Official (Frank) Zappa Thread

[Birch Boy]

This thread is for anything (Frank) Zappa related. This includes Frank Zappa, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Zappa Plays Zappa, and anything Zappa-related.

I recently borrowed Hot Rats, Over-Nite Sensation, and One Size Fits All from a friend and am loving them. I'm listening to HR right now and it's really good. It's really amazing how many albums he has (80, I think). Discussion?

[sneakyblueberry]

I thought there was a Zappa thread?  I remember posting in it way back when I had my Zappa avatar.  Perhaps it was on of those threads lost in the fire.

Anyway.  Zappa is good.  Very good.  Check out Roxy and Elsewhere, a truly great live album.

[Birch Boy]

Yeah I searched for one but nothing came up.

I hear that that one's good. Any other recommendations? I only have the three in the OP.

[tbw2445]

I love Frank Zappa! Strictly Commercial really shows off his rock side. Such an amazing compilation! My Dad and I love listening to it.

[sneakyblueberry]

I started off with the albums you mentioned.  One Size Fits All is probably my favourite of the 3.  Zappa's discography is so vast, it can be hard to know where to start.  I kinda think of Zappa in 3 different ways, there's the older blues/do-wop stuff, then there's the awesome period with Hot Rats and the stuff you mentioned, then there's the weird stuff, including his orchestral and synclavier albums.  

I'd reccomend checking out some live Zappa, Roxy and Elsewhere, Live in New York.  Also, the Baby Snakes DVD is a must see!

Other than that, I'd also recommend you get Nihil in this thread right quick.

[KevShmev]

If you love the jazz fusion vibe of Hot Rats, get The Grand Wazoo.  Even though they were recorded three years apart (which means there are probably 184 albums between them  ), they are stylistically very similar; I think of them as like brothers...or close cousins at worst.

[Orbert]

I've got maybe 40 or 50 Zappa/Mothers albums, and most of my favorites have already been mentioned here.  Hot Rats, The Grand Wazoo, One Size Fits All, Over-Nite Sensation, and Roxy & Elsewhere are all killers.  If you like that side of Zappa, I suggest Zoot Allures and Sheik Yerbouti, which are not that similar in terms of sound, but have something of a similar "attitude".  There's also the concept album Joe's Garage from the end of that era, which should not be missed.

For more instrumental madness, try Orchestral Favorites, an unfairly maligned album.  

A different version of early Mothers featuring Flo & Eddie made a few fun ones that I really like: Live - Fillmore East and Just Another Band from L.A. are both hilarious.  For now, avoid Chunga's Revenge from that same period, as it is mostly out-takes and somewhat inconsistent.

[Nihil-Morari]

Yay for Zappa!
He's my hero, has been for a year now, so I'm still fairly new, but I guess he will continue to blow my mind.
I've got 27 albums, I believe, and I love all of em.
Highlights: Roxy and Elsewhere, Zappa in New York, one Size Fits All, Just Another Band From L.A., We're Only In It For The Money, wow I can really go on like this.

[sneakyblueberry]

For now, avoid Chunga's Revenge from that same period, as it is mostly out-takes and somewhat inconsistent.

Although the riff to the song Chunga's Revenge is awesome for being heavy without really trying.

[Nihil-Morari]

BTW, there was an old Zappa thread, started by me. I don't know where it went either.

Doesn't matter, all Zappa praise is welcome.

[Orbert]

For now, avoid Chunga's Revenge from that same period, as it is mostly out-takes and somewhat inconsistent.

Although the riff to the song Chunga's Revenge is awesome for being heavy without really trying.

Agreed.  Also "Tell Me You Love Me" has a great riff and is quite heavy for the time, but it felt like Frank wasn't quite sure whether he was writing a tough love song, or a parody of a tough love song.

There are definitely some moments, but overall it left me feeling like I hadn't really gotten an album's worth of Zappa.  I felt that way long before the Internet and discovering that it was a bunch of outtakes.

[skydivingninja]

I've got the ZPZ CD, but I need an actual Zappa album.  I was thinking about getting Hot Rats, Over-Nite Sensation, or whichever album has Willie the Pimp on it.

EDIT: lol, just checked, WTP is on Hot Rats  

[Orbert]

Also, that album is an excellent starting point.  It was his first solo album, first time he really felt free to do his own thing and not worry about the band.  The Mothers were definitely a band, even if Frank was the driving force.  Hot Rats is the "real" beginning of a lot of stuff to come.

[ShadowWalker]

This thread is for anything (Frank) Zappa related. This includes Frank Zappa, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Zappa Plays Zappa, and anything Zappa-related.

I recently borrowed Hot Rats, Over-Nite Sensation, and One Size Fits All from a friend and am loving them. I'm listening to HR right now and it's really good. It's really amazing how many albums he has (80, I think). Discussion?

The most recent offering is Philly '76, According to the packaging, it is official release #86.

I just saw Zappa Plays Zappa in Baltimore last Friday (Jan 15). Great show. I got a setlist from the stage and got autographs from Dweezil and Ben on it. Dweezil must have been hanging out on stage for nearly an hour after the show was finished signing autographs and chatting with fans.

Also picked up the afore mentioned Philly '76 show at the concert. It is an excellent listen...

[ShadowWalker]

I've got the ZPZ CD, but I need an actual Zappa album.  I was thinking about getting Hot Rats, Over-Nite Sensation, or whichever album has Willie the Pimp on it.

EDIT: lol, just checked, WTP is on Hot Rats  

My Zappa journey began with You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1. Disc 2 of that collection to be precise. There was something about "The Torture Never Stops" that really caught my ear, but there is a lot of things also on that disc that I really like - Plastic People, the sequence of Dumb All Over > Heavenly Bank Account > Suicide Chump and others. I used that disc as my guide to branch out (and my collection is a bit more than 25 percent complete), so I have plenty of different versions of Torture, as well as other stuff. Philly '76 and Zappa in NY are the two that are in rotation right now, and Sheik Yerbouti is probably the disc without Torture that I play the most...

[TheVoxyn]

Listening to Zappa in New York right now. Zappa rules  .

[Global Laziness]

I've listened to Absolutely Free, Hot Rats, Over-Nite Sensation, and Apostrophe. I didn't much care for AF, but the other three were definitely enjoyable - particularly Hot Rats. But they didn't compare to the awesomeness that was Zappa Plays Zappa in Montreal last summer (and, presumably, Frank Zappa himself live, but he was before my time).

[Orbert]

Yeah but remember that ZPZ is essentially an all-star greatest hits show.  The most well-known and well-loved songs only, because that's what people want to see.  Even when he was alive, Frank never did that.

I saw Frank once, in 1980 ("Crush All Boxes") and even though the musicianship was superb, and I was finally seeing someone I'd practically worshipped for years, I was left somewhat disappointed overall.  There was a focus on newer material, which most bands do; but in the case of Zappa, there are many "classic" songs that you'd more or less expect to hear, and Frank had no interest in playing them.  He did pull out tunes from the back catalogue, but how they were chosen, I have no idea.   I thought I knew a lot of Zappa, having accumulated probably 10 or 15 albums by then, and I was looking forward to singing along or whatever, and most of the material was unfamiliar.  The ones I recognized were ones that I feel pretty "meh" about.  (I actually hate the word "meh", but it's exactly the right word here.  I didn't consider them particularly good or funny songs.)

Anyway, my point is that Frank's albums are all over the place, and while most fans have at least a few that they can listen to all the way through, most also admit that they skip tracks pretty freely, and have certain releases that they avoid altogether.

[Birch Boy]

I might listen to Over-Nite Sensation tonight, concluding my first-listens to my first Zappa music. I have no clue what the music is like, but beating One Size Fits All will be hard.

[Orbert]

Over-Nite Sensation does not have to beat it; it only has to equal it (which it does IMO).  Those two albums are siblings.  Same band, same time period, same sound.  One Size Fits All will always have a special place for me, though, as it was the first Zappa I ever heard, but they're both awesome. 

[sneakyblueberry]

I think I'll go give Inca Roads a listen...

Godly.

[Nihil-Morari]

Just bought Ruben And The Jets and Absolutely Free.


What is your Zappa collection, post em here:

This is mine:

Freak Out!   1966                                     1CD
Absolutely Free   1967                             1CD
Cruising With Ruben & The Jets   1968     1CD
We're Only In It For The Money   1968     1CD
Hot Rats   1969                                     1CD
200 Motels   1971                                     1DVD
Fillmore East June 1971   1971                     1CD
Just Another Band From L.A.   1972             1CD
Roxy And Elswhere   1974                     1CD
One Size Fits All   1975                             1CD
Zoot Allures   1976                                     1CD
In New York   1977                             2CD
Joe's Garage Act 1   1979                     1LP
Sheik Yerbouti   1979                             1CD
Baby Snakes   1979                             1DVD
Dancin' Fool   1979                                     1LP
Bobby Brown   1979                             1LP
You Are What You Is   1981                     1CD
The Dub Room Special   1982                     1DVD
Does Humor Belong In Music?   1985             1DVD
Peaches en Regalia   1987                     1CD
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1 1988   2CD
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 2   1988  2CD
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 3   1988  2CD
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 4   1988  2CD
Broadway The Hard Way   1988             1CD
Zappa In Barcelona   1988                     1DVD
The Best Band You Never Heard In You Life   1991  2CD
Playground Psychotics   1992                     2CD
Ahead Of Their Time   1993                     1CD
Civization Phaze III   1994                     2CD
Cheap Thrills   1998                             1CD
The Best Of   2004                                     1CD
A Token Of His Extreme   2004                     1DVD
Zappa Plays Zappa   2007                     2DVD


 

[Orbert]

Sure, I'll play.

Freak Out!
Absolutely Free
Lumpy Gravy
We're Only in It for the Money
Hot Rats
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Chunga's Revenge
Weasles Ripped My Flesh
Fillmore East: June 1971
Playground Psychotics
Swiss Cheese (Fire!)
Just Another Band from L.A.
Waka/Jawaka
Over-Nite Sensation
The Grand Wazoo
Apostrophe (')
Roxy & Elsewhere
One Size Fits All
Bongo Fury
Zoot Allures
Studio Tan
Joe's Garage (I, II, and III)
Orchestral Favorites
Sheik Yerbouti
Sleep Dirt
Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar
Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar Some More
The Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar
Tinsel Town Rebellion
The Man from Utopia
The Perfect Stranger
Jazz from Hell
Broadway the Hard Way
Guitar
The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life
Make a Jazz Noise Here
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol 1
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol 2
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol 3
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol 4
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol 5
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol 6
Civilization Phaze III
The Yellow Shark
London Symphony Orchestra, Vol 1
London Symphony Orchestra, Vol 2
Various Bootlegs

Not as many as I thought, honestly. I was sure I was pushing 60 or 70.

[ShadowWalker]

Yeah but remember that ZPZ is essentially an all-star greatest hits show.  The most well-known and well-loved songs only, because that's what people want to see.  Even when he was alive, Frank never did that.

I am still new to Zappa, so I don't know if your comment on ZPZ holds true. Anyway, here is the setlist from January 15 at Ram's Head Live! in Baltimore, MD. I can think of more than a handful of songs that were not played that I wanted to hear:

Black Napkins >
Broken Hearts Are For Assholes >
Bamboozled By Love >
Jones Crusher >
Dirty Love
RDNZL
You Didn't Try To Call Me >
Road Ladies
T'mershi Duween
Keep It Greasy
Catholic Girls
Crew Slut
Outside Now
Dumb All Over >
What's New In Baltimore?
Wino Man / Drum Break
Apostrophe
Ms. Pinky
Pygmy Twylyte QT >
Room Service / Band Intros >
Echidna's Arf

===

Purple Lagoon >
Stinkfoot >
Muffin Man >
Purple Lagoon

[Birch Boy]

Here's my extensive Zappa collection and their ratings:
One Size Fits All - 9.5/10
Hot Rats - 8.5/10
Over-Nite Sensation - 9.0/10
 


Keep in mind, the ratings are based on 1-2 listens each.

[MetalManiac666]

Strictly Commercial is the only Zappa album I have, and while good, hasn't really gotten me to branch out to other albums.

[Orbert]

That's because it's a collection of his most commercial material.  I have no idea why the compilation was even created, other than as some attempt by somebody to "prove" that Zappa has some kind of commercial appeal.  It is a horrible representation of what Zappa was all about; in fact, it's a misrepresentation.  It's like taking the one mellow song off of each album by some metal band, putting them together and saying "see, they're really a mellow band".

There are tons of good suggestions in this thread already, but believe me, if all you've heard is Strictly Commercial, you have not yet listened to a Zappa album.

[Sigz]

The only two Zappa albums I have are Hot Rats and Apostrophe. I haven't been able to really get into Hot Rats, but Apostrophe is awesome.

[MetalManiac666]

That's because it's a collection of his most commercial material.  I have no idea why the compilation was even created, other than as some attempt by somebody to "prove" that Zappa has some kind of commercial appeal.  It is a horrible representation of what Zappa was all about; in fact, it's a misrepresentation.  It's like taking the one mellow song off of each album by some metal band, putting them together and saying "see, they're really a mellow band".

There are tons of good suggestions in this thread already, but believe me, if all you've heard is Strictly Commercial, you have not yet listened to a Zappa album.

Actually, it seems to me that they did a good job of getting all of his "hits" on one album, and the title is supposed to be ironic...

[KevShmev]

I own these physical CDs:

Apostrophe (')
The Grand Wazoo
Hot Rats
Joe's Garage
One Size Fits All
Over-Nite Sensation
Sheik Yerbouti
Zoot Allures

And then I have assorted songs on my computer from We're Only In It For the Money, Jazz From Hell, Freak Out!, Lumpy Gravy and Roxy & Elsewhere.

[Nihil-Morari]

That's because it's a collection of his most commercial material.  I have no idea why the compilation was even created, other than as some attempt by somebody to "prove" that Zappa has some kind of commercial appeal.  It is a horrible representation of what Zappa was all about; in fact, it's a misrepresentation.  It's like taking the one mellow song off of each album by some metal band, putting them together and saying "see, they're really a mellow band".

There are tons of good suggestions in this thread already, but believe me, if all you've heard is Strictly Commercial, you have not yet listened to a Zappa album.

Actually, it seems to me that they did a good job of getting all of his "hits" on one album, and the title is supposed to be ironic...

To be honest, I like the way they've assembled 'radio friendly' Zappa songs. When I play these songs to my teachers at school, they're still in shock, but not as much as when I would play Dumb All Over (lyrical shock), or The Bebop Tango(musical shock). Hell, I've even lend out the CD to my vocal teacher, who sang on broadway a couple of years, and isn't into any other music than musical and classical, and a couple of classmates.
So I guess it's a good a best of as it can be. It has Zappa-esque moments, and when you start to like those moments just as much as the catchy moments, you're ready for your first real Zappa album.

As to people being afraid that they have to get into Hot Rats, or else they won't like Zappa. I can assure you that Hot Rats is maybe my 15th or 20th favourite Zappa album. Maybe I don't 'understand' it yet, but it hasn't grasped me.

[Orbert]

Okay, I guess Strictly Commercial would be useful for exposing people to Zappa via his most accessible stuff.  I just can't see many people listening to it, though, and thinking "Wow, so this is Frank Zappa?" and buying more of his albums and liking them.  I honestly doubt that Frank would have bothered creating such a collection for that purpose.  He said many times that he didn't really give a fuck if people liked his work or not; he was doing it for exactly one person: himself.

That said, I'm not sure I believe that, either.  I think that all artists, at some level, want people to experience and enjoy their work.  I just don't think Frank would have put together a "best of" compilation like that.  And MetalManiac said it himself.  He's listened to it, thinks it's good, and it still hasn't inspired him to check out anything else.

[TimmyHiggy]

I saw Zappa plays Zappa last night and it was fantastic. The venue was a bit poor, and I really struggled making out some of the higher parts cos it was just so reverby and boomy, but the band was immense and the music was great.
The band started out really good, but kinda got into a rut where they were just playing the songs in the middle. Then a big group of people started dancing down the front and the band got really into it and were given a new lease of life! For the first song in the encore they got all the dancin folk up on stage which was hilarious, particularly the fat guy that kept shakin his booty at everyone!
Really good gig. And a good intro to Zappa's music!

[Jakartabassplayer]

can one of you recommend me some Zappa?

[Orbert]

There are lots of great recommendations already in this thread.  Pick some!