# favorite zappa album(s)



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Uncle Meat
Waka/Jawaka
Hot Rats
Jazz From Hell
Yellow Shark
The Grand Wazoo
The Play Yer Guitar/Guitar Albums
&
Sleep Dirt


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Freak Out and Grand Wazoo. Well, those are the only two Zappa albums I own. But I like them both.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

For the classical oriented stuff I like Orchestral Favorites, Yellow Shark, London Symphony.

I have the Esa-Pekka Salonen 200 Motels CD on reserve from the library.

By coincidence I listened to Uncle Meat yesterday. This is one of FZ's most satisfying albums. Full of quirky chamber music, doo-***, jazz improv, and humor.


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Manxfeeder said:


> Freak Out and Grand Wazoo. Well, those are the only two Zappa albums I own. But I like them both.


His composition is matched by no other, he is truly one of a kind. There are also two volumes of symphonic works that I also adore, but can't recall the name of at the moment.

Uncle Meat is so phenomenal!


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

starthrower said:


> For the classical oriented stuff I like Orchestral Favorites, Yellow Shark, London Symphony.
> 
> I have the Esa-Pekka Salonen 200 Motels CD on reserve from the library.
> 
> By coincidence I listened to Uncle Meat yesterday. This is one of FZ's most satisfying albums. Full of quirky chamber music, doo-***, jazz improv, and humor.


That's the one, London Symphony vol 1 & 2.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

This is one of my favorite pieces.


----------



## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

Too many to name. Two that come to mind are "Hot Rats" and "Weasels Ripped my Flesh". I also loved "Meat Light", which was a compilation album.


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

<<We're Only in it For the $$>>


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

This one features a charming and lyrical melody. Beautiful stuff!


----------



## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Heck148 said:


> <<We're Only in it For the $$>>


And wasn't he just?


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

starthrower said:


> This one features a charming and lyrical melody. Beautiful stuff!


I've never heard the vocal version, I love the instrumental version!


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Out of the albums I have, probably _Joe's Garage_. It has everything I want from the man - a rambling, semi-nonsensical story with a more serious sub-context, lashings of puerile humour, pastiches of different musical styles and s***-hot playing throughout.

However, this is with the proviso that I have many glaring gaps with regards to his post-_Hot Rats_ output.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I've never heard the vocal version, I love the instrumental version!


I have both, but the 2012 re-issued instrumental album is the one to have. I have both Hot Rats CDs too, but I prefer the 1987 re-mix even though most like the original. The guitars are up in the mix so it works great for the extended jams.


----------



## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Overall, my favorite is probably "One Size Fits All".

Orchestral, "Yellow Shark".


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Apostrophe and Overnite Sensation


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I bought 'em all on vinyl as they came out. My favorites, for different reasons:

Lumpy Gravy
Cheap Thrills original mix (now available as Greasy Love Songs)
Uncle Meat
Burnt Weenie Sandwich
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Waka/Jawaka
Orchestral Favorites
Sleep Dirt
Sheik Yerbouti
YCDTOSA, all 6 volumes
Civilization Phase III
Posthumus stuff: Zappa for President (with a remix of Brown Shoes Don't Make it), Everything Is Healing Nicely, Feeding the Monkeys at Mai Mason


----------



## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Mods please move this thread to non classical.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

stomanek said:


> Mods please move this thread to non classical.


Stomanek, go back to your Mozart threads.


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Mr. Zappa, I am placing you under arrest for violating the rules of genre separation in music. You have combined rock, jazz, classical, Webern, Stravinsky, Stockhausen, Varese, go-go music....


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Uncle Meat
> Waka/Jawaka
> Hot Rats
> Jazz From Hell
> ...


Apostrophe
Overnite Sensation
One Size Fits All
You Are What You Is


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

An essential set for the Zappa enthusiast!


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

There's also a DVD/CD set of the 'master' Roxy performance release. The quality of the DVD is good, but not hi-rez. It was taken from video, and had to be re-synched to the audio, which by the way is very good.


----------



## Guest (Dec 29, 2018)

Should a distinction be made between albums under Zappa's name and those under The Mothers' name?


----------



## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

MacLeod said:


> Should a distinction be made between albums under Zappa's name and those under The Mothers' name?


No. There would be no Mothers of Invention without Zappa. He was 'the band'.


----------



## Guest (Dec 29, 2018)

Red Terror said:


> No. There would be no Mothers of Invention without Zappa. He was 'the band'.


If Zappa didn't have a band, there'd have been no music.


----------



## Dulova Harps On (Nov 2, 2018)

Freak Out
Were Only In It For The Money
Apostrophe
Absolutely Free
One Size Fits All
Zoot Allures
Just Another Band From LA


----------



## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

MacLeod said:


> If Zappa didn't have a band, there'd have been no music.


Sure there would.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Red Terror said:


> No. There would be no Mothers of Invention without Zappa. He was 'the band'.


No, he wasn't the band. He was the composer and bandleader. The distinction is that the true Mothers was the band FZ had from 1965-1970. And there were a couple of solo albums released during that period which are Lumpy Gravy, and Hot Rats. The Mothers of Invention label was tacked on to some of the other early to mid 70s ensembles but the original Mothers were a sixties band.


----------



## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

starthrower said:


> No, he wasn't the band. He was the composer and bandleader. The distinction is that the true Mothers was the band FZ had from 1965-1970. And there were a couple of solo albums released during that period which are Lumpy Gravy, and Hot Rats. The Mothers of Invention label was tacked on to some of the other early to mid 70s ensembles but the original Mothers were a sixties band.


My point is Zappa didn't need a band to compose music.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Red Terror said:


> My point is Zappa didn't need a band to compose music.


He needed a band to perform his compositions so he could hear them which is why he always had one.


----------



## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

starthrower said:


> He needed a band to perform his compositions so he could hear them which is why he always had one.


If he couldn't get a band together for whatever reason, it would have been just him and a guitar. He would have found a way to perform his music -- band or no band.


----------



## Guest (Dec 30, 2018)

starthrower said:


> He needed a band to perform his compositions so he could hear them which is why he always had one.


My question may have been a minor irritation to Red Terror, but it seems to me important to ask, "What counts as a Zappa album?" He didn't perform on _Lumpy Gravy _- but the composition is definitely his, so no argument there. And _Freak Out _was also his composition (mostly), and he performed along with the band, but it was not released under his name. So, is it his?

I presume he would have been just as happy (happier, perhaps) to release these early albums under his own name, but the recording contract didn't allow this: he was signed as part of The Mothers to MGM/Verve (hence the lawsuit when he released _Lumpy Gravy_)



Red Terror said:


> If he couldn't get a band together for whatever reason, it would have been just him and a guitar. He would have found a way to perform his music -- band or no band.


That wholly undermines Zappa's talent. He didn't just write stuff that could be played on guitar. He wanted a band or an orchestra to play the music _exactly _the way he wrote it.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

He didn't release those Mothers albums under his own name because they were a band. And this band existed under a different name before Zappa joined. He did not create this group. But once he joined the focus switched to performing his compositions. And the name was changed to the Mothers.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

As far as the question (are the albums his?) is concerned, nobody really identifies these albums with anybody else. They contain FZ's compositions and he owned the rights to all of them with the exception of 200 Motels. 

That said, the individual ensembles that were assembled over the years bring a different character and personality to the music. And the older groups containing musicians of the same generation of the leader seem to possess the strongest musical personalities, which is why fans love the original Mothers, and the Roxy era band. And I happen to like the Flo & Eddie band as well. They recorded Chunga's Revenge, 200 Motels, and Just Another Band From L.A.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

MacLeod said:


> He didn't just write stuff that could be played on guitar. He wanted a band or an orchestra to play the music _exactly _the way he wrote it.


Correct. He was a composer first and foremost. He never had a guitar band. Zoot Allures is probably the closest he came because it was just a quartet. But he never had a problem getting musicians to play his music. His reputation as a serious composer was established with Lumpy Gravy. After that he had the respect of the LA session community and musicians wanted to play his music. But some of the orinial Mothers were serious players. Ian Underwood, Art Tripp, Don Preston, Bunk Gardner. They were not just rock n rollers.


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life, Roxy & Elsewhere and One Size Fits All. Larry is not with us anymore...


----------

