tape version) has some of the best claymation I have ever seen. (Bruce Bickford)- Zappa and his band doing the soundtrack is right on the money, too. After seeing this film I think I get the whole Zappa trip.

Zappa was great. An okay guitarist, but a genius composer/band leader. He was the Miles Davis of rock- finding the best young musicians and pushing them to the next level. That's what he did with Terry Bozzio, who (in my opinion) steals the show(DVD). Highlights are 'Pound for a Brown' with Bozzio, Mars and O'hearn getting real intense, the pre-'Disco-boy' drum solo, Bozzio's awesome performance on 'Punky's Whips,' and of course the great abstract claymation. I'd be happy if this video was all claymation and drum solos, but most of the rest of the movie is cool too. The dood with the blow-up doll and gas mask gets kinda annoying, but the DVD makes up for it by having Adrian Belew dance around in a dress. I'd strongly recommend this to any drummer because there are some great close-ups on Bozzio as he hurts the feelings of other drummers by keeping perfect grooves and being funny at the same time. That's what I'm talking' about.

A must-see for every Zappa fan. This film must be seen in its original 3-hour version if possible. The live concert footage shows perfectly what an incredible musician/composer/bandleader Zappa was. The rest of the band (featuring Adrian Belew, Tommy Mars and Terry Bozzio) put in great performances as well. I wish the re-release of the "Baby Snakes" CD from four years ago was expanded to include more concert footage from this movie.

This is a three hour,two tape set of a Frank Zappa concert in 1977 and there is just a lot of fun here. Not for every taste but any real music fan should find this inspired to say the least. There are many scenes of Bill Bickford's clay animation and it is truly incredible. That alone is worth seeking out the original uncut version,not the newer edited 90 minute version because it puts all other claymation to shame. If your not a Zappa fan,take it with a big grain of salt. If you are,you don't want to miss this. It's a lot better than "200 Motels". Enjoy!

Like anything else that Frank Zappa did, if you don't understand it you won't like it. And it's really easy to miss Frank's point sometimes. "Baby Snakes" is simply footage of a Zappa Halloween show cut with Bickford claymation footage. Good if you like that kinda stuff, but dreadfully dull for everyone else. The best place to start learning about Frank Zappa is from his albums, NOT from the videos.

For Zappa fans, the footage is great, and the sound quality is excellent (much better than "200 Motels"). The animation doesn't make much sense. Plus, this video has the great scene of legendary drummer Terry Bozzio singing "T*****s and Beer" in a devil mask.