Frank Zappa's public image - foul-mouthed agitator, purveyor of freakish "comedy music" - never matched the true essence of the artist. Zappa created a close-to-flawless body of work that ran the gamut from avant garde to '50s doo-wop, jazz-fusion to progressive exploration, lyrical instrumental passages to raging, knotty and complex polyphony. A continuous subtext throughout all of this was his true passion: the classical and orchestral music he composed throughout his life.
Zappa's brave compositional style was indebted to modern composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern and perhaps most significantly, Edgard Varese. Zappa's discography is one of the most thrillingly inventive in 20th century music. It's also, to the listener unfamiliar with his work, one of the most intimidating.
Here's a guide to finding your own point of entry into Zappa's universe. 1) "Hot Rats" (1969): Dedicated to Dweezil, and featuring Captain Beefheart's indelible performance on "Willie the Pimp," this is a great document of Frank's early guitar heroics. 2) "Roxy Elsewhere" (1974): This will make your head spin.
A live document, featuring the incredible gift of Ruth Underwood's melodic percussion playing, and the one and only Napoleon Murphy Brock on vocals and saxophone. Worth it for "Village of the Sun" alone. 3) "One Size Fits All" (1975): Some of Zappa's boldest rock compositions, and one of the man's finest studio efforts.
Includes the wholly brilliant "Inca Roads," and bizarre but beautiful bits like "Florentine Pogen" and "Evelyn, A Modified Dog." 4) "Zoot Alures" (1976): Probably Zappa's most straight-up rock record. "The Torture Never Stops" is still one of the coolest and creepiest tunes ever laid to tape.
5) "Joe's Garage Acts I, II III" (1979): These records pack in just about everything Zappa was great at: strong social criticism, humor, incredible guitar playing and singular songwriting. 6) "Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar" (1982): Proof that Zappa may well be the finest electric guitar soloist we've ever been blessed with. 7) "Jazz From Hell" (1986): Zappa composes impossible-to-perform songs at the Synclavier.
Maddeningly intoxicating, this stuff. "G-Spot Tornado" is a stand-out, but it's all brilliant. 8) "Make a Jazz Noise Here" (1991): A twin-disc document of Zappa's final world tour, with the 1988 big band absolutely killing 'em throughout.
Bits of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire Du Soldat" and Bartok's "Piano Concerto No. 3" turn up in between torrid takes on "The Black Page" and the hilarious Reagan-bashing "Star Wars Won't Work." 9) "The Yellow Shark" (1993): The Ensemble Modern tackles this, for my money, the finest of Zappa's orchestral works.
No ensemble has ever played Zappa's classical music with more conviction, passion and skill. 10) "QuAUDIOPHILIAc" (2004): Dweezil Zappa oversaw this compilation of Zappa tunes recorded in the '70s by Frank in "Quad," an early four-speaker surround-sound methodology. Further proof that Frank was way ahead of his time, this is the finest-sounding Zappa recording of the man's oeuvre.
News RSS