Waka/Jawaka vs The Grand Wazoo

The two albums released in 1972 by Frank Zappa after he was attacked and crippled on stage. Two great, imo 5 star, fusion albums.

Waka/Jawaka by a hair. One of my first (I believe my second) Zappa albums.


Edited by smartpatrol - February 13 2013 at 22:51

The Grand Wazoo definitely. Great album all the way through. The title track smokes, the horns dominate tremendously. Great keyboard work from George Duke, and it has the rare (for Zappa) delicate tune in "Blessed Relief".

Waka/JaWaka is great as well, but the two middle tracks bring it down just a little. The book-ending tracks are phenomenal, especially the title track (there's better versions of Big Swifty out there, but the original is good.)

Both albums are complemented by Imaginary Diseases and Wazoo, which came out in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Also a few tracks on One Shot Deal feature some Wazoo lineups.

smartpatrol wrote: darkshade wrote: Waka/JaWaka is great as well, but the two middle tracks bring it down just a little. I agree with your Mouth, but I LOVE One Shot Deal

I think they're both fine tracks, I always listen to the whole album anyway. It's just compared to TGW, those tracks are a little weaker. It Might Just Be A One Shot Deal DOES have a cool instrumental section.

Grand Wazoo, but just by a little bit.  Mainly because it has 5 (excellent) tracks instead of Waka Jawaka's 4.  I like both albums much more than Hot Rats (generally a more popular choice), in fact.

Even though I say W/J is terribly underrated I must vote for The Grand Wazoo.

Wazoo is one of my favorite albums of all time. Waka's excellent though.

Now I'd say I like Wazoo better, but both are masterpieces 

Imaginary Diseases! Wazoo is awesome, but Diseases is 60 minutes of amazing jams!

smartpatrol wrote: Imaginary Diseases! Wazoo is awesome, but Diseases is 60 minutes of amazing jams!

I might have to agree. Wazoo also has some great jams too, and it's nice to hear the full big band in a live setting, but there's something about Imaginary Diseases. There's this aura surrounding it, and yes, the jams are amazing. Wazoo does have longer jams, with full pieces surrounding them, but as a whole, Imaginary Diseases is more enjoyable (and it was put together by Frank himself, which kinda helps.) It's sacrilege that the title track for Imaginary Diseases made its debut on the album, as that tune smokes.

Both albums feature a version of Farther Oblivion/Greggary Peccary, and I think the Imaginary Diseases one is superior over the Wazoo one, though both are excellent. Took me years to get my head around those epic pieces, both with years of understanding Zappa's universe, and just familiarizing myself with those arrangements.


Edited by darkshade - May 10 2013 at 15:02

Farther Oblivion shares themes and sections with what would become The BeBop Tango and The Adventures of Greggary Peccary, and maybe another piece that was finished later on, with a nice drum solo in there somewhere to boot.

It's also interesting that For Calvin (on The Grand Wazoo) features a Greggary Peccary tease, which is "The New Brown Clouds" theme. I actually never noticed it until the 2012 reissues came out and I got TGW reissue.


Edited by darkshade - May 10 2013 at 15:55