Who IS Frank Zappa

So I just finished up the 81-82 era of Zappa's music.
Chalk Pie
One Shot Deal
Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch
The Man From Utopia (vinyl mix)
The Man From Utopia (remix (UMe))
You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 5 (disc 2)


These are the next few Zappa albums and shows in my chronological listen:
London Symphony Orchestra
The Perfect Stranger
Francesco Zappa
1984/06/16 Berkeley
Beat The Boots III (disc 3) ("None of the Above")

I think I've hit a brick wall. LSO is a hard listen, and I really need to be in the mood to listen to it. I've probably only listened to it 4 times ever. It's one of Frank's darkest albums, and wildly dissonant. Doing this chronological run, I've realized that there is little of Zappa's classical music or chamber music recorded from 1973-1982, so it's been mostly rock/jazz-fusion. After all these albums, diving right into LSO is like making a 180 turn in Frank's canon.

The other albums are much easier to listen to, in my opinion, though I don't know the '84 classical performance that well. I've considered giving this up and just listen to whatever FZ album I want again, but I've gone so far, I would like to keep going. This has become harder than I thought (don't worry, I've had a lot of fun doing this, I'm not complaining)

Keep going! Don't stop fur nuttin'.

man, even with a discography as eclectic as Zappa's, I don't think I could spend so much time listening to his discography in order. Keep on truckin

neat

Guys, do you know this one ? It sounds like it fell of the head of Frank.

Wo0o0

darkshade wrote: Evolver wrote: It's that time again.  In a few days we should know the next supposed date for RBP release. It doesn't matter, because the album everyone's really been waiting for is coming out... Joe's Camouflage

Evolver wrote: darkshade wrote: Evolver wrote: It's that time again.  In a few days we should know the next supposed date for RBP release. It doesn't matter, because the album everyone's really been waiting for is coming out... Joe's Camouflage   I'm a litle hesitant to order Camouflage, but I must.   Not RBP is now Feb 14, or February Fools' Day.

Please report back on it.

These Joe's -age series is a bit much for me to just blindly buy.

Finally got around to continue the Zappa-thon. Remembering how dissonant London Symphony Orchestra is, as I'm listening to the album, I'm noticing all the pretty and uplifting moments there are. I had similar experiences with Zappa's synclavier work. The music hits you as a barrage of anxious, dissonant, nervous music, and a lot of it is.But repeated listens (and plenty of time since the last time I listened to LSO) reveals deeper moments of beauty. LSO isn't one of those albums you can listen to while driving, you need to be alone, with no distractions. But I was so not ready to continue on, but I'm glad I did. Only Frank Zappa could have made this music.

Them Or Us would be a more enjoyable album if the album had some PUNCH to it, at least during the hard rocking parts.
Stevie's Spanking and Sinister Footwear II sound so weak, especially compared to the 88 band version on MAJNH.


Edited by darkshade - February 03 2014 at 11:35