Who IS Frank Zappa

If you like Zappa as a guitarist, you should get SUAPYG too. If you're anything like me, you'll never get through more than two tracks in one go, but you'll appreciate it nonetheless.

Hmm well in addition to Yellow Shark I'd also get Civilization Phase III.

Civ is basically a second attempt at Lumpy Gravy, very different though and at times chillingly atmospheric.

Even though I own Mothermania, 200 Motels, Shut Up And Play Yer' Guitar, Thing-Fish, Francesco Zappa and Mystery Disc, I don't really like them enough to recommend them. Mothermania is fun but it's just a best of of the first 3 Mothers albums. Mystery Disc is a pile of curiosities jumbled together and Francesco Zappa is plain crap.

darkshade wrote: What Zappa album(s) should I get next?Albums in bold means I have never heard them before. Albums in green means I heard a little and it's been years since I heard them, so I don't really remember much. Purple means I know it mostly well, but don't own a copy.(It's more or less impossible to get 200 Motels right now, and I'm waiting til it gets released on Universal. I'm also kind of waiting to get Civilization Phaze III last for obvious reasons.)Mothermania200 MotelsShut Up And Play Yer' GuitarThing-FishFrancesco ZappaGuitarPlayground PsychoticsThe Yellow SharkCivilization Phaze IIIMystery DiscEverything Is Healing NicelyFZ:OZTrance-FusionBuffaloJoe's MenageHammersmith OdeonFeeding The Monkies At Ma MaisonRoad Tapes Vol. 1

I own several of those, and of them I'd go for Yellow Shark.
Orchestral and fantastic. A great version of G-Spot Tornado is to be found.

What Zappa album(s) should I get next?

Albums in bold means I have never heard them before. Albums in green means I heard a little and it's been years since I heard them, so I don't really remember much. Purple means I know it mostly well, but don't own a copy.

(It's more or less impossible to get 200 Motels right now, and I'm waiting til it gets released on Universal. I'm also kind of waiting to get Civilization Phaze III last for obvious reasons.)

Mothermania
200 Motels
Shut Up And Play Yer' Guitar
Thing-Fish
Francesco Zappa
Guitar
Playground Psychotics
The Yellow Shark
Civilization Phaze III
Mystery Disc
Everything Is Healing Nicely
FZ:OZ
Trance-Fusion
Buffalo
Joe's Menage
Hammersmith Odeon
Feeding The Monkies At Ma Maison
Road Tapes Vol. 1


Edited by darkshade - February 09 2013 at 11:59

I think the reason there is so many versions of The Torture Never Stops on Frank's albums is, well, because The Torture Never Stops.

If you did a Zappa catalog run-through chronologically, when would you listen to The Lost Episode, the Stage series, and One Shot Deal?

The Lost Episodes - no idea......
You Can't Do That On Stage series - besides vol. 2 and 5, I would listen to them after "Jazz From Hell" and "Feeding The Monkies..." sort of a summary of all the live bands up to that point before the 88 band.
One Shot Deal - somewhere in the 70s, but not sure where exactly... Some time around the Lather era maybe?

I think THIS is Frank Zappa

A Google group https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/alt.fan.frank-zappa/ySVWftRaPiQ says:

Jonathan wrote: What is the story behind the song "Magdalena"?

I think it was based on a news story he read.

darkshade wrote: Also, the ratings for Sleep Dirt all reflect the version with vocals, which is now an out of print version.

Mine doesn't. In fact, one of the first things I did when the remaster came out was to change my rating from 4 to 5 stars. But yeah, it's quite unfortunate that the album is now stuck with all those reviews and ratings that punish it for the vocals and overdubs it no longer has. Not that we can do anything about it.

Evolver wrote: And is not a collection of various live performances also a compilation?

Well, by that standards very many Zappa albums are compilations. I view a compilation as something with primarily released stuff on it.

infandous wrote: Zappa fans are quite detail oriented, I'm learning

Oh you have no idea how obsessive we can be.

darkshade wrote: FZ's page needs clean up or something. It's all those Beat The Boots that make it look unorganized. Those albums should all be moved to a different section.

Were they even released individually? Because if not, we might consider deleting them all in favor of the two boxsets, although that would mean losing valuable reviews.

Since we're on the topic of fixing stuff, I just spotted a minor thing: Mystery Disc is listed as "The Mystery Disc", but there's no "the" in the album title.