Who IS Frank Zappa

I am a long time prog lover. Classic Prog, other then that mainly dream theater. And the furthest I stray from progressive rock is Zeppelin and Hendrix, which both have very progressive aspects.

Now... I've read about Frank Zappa, and loved the idea of the music he makes. Now, I want to listen to what he does. The best of what he does. I read his Bio on the main site. I read all about him on Wikipedia. But through all of this you don't learn his music. And I don't really have the interest of listening to every single song from every album. So what's his best work? What has he done, what can you recommend? What's your favorite things about this man? Stories? Affairs? Mailmen? Who is this awesome person?




Edited by TheProgtologist - October 25 2010 at 10:51

Joe's Garage is the place to start in my opinion.

One Size Fits All. It really does. From there you can go anywhere. I dunno. Zoot Allures maybe?

Edited by Ronnie Pilgrim - October 22 2010 at 23:14

As far as the jazz rock side goes, I think The Grand Wazoo or Waka/Jawaka are better examples of the style than Hot Rats.  Hot Rats is a great album, though.

Originally posted by SaltyJon As far as the jazz rock side goes, I think The Grand Wazoo or Waka/Jawaka are better examples of the style than Hot Rats.  Hot Rats is a great album, though.

Originally posted by Mushroom Sword Before I've already listened to Bobby Brown and I am the Slime. The latter is pretty amazing, Bobby Brown is... different... And O.k. WiIll do to everyone who posted above. ...except saltyjon ( s first post).

Edited by The Quiet One - October 22 2010 at 23:25

Originally posted by The Quiet One Originally posted by Mushroom Sword Before I've already listened to Bobby Brown and I am the Slime. The latter is pretty amazing, Bobby Brown is... different... And O.k. WiIll do to everyone who posted above. ...except saltyjon ( s first post).   Those two are some of his poppiest songs, which doesn't mean they're bad, but hardly shows what Frank was able to deliver.   If you're going to listen through youtube or somewhere else, make sure to check these compositions:   Peaches en Regalia Eat that Question Fifty/Fifty Echidna's Arf (for you) Inca Roads Little House I Used to Live In Black Napkins Zoot Allures

Ok. Thank you. The solo from slime seems pretty awesome. But from reading his bio. And having "Avant-Garde" as a genre, I know that's not what I should be expecting. I really am open to hearing some really... off-the-wall sounds from him. I'm that kinda guy that's racist towards mainstream anything. (except Starship Trooper). Now enough about me. More about Mr. Smoke-on-the-water-reference.

Burnt Weeny Sandwich

Originally posted by The Quiet One Originally posted by SaltyJon Zappa's a very eclectic artist (I've always thought he would fit better in Eclectic than RIO/Avant, but that's another discussion).  If you want to hear the off-the-wall type stuff, check out an album like Weasels Ripped My Flesh!.   Now that's a RIO album.

Indeed.  I have a feeling that if we did have album-by-album tagging, most of his more well known albums would be elsewhere.  That one belongs with us ZARTies, though.

Originally posted by Slartibartfast If you want a really good sampling of songs from his career, the live album Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life is a good place to go.

Edited by tuxon - October 23 2010 at 02:53