The Zappa Thread

Birch Boy · December 19, 2010, 06:30:19 PM

We were 101 - 104, so I think I was in 103. I was wearing a Metallica sweatshirt with my Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa tour shirt. We moved to our correct seats during "Uncle Remus" I think, because it was dark and we were rushing since we were late and accidentally sat in the wrong seats.

bout to crash · December 19, 2010, 06:33:36 PM

Okay, then it's a good thing I didn't lean over the seat and whisper something about llamas because it wasn't you

The dude had the same hair and looked around the same age as you but was wearing green... and our seats were in the 30s.

Birch Boy · December 19, 2010, 06:35:09 PM

I forgot exactly which song it was, but the solo jams were INCREDIBLE. I know it wasn't "Inca Roads"'s jam session that they usually do, it was much earlier in the set.

bout to crash · December 19, 2010, 07:17:18 PM

Yes

It was also very cool to hear Frank and Dweezil playing together...

bout to crash · June 27, 2011, 04:32:10 PM

Just have to point out that today is the 45th anniversary of Freak Out!

Everybody listen to it and freak out in celebration...

Nihil-Morari · June 28, 2011, 05:57:45 AM

I accidentally celebrated it then! Every morning I shower to Zappa's music. And this morning I Freak Out'ed while showering!

MetalManiac666 · June 28, 2011, 11:51:40 AM

Quote from: Nihil-Morari on June 28, 2011, 05:57:45 AM
I accidentally celebrated it then! Every morning I shower to Zappa's music. And this morning I Freak Out'ed while showering!

Long ass shower.

bout to crash · June 28, 2011, 11:07:02 PM

Nihil-Morari · June 28, 2011, 11:57:53 PM

^^

Nah, second half was this morning, but still, nowhere near the entire album.
Why am I defending myself here? Haha.

bout to crash · June 29, 2011, 01:58:28 AM

Seriously. The only thing that matters is you were all wet and soapy while listening to it

Nihil-Morari · June 29, 2011, 02:01:23 AM

aww right.

Freak me out Frank, freak me out.

KevShmev · June 29, 2011, 07:57:52 AM

Quote from: bout to crash on June 29, 2011, 01:58:28 AM
Seriously. The only thing that matters is you were all wet and soapy while listening to it

And here comes the water!

bout to crash · June 29, 2011, 09:49:57 AM

And here comes... the ice pick in the forehead!

Nihil-Morari · July 01, 2011, 03:57:26 AM

Bend over an' spread 'em, here comes my BULLET

KevShmev · July 01, 2011, 10:42:48 PM

Your father is waiting for you in the toolshed.

Nihil-Morari · July 02, 2011, 12:39:32 AM

Fantastic news superhero of the current economic slump

(I can only imagine non Zappa fans trying to follow this)

Nihil-Morari · September 06, 2011, 04:33:20 AM

Btw, I'm doing a zappathon right now. Started a couple of weeks ago, listening to every Zappa album there is, Freak Out to Hammersmith Odeon.
I just started with Zappa in New York, and man, what a massive project this is.

Orbert · September 06, 2011, 08:00:58 AM

I've thought about doing that, but feared that I might be totally insane by time I was done. Being partially insane is bad enough. Also, I'm not sure if I have them all. I have 43, so I think I'm missing a few.

bout to crash · September 06, 2011, 11:35:46 AM

Nihil-Morari · September 07, 2011, 01:28:54 AM

Quote from: Orbert on September 06, 2011, 08:00:58 AM
I've thought about doing that, but feared that I might be totally insane by time I was done. Being partially insane is bad enough. Also, I'm not sure if I have them all. I have 43, so I think I'm missing a few.

Officially I believe there are 96 albums. So yeah, you're missing a few. I've got everything digital, but try to listen to as much physical copies as my planning can stand. (Mostly I listen to my zappathon in the train)

Orbert · September 07, 2011, 07:02:09 AM

AMG lists 75 "main albums", but even though they have a separate section for compilations and another for singles and EPs, that number still includes a bunch non-album releases, plus tributes and stuff. I would say the real figure is closer to 60 or 65. I'm curious as to where you get the number 96.

Nihil-Morari · September 07, 2011, 07:13:46 AM

23 rows of 4 on the official Zappa site. So that's 92, sorry. And that lists for example both the 2disc and the 4disc edition of MOFO, or the Old Masters Box Sets. But then again it doesn't list the AAAFNRAA bundles, or any best of's, Beat The Boots, or any other oddities.

Orbert · September 07, 2011, 07:38:44 AM

Okay, I found the discography at zappa.com, but honestly, there's a bunch stuff in there that I don't know if I'd count. Aren't the Old Masters a compilation series? Mothers of Prevention, Does Humor Belong in Music?, even the MOFO stuff. Once you get to the 90's, it's hard to tell what to consider an "real" album and which ones are straight-out money grabs by Gail & Co. Those last several rows were all released after Frank's death.

Nihil-Morari · September 07, 2011, 07:51:01 AM

Yeah, I've been wondering about that too. Maybe I'll stop after Phase III. But then again I'm very curious about the Joe's ...-series.

And yeah, the Does Humour.. and Baby Snakes albums are basically the same audio as the dvd's, but those are great, and the records were released because Zappa wanted too.
Oh and Lather does cost a lot of time, haha. Listening to New York, Studio Tan and Sleep Dirt twice isn't a pain though.

bout to crash · September 07, 2011, 09:43:09 AM

What is the deal with all the Joe's.. stuff, anyway?
I went into a record store and saw like a million of them and had no idea what they were.

Orbert · September 07, 2011, 02:53:52 PM

I was wondering the same thing. The original albums were Joe's Garage, Act I, and then the double LP Joe's Garage, Acts II & III. I've also seen them packaged together as a triple LP and a double CD.

But the others, (Joe's Corsage, Joe's Domage, etc.) all came out after Frank's death and those are the ones I'm really suspicious of. The track listings seem to indicate a mix of familiar and new (to me) stuff, which makes them tempting, but I'd feel a lot better with a few reviews to read. The album titles are obviously meant to form an association with Joe's Garage but the track listings don't bear that out.

Nihil-Morari · September 07, 2011, 02:56:05 PM

I believe it's just rarities from the vault (garage for that matter). But what they are exactly I don't know, but I know that there's a very cool very early version of Honey Don't You Want A Man Like Me on one of em.

Orbert · September 07, 2011, 03:08:33 PM

It's a tough situation. We know that Frank recorded literally everything, and we know that there have to be many hidden treasures. But when it's anyone other than Frank putting the tracks together and doing the liner notes, I still feel like it's not a "real" Zappa/Mothers album. And yet, this is the best we're gonna get now that he's gone.

I'm not one of those who loves to dig into 500 different live versions of the same songs, so in any one of those later releases, there's maybe 50% stuff I don't really care about. I rarely find myself preferring a live version of a song, even a really good live version, over the studio version I've been listening to for 30 years. Usually it's somewhat interesting, amusing at best. Frank loved to play with the arrangements, so there will be parts sped up, parts missing, extra stuff injected, and overall it usually just sounds "wrong" to me. I'm sure that most people aren't as anal as I am, but I'm probably not alone in feeling that way either.

bout to crash · September 07, 2011, 04:33:57 PM

I hear that.

Nihil-Morari · September 08, 2011, 12:35:29 AM

Yeah, I agree with that, some really give some amazing insight in his life, his way of composing or how tunes developed. But other releases are just too much. The newest two that I've seen (Hammersmith Odeon and Philly '76) are just two live albums I think. But I'll listen to them soon.

Nihil-Morari · October 03, 2011, 06:15:20 AM

I've arrived at YCDTOSA 2, man this is some project. And I must say I don't like most of his output in the mid 80's.
I mean, Francesco Zappa? That was difficult to get through.

Orbert · October 03, 2011, 10:09:29 AM

I agree on the 80's stuff. He was getting a bit too "out there" for even my taste.

YCDTOSA 2 is awesome, but I still prefer Roxy & Elsewhere to it. Probably because I'd heard it first.

Nihil-Morari · October 03, 2011, 12:41:24 PM

Yes true. And I've found out that I know the YCDTOSA series less well than I thought. I know some tracks really, really well, or some passages. With the best known one 'Don't Eat That Yellow Snow' off of No. 1 (man that track's great), but a lot I have apparently skipped in the past.

Well I guess I'll need a couple more weeks to finish all the albums he made when he was alive, I'll make a top +/-60 then, I guess, haha.

Ultimetalhead · October 20, 2011, 05:00:49 PM

I'm finishing up my first listen of Freak Out. This is some great stuff.

darkshade · October 20, 2011, 05:24:02 PM

Quote from: Nihil-Morari on October 03, 2011, 06:15:20 AM
I've arrived at YCDTOSA 2, man this is some project. And I must say I don't like most of his output in the mid 80's.
I mean, Francesco Zappa? That was difficult to get through.

Francesco Zappa is not a real Zappa album, as it contains music than Frank found at a library that was written by a 19th century composer named Francesco Zappa, and played the music on his synclavier (I think), and presented it as an album. So that one doesn't count.

I consider the '88 band the best thing about 80s Zappa (besides the early 80s albums)

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The Zappa Thread