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The Crux Of The Biscuit

Live

Frank Zappa Format: Audio CD
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 160 ratings
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Audio CD, Live, July 15, 2016
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Editorial Reviews

The Crux Of The Biscuit was created in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Frank Zappa's 1974 album Apostrophe(`). As part of the ongoing Project/Object Audio Documentary Series, it contains rare alternate mixes, live performances & studio session outtakes. This release celebrates the creation of a truly iconic record that reached the Top Ten in the Billboard Chart and earned FZ an RIAA Gold Record Award.

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.67 x 4.92 x 0.43 inches; 3.81 ounces
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Zappa Records
  • Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2016
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ June 8, 2016
  • Label ‏ : ‎ Zappa Records
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01GS017J8
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 160 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • G.M.Ilenda
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Crux of the Biscuit is...........the outstanding Mothers
    Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2016
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    FZ's :Apostrophe" album as studio demo's and outtakes take shape to form one of Frank's best selling LP's in his catalog. Released in 1974, Apostrophe dazzled fans as to the prowess of Frank's genius as song writer-musician, while his studio mastery ranked him one of the most technically proficient. Memebers such as George Duke, Bruce and Tom Fowler, Ian Underwood, Ralph Humphrey on drums, not to mention Ruth Underwood---will blow you away. These tracks on this new release show how much creativity Frank and his Mothers were capable of when topics such as Don't Eat The Yellow Snow and Uncle Remus meld into bad TV commercials and the American madness of crass commercialization Zappa saw on a daily basis in the early 1970's. You will be very pleased with this new release of the making of a masterpiece.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Brian P. Nestor
    5.0 out of 5 stars A one disc box set
    Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2019
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    The Zappa estate has put out a ton of product in recent years, but this may be the most essential. You get to see inside the process Frank used to construct an album - in this case, both a financial and critical success - as he makes song decisions and edits like crazy. Even better, you get to hear a whole lot more of the all-too-brief collaboration with Jack Bruce. Highly recommended!
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  • David Goodwin
    4.0 out of 5 stars A tasty amuse bouche
    Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2016
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    Since Apostrophe (') is among Frank Zappa's most popular albums, it's no surprise that it has received an entry in the ongoing Project/Object series, audio documentaries of notable moments in his sizeable catalog. But while The Crux of the Biscuit doesn't quite match the ambition MOFO or the delightful Greasy Love Songs, it's still a great deal of fun, and has the advantage of being a reasonably priced disc distributed to the world's humans via normal channels—not a given when it comes to Frank Zappa posthumous releases, but hopefully a sign of a welcome trend moving forward.

    The first four tracks on "Crux" represent an early vision of "Side 1" of what would eventually become Apostrophe (') proper.; with the exception of "Down in De Dew," all are variations on the versions that eventually ended up on the album (I'm not a "Dew" scholar, so I don't know offhand if this is the alternate mix that showed up for Record Store Day). "Apostrophe" is notably extended, as is "Uncle Remus." The latter is a particular treat. While the mix shares the same slightly odd stereo imaging as the album cut, it's unedited compared to the album cut, featuring an additional verse (with no new lyrics, granted). Delightful. With the caveat that I've not listened via headphones, "Debris" appears to be a slightly extended version of the album cut, with an extra measure before the intro proper.

    (It should be noted at this point that even those cuts that are slight variations on the album versions do sound a bit better, possibly due to the lack of whatever processing was used in assembling the album master.)

    After a brief spoken interlude, a live version of the Yellow Snow suite follows, from a day adjacent to the one on "One Shot Deal." A "mix outtake" on "Forz" follows, and I gotta say, it's basically indistinguishable from the album version but for improved fidelity (I think I heard slightly different placement of some of the sound effects, but I could've been fooling myself; of course, there's probably something obvious I missed).

    Next up are three takes of "Energy Frontier," a.k.a. two takes of "Dew" and one variation on the "Apostrophe" theme. Each is significantly different from the takes already known; the extra overdubs make "Dew" almost unrecognizable. The disc closes with some bona fide alternate takes; surprisingly, they have vocals, with the "Snow" segments sounding more like rehearsals (wind effects included).

    The major criticism to levy against Crux is that it plays like a promo sampler of a larger, nonexistent set—a sampler with some odd track choices, to boot. "Stinkfoot" is completely missing in action, as is any studio documentation of the body of "Alphonso" and "Father O'Blivion" (the live version is nice, but again, somewhat similar to what we had already on One Shot Deal). Meanwhile, there's around 17 minutes of the Apostrophe jam—not a fave of mine, to be honest—and about ten minutes of Down in De Dew, which had previously been associated with "Lather."

    Were Crux available via the usual ZFT channels as a $20 set plus $6 shipping, the oddness of its coverage would be a big problem. But at what is essentially a bargain price for an archival release, it's far easier to simply enjoy what's there and not worry overmuch about what isn't.

    In sum, while it's hard to see anybody but the very-Zappa-inclined enjoying "Crux," that's the sole audience to which it is pitched. At its current price point, it's an enjoyable, if limited, look into the making of one of the perennial favorites in Zappa's catalog. Let's hope that there's more where this came from.
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  • Razzleberry
    5.0 out of 5 stars From the extended mixes ( nice to hear Tina Turners extra BGVs on Uncle Rhemus) ...
    Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Essential for fans of the Apostrophe album! From the extended mixes ( nice to hear Tina Turners extra BGVs on Uncle Rhemus) to Frank's explanation of the origins of the Yellow Snow story, a great bunch of extras from my favorite period of FZ recordings. A minor error in the title of track 10 ( the bridge is from the song 'Apostrophe', not Energy), but overall a great release, especially at that price.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • Jeffrey L. Weaver
    5.0 out of 5 stars Zappa (No more needs said)
    Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2016
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    Frank Zappa was one of the best guitarists ever. He wrote music that was fun to listen to. Many of the best musicians in the world played with the Mothers.
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  • J-DIL
    5.0 out of 5 stars More Warts and All... I mean Project/Object
    Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2016
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    I really like hearing alternate versions of Zappa's music. Energy Frontier with flute? I had no idea. Also liked the Australian Yellow Snow version.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Ron Co.
    5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed the different versions of the songs
    Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2016
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    For the hard core Zappa fan, (which I am one).
    I enjoyed the different versions of the songs.
    This is my favorite Zappa album.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • MXI
    3.0 out of 5 stars If big fan, Get It! If not, get the original!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    If you LOVE Frank (I do) and LOVE Apostrophe (I do) then this is a nice addition and adds flavor to the original album. There are many "new" treatments to the playlist to enjoy fun little treats as well. It doesn't though hold up well as an album and feels like a random bunch of edits from the session. So, I would say, if you never heard the original album, buy that first. After every note has been indelibly etched into your mind, then get this. If you are a big fan of Frank and album, get it!
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
    Reviewed in Canada on March 14, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Better versions than Apostrophe
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  • fabmen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Bellissimo! necessario complemento all'originale "Apostrophe (')" best seller di Zappa del 1974
    Reviewed in Italy on January 22, 2021
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    Nel 2016 lo Zappa Family Trust pubblicò "The crux of the biscuit (is the apostrophe)" (il nocciolo della questione è l'apostrofo) per celebrare i 40 anni di "Apostrophe (')". La produzione è ancora di Gail Zappa (1/1/1945 – 7/10/2015), la cual cosa è garanzia di qualità. L'album originale fu il best seller di Zappa che lo aveva pensato e confezionato al proposito: composizioni (canzoni) brevi e tutte con testi. "The Crux of the biscuit" presenta le composizioni originali, la maggior parte strumentali (come quasi sempre faceva Zappa nella sua "conceptual continuity") che originano dal fertile periodo 1969-1973. Il libretto è ottimo, riporta le date di registrazione, la fonte sonora ed i musicisti (nell'originale c'era solo una lista di musicisti senza riferimento ai brani): si tratta di registrazioni del periodo 1972, 1973, quindi i musicisti sono alcuni di quelli che parteciparono alla Wazoo Orchestra o alla versione stellare dei "Mothers" del 1973 (JL Ponty, G. Duke, Ian Underwood, Ruth Komanoff, Ralph Humphrey, Sal Marquez, Bruce e Tom Fowler). Si scopre così che "Down in de Dew" (pubblicato poi su Laether), "Apostrophe" (improvvisazione di 9 minuti con Jack Bruce al basso e Jim Gordon alla batteria), "Excentrifugal Forz", "Energy Frontier" (registrate nel maggio, agosto e novembre 1972) sono praticamente la stessa composizione. Nel maggio 1973 furono registrate "...Yellow snow", "St Alphonzo's ...", "Father O'blivion" forse pensate e spesso presentate in concerto come una suite: qui è riportata un'esecuzione registrata a Sidney (Australia) del 24 giugno 1973. Insomma, pubblicazione interessantissima, musica sublime. Da avere.
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  • Devanneaux Jf
    5.0 out of 5 stars Document exceptionnel autour d'Apostrophe(')
    Reviewed in France on September 20, 2016
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    Bien sûr, les intellectuels de la Zappasphère ne verront sans doute dans ce document qu'une succession de jams rock et de titres manquants de finitions, mais plusieurs éléments rendent ce disque indispensable. Déjà, l'album revient largement sur la fameuse session de 1972 avec Jim Gordon et bien sûr Jack Bruce (!), incluant 2 longues versions du titre Apostrophe (dont un savant montage de Zappa donnera finalement la version définitive de l'album), et aussi l'inédit Energy Frontier, dont Zappa ne retiendra finalement que la partie batterie qui servira de base au superbe Down In De Dew sur l'album Läther, un élément de plus permettant d'appréhender la façon de travailler de Zappa.
    Pour le reste, ce sont des versions plus longues, des mixages différents permettant d'entendre des subtilités masquées dans les versions définitives, et surtout une pré-version de la Yellow Snow Suite telle qu'elle était jouée par le groupe de la tournée Overnight Sensation, avec Jean-Luc Ponty, et qui contient pour la première fois sur un document officielle la partie inédite de Father Oblivion chantée par Sal Marquez.
    Bref, ce disque n'est peut-être pas à conseiller pour découvrir la musique de Zappa, mais c'est un document indispensable pour les fans, en particulier de l'époque "Overnight", "Roxy" et bien sûr "Apostrophe".
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  • Cläusken
    5.0 out of 5 stars Project/Object #4
    Reviewed in Germany on August 6, 2016
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    Endlich mal wieder eine offizielle Veröffentlichung nach einigen teilweise obskuren Broadcast-Ausgrabungen! CRUX seziert den Werdegang eines der interessantesten Zappa-Alben der 70er, Apostrophe'. "Yellow Snow" ist in einer sehr schönen Live-Performance enthalten, die es fast mit der fantastischen Version auf YCDTOSA Vol. 1 aufnehmen kann und einige spannende Variationen enthält. Außerdem gibt es diverse Takes von den Sessions zum Stück Apostrophe' selbst mit langen, noch nie gehörten Soli. Sehr schöne Veröffentlichung, dickes Booklet, guter Klang, vernünftiger Preis. Hier kann man endlich mal wieder guten Gewissens zum Kauf raten.
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  • Weird of Hermiston
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Zappa album for Jack Bruce fans that improves on the original
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2016
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    The original 1974 Apostrophe, although Zappa's only top 10 U.S. album always seemed like a badly edited affair at the time. Now we have the newly discovered "original" side one with the full 9 minute title track with Jack Bruce & Jim Gordon and the clunkiness of the 1974 editing really becomes apparent. Side 2 is the Yellow Snow Suite from a live Australian gig, and is a stunning 20 min version of the famous single mix.

    The "bonus" tracks restore Jack Bruce's bass to Down in the Dew and give the original jam version of Apostrophe. These showed a subdued Zappa on guitar, perhaps because Bruce after Cream/Lifetime and Gordon after the Dominos/Traffic were at the top of their very considerable game. Indeed Apostrophe maybe Bruce's career highlight as regards his bass playing. Whatever the case, Zappa overdubbed his guitar parts for the album and made a far better fist of it

    The remaining tracks are early snippets of the Yellow Snow Suite, which are not as interesting, but the "new" 40min version of the album ( tracks 1 - 7) is very much superior to the original 1974 release and should please both Zappa & Jack Bruce fans alike.
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