by Richie UnterbergerThe soundtrack to Frank Zappa's strange early-'70s film 200 Motels was always doomed to be a peripheral entry in his discography. The movie's story was not easy to follow, and neither is the record (not that plot was ever a big focus of the production). It's typically wacky Zappa of the era, with unpredictable sharp turns between crunchy rock bombast, orchestration, and jazz\u002Fclassical influences, as well as interjections of wacky spoken dialogue. Those who like his late-'60s\u002Fearly-'70s work -- not as song-oriented as his first albums, in other words, but not as serious or as silly as his later records -- will probably like this fine, although it's not up to the level of Uncle Meat. It's funny in spots as well, especially the part where a disgruntled sideman gets tempted away from the band to do his own thing (a libretto that was, apparently, based on real-life incidents concerning Zappa sideman Jeff Simmons, who left during the project). On the other hand, there's a growing tendency to deploy the smutty, cheap humor that would soon dominate much of Zappa's work. Originally released in 1971, this didn't make it onto CD until 1997, in a two-disc package that included a bit of bonus material, although this was merely four promotional radio spots for the film and the single edit of Magic Fingers.