h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Anyone wishing to sample Zappa could do worse than listen to Lather and Phases I , II and III (i.e. Lumpy Gravy, We're Only In It for the Money and Civilisation) either that or pick any 'You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore' volume.

I personally would recommend Volume 2 (a complete 1972 concert) or Volume 3 (featuring mostly the 1984 band on disc one, and stuff from 1971, 1973, 1981, 1982 and 1984 on disc two - including some hysterical crap from a 1984 concert where Ike kept making Frank laugh by cracking Lone Ranger jokes and a megamix of King Kong from 1971 and 1982 shows).

Volume 2 of "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore" is a great place to taste Zappa's rock flavored side. It's particularly grand because FZ is the only one on guitar, so you can hear the maestro whip it out throughout. It also includes a 23 min version of "Dupree's Paradise" which is a winning example of FZ's orchestral works as played by a rockin' teenage combo.

My own recomendation, if you wanna hear some cool mutant classical type music, is "Burnt Weeny Sandwich." A glorious orchestral thing sandwiched between some wino doo-wop (WPLJ) and what FZ called, "A greasy love song" (Valerie).

Another good introduction to the music of the great man would be "Strictly Commercial."Admittedly,it's mostly only tracks that are suitable for radio airplay,but it would give anyone listening to Frank's music for the first time a reasonable cross section of his prolific output.My personal favourite albums are Apostrophe('),the first example of his work I ever heard,Tinseltown Rebellion,for his digs at the major record companies on the title track and Joe's Garage Acts 1-3 as it gives a fair insight as to various aspects of touring and the American way of life.

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I agree with Rogue Traveller. Phase I,II and III are the best sources of Zappa samples out there.

I just dig The Man.

Anytime

Anywhere

Anyhow

For no reason at all.

T´mershi Duween.

I would recommend 'Just another Band from LA', 'You Are What You Is', and 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh'.

I just spend 2 1/2 listening to the "trilogy" Hot Rats, Wakka Jawakka and The Grand Wazoo, smoking a joint and drinking some vine.I can recommend that

T´mershi Duween.

2 1/2 hours that is .

ah, and what about 'Shut Up and Play Your Guitar', 'Guitar' and 'Thingfish'?

Tonsil Revenge.

Well first of all you hit a soft spot, as "Guitar" is one of the 10-15. albums I don´t have, so this might be the time to go look for that one

SUAPYG I can listen to for hours, and as for Thing Fish: I have this dream of paying someone to do it live as the musical it´s supposed to be.If we´re talking FZ trilogys dosen´t Thing Fish belong in there with Joe´s Garage and FZ Meets The Mothers Of Prevention, on the topic of freedom of speach?


All good.

T´mershi Duween.

Truly, I would include 'Freak Out' in that catagory, but I try to think of Frank's body of work as a whole. If you analyze it too much and you start finding structure where there was only effort, cause the man worked his a** off, then it becomes a kind of parting-out of his memory. Personally, my favorite is 'Live at the Roxy'. It's got the live version of 'More trouble comin' every day'.

"ah, and what about 'Shut Up and Play Your Guitar', 'Guitar' and 'Thingfish'?"

Not anywhere near my personal top 10...

Not that I really have a personal top 10. hmmm....

OK, I tried. It's too dificult. Anyway, I will say that I don't have any of those albums. Because I have yet to consider them important enough to buy (as opposed to something like 'Civilization: Phaze III' which I don't own because it's hard to find and rather expensive).

Don't worry aboutit. it's probably a guitar player thing.
I be one and I like to hear him play without all the distractions.

Don't make a fuss, just get on the bus.

Dear Freaks,

Civilisation I,II,III = the worst album by anyone, ever. It is the only album I have ever taken back to a store for being crap and all credit to Virgin for giving me my money back. I have ~ 40 or 50 FZ albums starting from Hot Rats soon after its original release.

A joke idea of putting a mike inside a piano and inviting people to make dumb noises into it works for the thirty seconds you read the sleeve note, but not for 6 hours. Well not for me anyhow and especially when you could spend 6 hours listening to Uncle Meat, Hot Rats, The best band you never heard in your life etc....

Sad, mad and boring to know.....

But my question is, where does my listening go from here? FZ has been dead 10 years and the family trust are really dredging the barrel looking for new release material. The good Captain hasn't released anything new for twenty years......... What do I get into now?

Thick 'n Tasty (that's me [or you] or someone)

Would be inclined to agree that cicilization is not one of FZ's better releases.A bit to avant garde for my liking.

If you're into the rock/heavy metal scene,,try listening to Cathedral.Formed when Lee Dorian(vocals)and Gaz Jennings(guitar)left Napalm Death.After several personell changes,the line-up now includes Leo Smee(bass guitar)and Brian Dixon(drums).Their web site is as follows:-www.cathedralcoven.com

Check out Steve Vai's Live album or listen to Don Byron's "Bug Music".

Wow, that's the first negative review I've heard for the Civilization Phase III album I've heard because I was wondering about it since I've never heard it before. I have to agree with the other records you've mentioned as being great but then I love just about everything I've heard from Frank, except maybe the Jazz From Hell album, and I've only heard that once. I remember how many times it took me to get used to and finally loving Trout Mask Replica.