Why is he so underrated as a guitarist?
>>63826999
he had poor taste
His music is too weird and never crossed the housewife-contingency.
>>63827006
This. He used all his energy making shitty ironic music rather than utilizing the talent that he did have.
>>63827006 shut uo
>>63827014 shut up
he was a great guitarist however he was an even better composer
he's great, but nothing about him could be called underrated.
>>63827038
>>63827047
ZappaFanGirl:Triggered
>>63827038
has never listened to black napkins
>>63827038
some songs are legit beautiful but most of them are basically novelty music
same thing works for his protégé steve vai
>>63827038
I wouldn't call his music shitty by any measure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKYGaEafv4g
Zappa's music was subversive on a deeper level than irony, by not only satirizing the lyrics and themes of pop songs, but also rejecting the compositional guidelines of pretty much all commercial music.
>>63827131
>>63826999
a lot of the greats in anything are underrated.
I'm prob going to get banned or something but i actually started a thread hinting at a kickstarter campaign to save his archives. all of his tapes are starting to corrode and need to be rescued. a lot of tracks that have never penetrated a public ear hole are going to go to waste, never to be known.
goog: 'who the fuck is frank zappa'
>>63827181
>people that still equate Zappas music with novelty value
The man recorded so much music, and a lot of it was actual serious music.
He's not underrated.
People who call him out on making novelty/ironic music or whatever at the expense of lesser music quality are wrong.
He was one of the most important rock artists ever, even more than The Beatles and maybe even more than Velvet Underground.
![billnted[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/nh5fepV.jpg "billnted[1].jpg")
>>63827255
oh cool, Bill S. Preston is directing it
>>63827255
damn, you guys already raised nearly a million dollars
>>63827185
>Zappa's music was subversive on a deeper level than irony, by not only satirizing the lyrics and themes of pop songs, but also rejecting the compositional guidelines of pretty much all commercial music.
The phrase that always comes to mind when I hear people talk about Zappa's music like this is "try-hard". I always get the impression that he really really wants everybody to know that his music is "different" than what other rock musicians did. It feels to me like he rejected "the compositional guidelines of commercial music" not because he thought it would make good music, but just so he could say that he did.
That's the impression I get when I listen to his music too. It's like a lot of good ideas all smashed together without anything really to join them or without exploring any of the ideas fully.
>>63827289
yeah man I know I'm actually a huge fan both of his and vai's work, but his compositional approach was often like "let's do something new for the sake of it"
>>63827371
I only listened to Hot Rats so far and holy shit that record is amazing, I don't think he's trying hard, that album is a piece of art.
>>63827371
Which Zappa albums have you listened to? It sounds like you have no idea what you're talking about
>>63827289
do you have some sort of guide to his good stuff? I'm tired of wading though his wacky bullshit for the gold like Waka Jawaka and Hot Rats.
>>63827476
Freak Out
Uncle Meat
Lumpy Gravy
Hot Rats
Weasels Ripped my Flesh
Chunga's Revenge
Apostrophe
One Size Fits All
maybe some other ones I don't know. occasionally there were some good moments but not enough that I'd recommend his music to anyone
>>63827592
Hot Rats is good enough to recommend it.
>>63827383
is innovation bad?
>>63827934
no, but it doesn't automatically make music good either
>>63827516
Uncle Meat, Grand Wazoo, Yellow Shark or his other classical work and then his synclavier stuff ending in Civilization Phaze III.
Late in his career he got sick with prostate cancer and couldn't play guitar, but his synclavier music at the time was made out any sound that he wanted to use, which was total artistic freedom for Zappa.
>>63828287
thanks
>>63826999
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6fKl-huexE
>>63827350
Ya. If only /x/ knew about his doc on the "deep web".
>>63827371
>"try-hard"
funny, I got the exact opposite impression.
Everything he does seems so effortless. His lyrics are jokes but they still manage to be fantastic. Even a fairly simple song like Camarillo Brillo has more emotion and aesthetic in it than pretty much anything by "serious" artists like, idk, Eric Clapton
He's a surprisingly sloppy guitarist when you look at how tight he demanded his band to be. In Watermelon it's clearly passion and it's welcome, but elsewhere it's detrimental.
Not that he's bad exactly, but he often loses the plot in his extended solos. It's hard to dispute that his guitar centered albums are among his least interesting.
>>63827437
That's also just one out of like 100 albums.
Try Thing-Fish next
>>63827185
This is just shitty, garbage music. I had to stop it and turn it off.
It's like he tried too hard to be ironic, that he didn't care about making good music
I won't be listening to him again
>>63829092
that's not fair. at least try Peaches in Regalia before you dismiss him. it's one of his best, most accessible songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGQxI0G6mKk
>>63829186
You proved my point. I turned that one off even faster than the previous song
>>63829415
ok you just have bad taste then
>>63827185
>not posting the best song on Hot Rats
it's like you're a newfag or something
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmN5FMqtBBc
>>63829415
What was shitty and ironic in that song?
>>63829534
>not little umbrellas
Hot Rats, Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo, and Sleep Dirt are all stellar mostly instrumental albums that for the most part are just great music for music's sake. No piss taking to be found on these. I think Freak Out is a record that nearly anyone can get into, those are just great songs, Ruben & the Jets too, great tunes but with the "eyebrows". He genuinely loved doo-wop and I think he wanted to play it sincerely, but with his personality and the aesthetic he liked. Until the early 70's I think he made music completely sincerely but then started to pander to his audience, or what he thought his audience was, and I don't think he felt very highly of him. If the Mothers had the success and recognition in the mainstream that they actually deserved in the 60's I think he would have gone on to do even better work. But you gotta pay the bills and the fans want another Dinah mo Humm or Catholic Girls and by god he was gonna give it to them.
>>63827151
Also Watermelon in the Easter hay.
>>63828737
That doc was so shit. Keanu basically spent the entire time defending people who sell drugs.
