10 years to the day since Frank Zappa died

[The Czech Republic 0]

He's on the January 04 cover of Downbeat magazine, and there's a great article on him. Hats off to an extraordinary composer for all genres.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

One of my personal musical heroes. The guy could play anything.

[Guest Jimbo]

for those ignorant to Zappa's music, what do you suggest we check out?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

He has MASSIVE amounts of material out. I started with Apostrophe, then got Sheik Yerbouti, both of which combine stupidity with virtuoso musicianship very well. Zoot Allures is great shit as well. His debut full-length with The Mothers of Invention is a hoot as well, if completely drug-influenced and ridiculously screwy. Hence, it's called Freak Out.

[Guest mesepher]

Just go to the store and buy a few albums. Eventually, you'll come to appreciate them all. I don't think there is an FZ album I have that I don't love (and I have over thirty of them). If you don't want to go that route, check out one of the "You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore" sets, which have lots of delcious live goodies!

 

My first Zappa experience was "Chunga's Revenge" so, I'd reccomend checking that one out. Each album has something wonderful about it.

[WrestlingDeacon 0]

I have "Strictly Commercial" which is a good starting place to get into Zappa, I think. It's a greatest hits album sort of thing. However, Zappa is a guy that you need to hear the whole album to get into what he was doing at that particular time.

 

Isn't there like a Frank Zappa high school out in California? I bet their mascot is the baby snakes.

[Slayer 0]

Zappa ruled, plain and simple. Iconoclastic and counter-culture without coming off as elitist. Good music all around the board, progressive in the truest sense of the word, and never too serious for itself.

 

Only problem comes from the sheer number of material he put out, which makes it very hard to keep track of for the new fan (or even the long-time one)

 

Plus how many YCDTOSA albums did he put out anyway?

[Guest mesepher]

Zappa ruled, plain and simple. Iconoclastic and counter-culture without coming off as elitist. Good music all around the board, progressive in the truest sense of the word, and never too serious for itself.

 

Only problem comes from the sheer number of material he put out, which makes it very hard to keep track of for the new fan (or even the long-time one)

 

Plus how many YCDTOSA albums did he put out anyway?

There are six volumes to YCDTOSA. Two Discs each.

 

I made it a point to obtain all of the Zappa albums by the time I graduated college, and damn it... it's difficult just to find them all!

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I have a local store with a massive Zappa selection that I'm gradually picking at with every paycheck.

 

So far, I've got:

 

Apostrophe

Sheik Yerbouti

Zoot Allures

Hot Rats

Freak Out

Wowie Zowie (live disc)

Strictly Commercial

 

I've also got a vinyl copy of Freak Out, which is a pretty nice novelty, seeing all the silliness of that cover, only bigger.

[Slayer 0]

There are six volumes to YCDTOSA. Two Discs each.

Which one or two of those would you recommend to the new fan?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Hey, here's some good tracks, of which there are many:

 

Friendly Little Finger

Apostrophe

Sheik Yerbouti Tango

Rubber Shirt

 

^those are mainly mindblowing virtuoso musicianship.

 

Wind Up Working In a Gas Station

I'm So Cute

Baby Snakes

 

^fun little rock numbers with amusing lyrics, and the catchiest fucking beats, so it NEVER leaves your head.

 

Flakes

Stinkfoot

Broken Hearts Are For Assholes

Cosmic Debris

The Torture Never Stops

 

^Killer jam sessions, funny as hell, pretty stupid, but never in a way like "I don't want to listen to this any more."

 

Ms. Pinky

Nanook Rubs It/Don't Eat the Yellow Snow

What Happened to The fun in the world?

 

^Pretty stupid.

[Slayer 0]

When would you say Zappa's prime was? Early 70's or later 70's?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Early for me. I liked The Mothers when they were trashed, jamming stuff like "Help, I'm A Rock."

 

I think all of his material that I've heard has redeeming value, though. There's something good on every album, basically.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

Or for you Warp and Plaid fans out there, Jazz From Hell.