Recommend me some Zappa! |
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Vic
Forum Senior Member Joined: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Crete, Greece Status: Offline Points: 330 |
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Posted: 11 Mar 2011 at 4:59pm |
Copying and pasting from the California comments:
Zappa scares me! I've only listened to a couple of albums and many, many songs that I have absolutely no idea which album they are from. I have no idea where to begin and I always find a good excuse to put off exploring his discography. I don't know why, it's irrational. I have immense respect for the man of course, his contribution to music is apparent even from the little I have listened to. Besides, everyone who is anyone (in my book) pays his respects, he discovered Vai (who is one of my favourite players ever), he is largely responsible for the craziness in music like Bungle... So, I guess this is as good a time as any. Which is the one album by Zappa that I should listen to now? .-------- I would also welcome the absolute necessities list, ie Zappa in a nutshell. Educate me! :) Cheers!
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Paperbag
Forum Senior Member Joined: 02 Mar 2011 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 59 |
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I'll recommend 'Apostrophe'.
It's accessible but still has some of the signature, Zappa weirdness.
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Triceratopsoil
MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 17 Dec 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 4201 |
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Hot Rats is fairly widely regarded as the essential one, and it's quite good. I prefer the Mother of Invention albums and The Grand Wazoo. Apostrophe is pretty good too
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J-Man
MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Location: Philadelphia,PA Status: Offline Points: 7032 |
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I like most of his output, but the 4 albums that have always been my favorites from him are Absolutely Free, We're Only In It For The Money, Over-Nite Sensation, and Roxy & Elsewhere.
I'd recommend starting with Absolutely Free and Over-Nite Sensation. Absolutely Free represents the crazy avant-garde style of his early work without being as inaccessible as WOITFTM and Uncle Meat. Over-Nite Sensation shows his more humorous style, but still with killer musicianship and amazing songs. He has tons of 5-star albums in his massive discog, but these two are the best starting points IMO. Absolutely Free and Over-Nite Sensation both sum him up in his best form. |
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Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime
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The Angry Scotsman
MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Location: New Jersey, US Status: Offline Points: 1076 |
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Well I only have 5 or 6 albums (out of his 88 or whatever!)
But I'd say start with Hot Rats and Shiek Yerbouti. Really though, might as well just go for it with Zappa. |
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Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer and Testament. The real Big Four of thrash metal!
Listen to doom metal, worship Satan |
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J-Man
MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Location: Philadelphia,PA Status: Offline Points: 7032 |
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Do you have Joe's Garage? If you're going to go down the route of Zappa's late-period and extremely vulgar stuff, that's the best IMO. |
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Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime
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CCVP
Forum Senior Member Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Location: Brasil Status: Offline Points: 388 |
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The only zappa album that I really like is One Size Fits All, recorded as Mothers of Invention.
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goskoski
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Stooge
MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator/Retired Admin Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Location: Whitby, ON, CAN Status: Offline Points: 5637 |
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I'm not sure I have a definite favorite Zappa album. I could honestly get more familiar with some of his albums I own. I haven't been too interested in his 80's stuff from what I've heard. It doesn't have the same vibe to me. The last album (the most recent) of his I can listen to on a somewhat regular basis is Joe's Garage.
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The Block
MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 05 Nov 2010 Location: Philadelphia Status: Offline Points: 1627 |
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Here's a list of my favorites (Not in any order, that would be too much work )
Apostrophe Hot Rats Joe's Garage We're Only in it For The Money Absolutely Free Roxy & Elsewhere Uncle Meat Over-Nite Sensation Some others that you could check out if you want include Freak Out! and Sheik Yerbouti. He's such a great artist, though, so it would be hard to go wrong, especially with the albums listed above. |
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UMUR
MMA Special Collaborator Errors & Omissions Team / Retired Admin Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 18250 |
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Nathan said the work accessible in his post and I think that�s a key word when making recommendation to a Zappa newbie. There�s no need for the uninitiated to start with albums like Uncle Meat or Civilisation. So my list would be like this:
One Size Fits All
Apostroph�
Overnight Sensation
Sheik Yerbouti
You won�t find more accessible Zappa albums than that. If those albums interest you, you can move on to more difficult territories after that. Edited by UMUR - 13 Mar 2011 at 6:59am |
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Triceratopsoil
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(ahem) Freak Out!
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Andyman1125
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Freak Out, Hot Rats, and Joe's Garage!
I'd start out with a compilation first, to get your feet wet.
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UMUR
MMA Special Collaborator Errors & Omissions Team / Retired Admin Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 18250 |
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Only if you have a strong love for Doo Wop. Freak Out! is a great album IMO, but it�s not an album I would recommend people to start with.
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J-Man
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^ That album's always been meh for me. I like the next MOI albums much more.
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Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime
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Vic
Forum Senior Member Joined: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Crete, Greece Status: Offline Points: 330 |
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Haha! I haven't seen that video in AGES. I used to watch Monsters of Rock, presented by Mick Wall (...Kerrang, the dude Axl disses on Get in the Ring) on Sky, late 80s, and I used to record that show. This was on it. It was the first time I heard the name "Zappa" btw. Wow. Memories. Great show too, I wish I could find the episodes. First time I saw Faith No More, We Care a Lot too... Thanks for all the recommendations on Zappa. I am starting to download. I mean purchasing. :P In about a year, I'll post my opinion! :P
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Vic
Forum Senior Member Joined: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Crete, Greece Status: Offline Points: 330 |
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...hmm, so it's not the video. A real shame, that video clip was awesome!
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UMUR
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Zargus
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Why not start with "Freak out!" his first album, a good place to start i think from a metal perspectiv, my personal favorit is "Were only in it for the money" however.
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goskoski
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