Laughter vs. Tears

Zappa!

Looks like the Wilson fans don't want to comment...

I like Zappa but Wilson takes it for me

I'm a huge fan of Wilson's work behind the board, but could never connect with his music. It has nothing to do with emotional content, just the music.

How can this be so tight? Have you guys lost your marbles?

zachfive wrote: Dellinger wrote: I know a very good bit of Steven Wilson, while I know very little (and don't have any) Frank Zappa... but there's a good reason for it. When I heard some Steven Wilson (well, until I actually bought some, being Grace for Drowning and Coma Divine), I was hooked, while what I have heard from Frank Zappa rather puts me off. And in general, even though I do like happy and uplifting music (at least some of it, such as Yes), "funny" music just won't do it for me... it's just about the same as saying ridiculous, and any "funny" thing included in music just won't make me laugh... and if something "funny" doesn't make you laugh then it's failed at it's real purpose and is useless. That said, some of the last pieces I got to hear from Zappa did sound interesting and showed promise of finding at least some songs that I could enjoy from him. Like the post above states as well, there is just so much Zappa that is pure music and is absolutely fan-Frankie-tastic. On a similar side note, I have heard instrumentals where at certain parts (a hook, a guitar riff, a drum fill) makes me chuckle or laugh.  Laughter is not solely provoked via lyrics for me, has anyone else experienced this? If you are turned off by the lyrics it might be a little more difficult to find songs that appeal to you; as many albums contain instrumental/more conventional songs surrounded by tracks that contain lyrics that some people find "ridiculous". It is too late for me now to come up with a list of some of those said songs, but I would suggest just picking up some albums and spinning the whole thing. You may find yourself enjoying it more than you thought. Or if you want almost no lyrics at all then just pick up the entire Shut Up n' Play Yer Guitar triptych, Jazz From Hell, Orchestral Favorites, The Grand Wazoo and Waka/Jawaka and have your mind implode from the awesomeness. My vote goes to Zappa, would be hard pressed to find a poll where I wouldn't vote for him, unless it is one of those who do like the least kinda deals.

No, it's not got to do with the lyrics... I haven't got much of a chance to pay them much attention anyway, and most of the times bad lyrics are not enough to make me dislike a song of which I actually like the music (though it may bother me at least a bit). It's mostly the "what are you thinking?" sound effects that bother me. Though to be fair, I think I don't remember very well what things I have heard from him that put me off... except for his ruining "Stairway to Heaven".

Since Zappa apparently greatly inspired many of my favorite artists ranging from Henry Cow to Acid Mothers Temple I have long tried to get into his stuff, but from the at least 8 albums I've heard from him (including Freak Out, Hot Rats, The Grand Wazoo, One Size Fits All, Joe's Garage...) they range from alright but not really serious or effective to obnoxious humpty-dumpty parody rock (much of Freak Out, Joe's Garage) so I guess I'm gonna actually vote for SWilson here; his solo albums and those with PT are consistently nice listens although maybe a little bland altogether.

Wilson fans probably don't want to comment because they are sick of being ridiculed.

It's totally understandable.

Frank Zappa for me. He's hit and miss for me, and I tend to prefer his instrumentals, but he has put out a lot of music that I really like. Wilson has never had much appeal for me.

I've also noticed that his dedicated fans tend to be quite quiet in polls, but I find that with a lot of more mainstream acts, and in some cases I think it's because they vote without knowing the other options. The vocal people here tend to be more hardcore, and tend to know a ton of disparate music in PA -- I waited a year to join this site so that I felt that I knew enough music to engage in discussions.

There has been some Wilson ridicule, but mostly from one exuberant member that I have seen. I would think that truly dedicated fans commonly would be dedicated enough to want to comment and engage in discussion, and maybe turn some more people onto the music that they like. It's a matter of taste.

I for one welcome diversity in discussion. I like a lot of Italo disco, and music that some here have called muzac, and am not ashamed to say so. That said, different people have different comfort levels, some people don't speak English well enough to feel comfortable in writing, and some are not here wishing to socialize, debate, or discuss, which is fine.

As for "He's got tons of dedicated fans, and they aren't commenting. It is that simple." It's not that simple for those of us who are interested in "why". There are always more dimensions to explore, and sometimes I over-complicate things with my thinking, and one could argue that many of us in the interest of having something to discuss overanalize things that are not important, but philosophically I object to such statements and consider it an oversimplification. Why does he so often have phantom voters would the natural extension, and are we right to see a pattern in this? That's the other thing, people always look for patterns, and sometimes those patterns are exaggerated or don't really exist, but our brains are always looking for meaning in sometimes pretty random things.

I like both Zappa and Wilson. Wilson more.

Edited by mlkpad14 - May 09 2017 at 13:46

I did notice the new SW album already has a 1 star rating it's first day posted. That being said, I have witnessed no abuse of SW fans for simply being SW fans.

Now, us ultra-complexity fans have to wear paper bags on our heads.