Who else here thinks Frank Zappa RIP was a genius

[pentatonic]

I always loved the guy, love everything I've heard from him, but I don't know if I will ever get to listening to all his stuff, so many albums, a real musical machine.

So, Genious or Not

Edit: Reason is that I'm listening to Joe's Garage Acts I, II and III and think it's just one the most powerful album I've heard, top 20, guess I just kinda forget him once in a while. May he RIP

[nefilim]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

I always loved the guy, love everything I've heard from him, but I don't know if I will ever get to listening to all his stuff, so many albums, a real musical machine.

So, Genious or Not

do not know if he was genious - what is genious anyway ? but "bobby brown goes down" is one genious track

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by nefilim

do not know if he was genious - what is genious anyway ? but "bobby brown goes down" is one genious track

Well yah what is genious, but for me just the fact the he could write great stuff, one of the top jam bands ever (with The Allman Brothers Band obviously) always had real top musicians at his side, managed to get all they had in them and be at the center of all this. But his style is really not for everyone that's for sure.

[nefilim]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

Well yah what is genious, but for me just the fact the he could write great stuff, one of the top jam bands ever (with The Allman Brothers Band obviously) always had real top musicians at his side, managed to get all they had in them and be at the center of all this. But his style is really not for everyone that's for sure.

he did, among others : steve vai

[Johnny Vinyl]

Never been a fan of Uncle Frank. I just can't seem to connect with his style. I will say however he's unique and perhaps one of a kind. Would I call him a genius? No! But for the purpose of this thread I did vote that way.

[wilky61]

Frank Zappa is my all-time #1, end of story.

Joe's Garage is great, though not my favorite. I usually listen to a smattering of his career, though. Over-Nite Sensation. Apostrophe. Roxy & Elsewhere. One Size Fits All. Random selected live tracks (e.g., from Zappa in NY or FZ:OZ or YCDTOSAM vols. 1-2). Most of his albums have at least 1-2 stinkers, so I don't necessarily listen to him track-for-track or by the album.

And FYI, pentatonic, genius lacks the O but the adjective form (ingenious) of the word includes the O. It's just one of the weird quirks in the English language.

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by wilky61

Frank Zappa is my all-time #1, end of story.

Joe's Garage is great, though not my favorite. I usually listen to a smattering of his career, though. Over-Nite Sensation. Apostrophe. Roxy & Elsewhere. One Size Fits All. Random selected live tracks (e.g., from Zappa in NY or FZ:OZ or YCDTOSAM vols. 1-2). Most of his albums have at least 1-2 stinkers, so I don't necessarily listen to him track-for-track or by the album.

And FYI, pentatonic, genius lacks the O but the adjective form (ingenious) of the word includes the O. It's just one of the weird quirks in the English language.

There goes my french influenced english again, once I saw the way you wrote it it was clear I goofed up, thanks.

[nefilim]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

There goes my french influenced english again, once I saw the way you wrote it it was clear I goofed up, thanks.

and me - I copied the way you wrote it - the whole new generation in Finland is going to write it wrong just because of you - and your twisted love of Frank Zappa !

[wilky61]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

There goes my french influenced english again, once I saw the way you wrote it it was clear I goofed up, thanks.

NP, English is a language.

How do you feel about his first couple albums, e.g. We're Only In It for the Money or Uncle Meat? Do you like either of these two? They've never appealed to me. I don't mind his eccentric humor when he's accompanying it with some badass melodies (e.g., Joe's Garage or Apstrophe), but his more psychdelic poppy albums at the beginning of his career don't sustain my interest (lone exception: King Kong suite). I pick him up at Hot Rats (1969).

(Actually, I feel the same way about the Grateful Dead's first couple albums.)

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by wilky61

NP, English is a language.

How do you feel about his first couple albums, e.g. We're Only In It for the Money or Uncle Meat? Do you like either of these two? They've never appealed to me. I don't mind his eccentric humor when he's accompanying it with some badass melodies (e.g., Joe's Garage or Apstrophe), but his more psychdelic poppy albums at the beginning of his career don't sustain my interest (lone exception: King Kong suite). I pick him up at Hot Rats (1969).

(Actually, I feel the same way about the Grateful Dead's first couple albums.)

I really don't know much before Apostrophe as that was my first exposure, loved his late '70s early 80s mostly though I really like his "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore" series. But I visit some earlies and others from time to time, can't always listen to the same. I should create some playlists for him, his discography otherwise is so big.

[wilky61]

I made a playlist of my favorite 125 Zappa songs a few years back. Don't pay attention to the track times, but these tracks are in order chronologically and according to album track-listing:

http://www.last.fm/user/jwilky61/lib...ts/3tq79_zappa

The first couple are from Freak Out, a couple from Absolutely Free, there's like a dozen from Uncle Meat, then basically all of Hot Rats, a couple from Burnt Weeny Sandwich ("Little House That I Used to Live In" = ), several from Weasels Ripped My Flesh, several from Chunga's Revenge, almost all of Waka/Jawaka and almost all of The Grand Wazoo, then basically everything from his 1973-1975 period, that first set of live tracks around #71 is for FZ:OZ, then almost all of Zoot Allures, that second grouping of live tracks is for Zappa in NY, then I have a few miscellaneous tracks from Sleep Dirt/Sheik Yerbouti before launching into Joe's Garage.

Again, I think almost all of his albums are inconsistent, so it's probably best to make a playlist of your favorite songs across all of his albums, but in general I think these early-70s albums have a lot of really great material (if you're unfamiliar with them):

Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Chunga's Revenge
Waka/Jawaka
The Grand Wazoo

(I'm assuming you already know his "top tier" of albums, i.e. Hot Rats, Zoot Allures, Over-Nite Sensation, Roxy & Elsewhere, etc.)

[Mondo Bizarro]

Can I say he's a genius that I just can't stand? I seriously have a lot of respect for his talent and innovation, but I just never got into him and I tend to gravitate towards the strange. He's definitely got a love/hate thing going on. If it ever came down to it, I'd be more inclined to defend him than condemn him based on his abilities.

[mrr1]

Love Frank Zappa.

He was a musical genius, that's for sure. I like almost everything he has ever done, but I have to say I'm not as crazy about the things he recorded after 'Joe's Garage'.

'One Size Fits All' is one of my top 5 albums ever recorded. I must have listened to that album over a thousands times and I swear I still hear something new every time I listen to it.

If you ever get a chance to hear Frank's music played by an orchestra, do it - he really understood music, even though he often tried to be as weird as possible.

Was he a genius? I'd say "yeah".

[Steelmaker]

Sorry, I just don't like his stuff. I hear his music and it's impressive technically but then I'm like "Ok, now let me hear some Back in Black."

I don't like his whole "I'm so talented I'm going to be completely off the wall and irreverent, yet still be so talented that people will still like it" schtick. I would've liked this guy a LOT more if he would've JUST been a great guitar player, either as a soloist or in a band. The guy could rip, no doubt a bout it.

[wilky61]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Sorry, I just don't like his stuff. I hear his music and it's impressive technically but then I'm like "Ok, now let me hear some Back in Black."

I don't like his whole "I'm so talented I'm going to be completely off the wall and irreverent, yet still be so talented that people will still like it" schtick. I would've liked this guy a LOT more if he would've JUST been a great guitar player, either as a soloist or in a band. The guy could rip, no doubt a bout it.

I'm curious; what do you think of this song? This one's jazzy:

Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? - YouTube

Zappa's catalogue is very diverse, though. Here's one where he just shreds on guitar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGlY1e7gRK0

^"Black Napkins" from FZ:OZ (1976) for the curious

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by wilky61

I'm curious; what do you think of this song? This one's jazzy:

Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Don't You Ever Wash That Thing? - YouTube

Zappa's catalogue is very diverse, though. Here's one where he just shreds on guitar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGlY1e7gRK0
^"Black Napkins" from FZ:OZ (1976) for the curious

I can appreciate his talent wilky, I'm just not a fan. For whatever reason, his music does not resonate with me. Maybe it's a generational thing, I don't know. I'm actually a bigger fan of Zappa for speaking out at the congressional hearing over music censorship, when so few had the guts to do it. For THAT I applaud him.

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I can appreciate his talent wilky, I'm just not a fan. For whatever reason, his music does not resonate with me. Maybe it's a generational thing, I don't know. I'm actually a bigger fan of Zappa for speaking out at the congressional hearing over music censorship, when so few had the guts to do it. For THAT I applaud him.

Zappa is not for everyone, that is clear. There is something about his music that can be irritating if it's not your cup of tea, that's a given also. Most people do recognise his talent as a composer, entertainer and mostly guitarist, but he does go on tangents that either do it for you or not at all. Hence why the thread, I was curious amongst the multiple fans of music here to see what the outcome would be and it's pretty much what I thought.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

Zappa is not for everyone, that is clear. There is something about his music that can be irritating if it's not your cup of tea, that's a given also. Most people do recognise his talent as a composer, entertainer and mostly guitarist, but he does go on tangents that either do it for you or not at all. Hence why the thread, I was curious amongst the multiple fans of music here to see what the outcome would be and it's pretty much what I thought.

Yeah, I mean for myself, I am NOT a fan of the combination of music and humor/irreverence/avant garde bizarro-world. That's probably why I primarily do not like Zappa. I don't listen to music to laugh and truthfully, I don't find him funny when he's trying to be.

[KrugerIndustrial]

Well, I never liked Zappa as a musician but if he's a genius then to me it's because if he hadn't signed Alice Cooper I doubt we'd be able to enjoy Coopers music today(as much).

[BohemianGraham]

I'ma just gonna leave these here:

Mike Nesmith and Frank Zappa on "The Monkees" - YouTube

Frank Zappa & David Jones (Monkees) - YouTube

I actually like We're Only in it for the Money, it's a perfect parody of poppy psychedelic music that was out at the time.

200 Motels is also awesome. Lonesome Cowboy Burt is one of my favourite songs.