Production
Tinseltown Rebellion was formed out of two albums that Zappa initially planned to release following the establishment of his home studio, the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen, Warts and All and Crush All Boxes. Warts and All was intended to be a triple live album, while Crush All Boxes would have consisted largely of studio recordings. 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. During the final stages of Crush All Boxes, Zappa decided to salvage the scrapped Warts and All album by releasing a series of albums which used the planned material to emphasize his multiple talents: You Are What You Is, Tinseltown Rebellion and two series of live albums, Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar and You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore.
The opening track, "Fine Girl" is a studio recording originally intended for the unreleased album Crush All Boxes, along with an early mix of the live track "Easy Meat". The Tinseltown Rebellion version of "Easy Meat" featured much heavier studio overdubs than the version prepared for Crush All Boxes.
The front cover art for Tinseltown Rebellion retains the Crush All Boxes title, with the new album title spray painted over it. The sleeve and interior was designed by Cal Schenkel, and contains still images from the film Freaks, directed by Tod Browning.
The majority of Tinseltown Rebellion consists of overdub-free live recordings from the 1979 and late 1980 concert tours. This album marks the first appearance by guitarist Steve Vai. The album also introduces drummer David Logeman, who played drums from March through July on the 1980 tour, on the tracks "Fine Girl" and "Easy Meat". He would also play drums entirely on the album You Are What You Is.
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“The production of obscurity in Paris compares to the production of motor cars in Detroit in the great period of American industry.”
—Ernest Gellner (b. 1925)
“The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“Just as modern mass production requires the standardization of commodities, so the social process requires standardization of man, and this standardization is called equality.”
—Erich Fromm (1900–1980)