How many of Frank Zappa's 101 official albums are worth listening to?
>>64025939
Honestly, maybe 15ish. Maybe not even that many. It's mostly weighted towards the front end of his discography. There a big span of "meh" for several years in the middle, and then some people get in to his classical stuff from his later years.
I don't know but I'm finding a lot of good stuff so far. I know there's at least one /mu/tant that listened to them all
>>64025939
Just looked through his discography. I counted about 20ish albums that I think are pretty solid. Not all great, but all good enough to listen to.
>>64025982
Yeah, there was a guy in a discog rate thread the other day who fucking ranked every single one. Crazies thing I've seen in a while.
Just this one
>>64025939
Out of the 16 I've listened to I'd only recommend listening to probably 3.
Hot Rats is the only one worth listening to.
>>64025939
Of the ones I've heard Apostrophe, Hot Rats, Waka/Jawaka, One Size Fits All and if you like guitar wank Shut Up and Play are worth a go.
Hot Rats
Zoot Allures
Lather
Sheik Yerbouti
Apostrophe
Joe's Garage
Zappa in New York
The Best Band You've Never Heard in Your Life
Just Another Band From L.A.
My dad's a Zappa fanatic, but I think all the stuff I listed is a pretty solid balance between excellent musicianship and whackadoo silliness.
>mfw Zappa performed a reggae cover of Stairway to Heaven with a full brass band covering the guitar solo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCZT-PYo7XY
>>64025982
Here, honestly i love all his discography
>>64026541
Holy shit the man is so based
>>64026541
I'd add,
Make a Jazz noise here
We're only in it for the Money
Burnt Weeny Sandwhich
and if you like more experimental stuff, Uncle Meat and Lumpy Gravy.
if you like doo-wop Cruising with Reuben and the jets is a fun listen.
If you want rock music, listen to Apostrophe.
If you want jazz, listen to Hot Rats.
If you want more experimental music, listen to Freak Out! and We're Only In It For The Money by the Mothers of Invention. Still poppy but pretty interesting records.
>>64026120
Link?
There are around 23 that are legitimately good listens
also no mention of Roxy and Elsewhere by anyone is heavily disappointing, easily one of his best albums https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4yuzbeOSl4
>>64028577
Sure. It's still in the archived thread.
>>63974323
I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but I give him credit for taking the time to type it all out.
>>64028712
This nigga knows what's up. Roxy is easily my Top 5 for Zappa. Maybe No. 3.
>>64030113
about 15 of those are actually worth listening - I think The Best Band... and 200 Motels are way too high on that list, Zoot Allures is too low
I thought I had heard a good part of Zappa's discography having heard everything other than the posthumous crap of which I've only bothered with a couple, but this list reminded me of how much stuff has been released after his death
Everything from the mid 70s on gets really spotty.
If I had to chose a few:
Freak Out!
Side D of Uncle Meat
Hot Rats
Waka/Jawaka
Over-Nite Sensation
I really like some of Lather... but it has too much of his shitty comedy rock on it.
I've heard everything he's ever done. There's about 10-15 great, unique albums and arguably 4 essential live albums. After that, there's a bunch of jams and comedy music which were nice show fodder basically. If there's an album that feels underwhelming, read more about it. Usually you'll find it was just some record company looking for a quick buck or something. Also zap was very sick for the last few years of his life which accounts for all the unfortunately retarded synth music
>>64025939
it depends how much you like him. Your best bet is to find out for yourself, it would be a shame to limit yourself to listening to someone else's favourites.
>>64025960
Surprisingly accurate answer.
Among those few good albums, there are some real classics though.
freak out - good
absolutely free - good
we're only in it for the money - good
cruising with ruben & the jets - okay
uncle meat - good
hot rats - good
burnt weeny sandwich - good
weasels ripped my flesh - okay
chunga's revenge - okay
fillmore east - okay
waka/jawaka - good
the grand wazoo - good
over-nite sensation - good
apostrophe - good
roxy & elsewhere - good
one size fits all - good
bongo fury - okay
zoot allures - good
zappa in new york - good
studio tan - okay
sleep dirt - good
sheik yerbouti - good
joe's garage - good
shut up 'n play yer guitar - good
you are what you is - meh
the man from utopia - okay
ship arriving too late to save a drowning witch - meh
them or us - meh
thing-fish - lolno
jazz from hell - okay
guitar - okay
civilization phaze iii - not for me
>>64030967
uncle meat is a mess... especially the reissue
king kong suite is ace tho
the 70s stuff is overrated though
Zappa has two kinds of music, his "joke" music and his "serious" stuff.
On the comedy end, he was probably most successful with his earlier albums. By the 70s he was singing about pee and stds and gay people. The music became more like classic rock with le wacky sound effects. Check out the stuff with the Mothers.
On the "serious" end he was also more successful earlier on. Many people consider Hot Rats his best album, but I like Waka/Jawaka too. His synclavier stuff is really bad. Yellow Shark is a surprisingly good last album.
>>64025939
That image would make a great album cover.
>>64025939
I highly recommend his autobiography. There's a pdf of it on the 'nette
All of demmotherfuckers
