Zappa?

the best zappa music ive ever heard is the zappa's universe concert,the entire concert was an after death tribute from a ton of former band member's,every time i watch that show im amazed at how adept frank was at blending a full symphony orchestra with a rock & roll band without either style overwhelming the other & without relagating the orchestra to the typical gun's n rose's back ground crap that is the norm,the orchestra is 'the symphony of our time'& they play several smoking hot peice's,the video cover's music from the start of the mother's of invention to the final zappa band & feature's a bunch of special guest performer's.

the best part of watching that concert video is that you get a huge insight into what went into alot of fz's music instead of just hearing the silly lyric's that most people associate with fz while they miss out on some seriously fantastic musician's playing the most complicated rock music ever,take my word on this & order the video it will blow you away,it did me & i own the entire fz catalog & most of the bootleg's too.

my personal favorite fz album is 'thing fish', it's kinda along the line's of goe's garage but instead of being narrated by the central scrutinizer(fz) its narrated by the thing fish(ike willis) & is based on government test's to try to get rid of aid's & durring testing on convict's they accidently create 'the mammy nun's,the narration is done in the funniest butchered english amos & andy type voice ive ever heard.

some other note worthy zappa album's that have not been mentioned yet.

SHIP ARRIVING TOO LATE TO SAVE A DROWNING WITCH.

ZOOT ALURES.

SLEEP DIRT.

STUDIO TAN.

JUST ANOTHER BAND FROM LA.

JAZZ FROM HELL.

mike.

I must agree with many of the above.

My brother was a huge collector of Zappa in the 80's, and I bet to this day he still has original pressing LP's that have never been opened of all the first 20 LP's.

I LOVE Joe's Garage, and Sheilk Yer Bootie (SP) is another fave of the moder FZ.

So much of the original stuff is good, much is excellent. I'd love to be more specific, but having only listened to Zappa a few times in the last decade or so, I am a little far off to comment.

I can say that FZ at the Felt Forum in NYC on Halloween night of the shut up and play yer guitar was amazing!

freak out....absolutely free(help i'm a rock)....were only in it for the money...hot rats...fillmore 72...get the rykodisc imports...spectacular

***** Freak Out! and
***** We're Only in It for the Money, pretty much set the pace for the Mothers. They were the genesis of something new...

****1/2 Over-Nite Sensation was his first gold record and refined the work that the 60's started.

****1/2 Apostrophe (') was classic.

****1/2 Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar (3 Disc) Is instrumental and showcases the fact that Frank was a highly underrated guitar player in any genre.

If you have a taste for Frank it's hard to find a bad album, there were few dogs. He made so many of strong content and composed of absolute instrumental mastery. The only thing with Frank is he's lyrically a satirist, as you’ve probably gathered and not for the weak at heart. Enjoy and Happy Listening!

Read what allmusic had to say:
www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:5k17gjqrj6ia~T1

I can't say I'm a Zappa fan. I'm more like a Zappa enthusiast; I appreciate and enjoy his work, but don't have a craving to own everything he has recorded. I just recently discovered Yellow Shark. Its Mr. Frank's contribution to his "classical music" interest. His compositions are performed by the Ensemble Modern. After listening to this CD, I now want to own everything Zappa has recorded. Some of the compositions on Yellow Shark just blow me away; its just sheer brilliance. I know that this recording may not be what you are looking for. And, there are probably just as many Zappa fans who wouldn't touch his classical work with a ten foot pole as there are fans who will tell you that these recordings are a "must have" for the Zappaphile. All I can say is that this album is one of the most remarkable ablums I have heard in a long time (not to mention the audio quality is fantastic) and one would be remiss not to give it a listen at the very least.