CHOICE SECONDS:

Eight Nearly Great Albums

While none of these recordings may be essential, anyone who enjoys Zappa's music will certainly want to hear them. See the discography for details.

ABSOLUTELY FREE

Zappa had to contend with budget problems and a tight production schedule during the making of this, his second, album. Despite these restrictions, Absolutely Free is a landmark recording. It was the first thematically unified collection of pop songs ever released (a concept album, in other words), predating Sgt. Pepper's by several months. Zappa also makes use of the segue, beginning what would become a common practice for him and other visionary pop artists. Although parts of the album are tedious, the songs that make up side two of the original LP (Status Back Baby through America Drinks And Goes Home) constitute an excellent suite, culminating in the definitive version of Brown Shoes Don't Make It.

Weasels Ripped My Flesh WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH

This mixture of live and studio tracks demonstrates Zappa's usual disregard for the line separating high and low art. One moment the Mothers are wallowing in the blues with Directly From My Heart To You, and a few songs later, they dive into the daunting intricacies of The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue. This album also highlights the production skills that make Zappa's talent so unique. He is equal parts studio whiz, composer and musician.

FILLMORE EAST, JUNE 1971

Containing some of the most profane lyrics of Zappa's career, this album is not for the faint-of-heart. But those who get past the words have an energetic, zany and surprisingly sophisticated suite of songs awaiting them. That Zappa could orchestrate this kind of performance with a rock band in a live situation is most impressive.

Apostophe APOSTROPHE

Thanks to the popularity of Don't Eat The Yellow Snow, Apostrophe became one of Zappa's best selling records. Although there are better songs on the session (Cosmik Debris, for example) and better albums overall, who am I to argue with success?

Studio Tan STUDIO TAN

Considering the richness of Zappa's discography, Studio Tan is the sort of album that is easily overlooked. Yet it is a unique and rock-solid effort. The side-long Adventures of Gregory Peccary is an ambitious suite of New Music cleverly disguised as an amusing audio cartoon. That's followed by Revised Music For Guitar And Low-Budget Orchestra, perhaps the most successful of Zappa's rare efforts to blend electric guitar and chamber group. Let Me Take You To The Beach is an unassuming, yet marvelous, pop ditty. Rounding things out, RDNZL is a compelling instrumental featuring Zappa and the brilliant mallet work of Ruth Underwood.

JOE'S GARAGE, ACTS I, II & III

Zappa's fundamental distrust of government is the basis of this bawdy cautionary tale about a future world in which virtually everything is illegal, especially music. Whether or not one accepts the premise—and artists like George Orwell have certainly advanced similar ideas—Joe's Garage is central to both Zappa's thinking and to his musical universe. Although Zappa describes the production as "sort of like a really cheap kind of high school play," Joe's Garage contains a number of excellent songs and many amusing moments, most of them on disc one of the set.

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, VOL 1 & 2

Fans of The Yellow Shark will greatly appreciate this earlier foray into the world of orchestral music. [Be sure to obtain the remixed and remastered edition, with greatly improved sound, that was released in 1993.] Although Zappa expressed some dissatisfaction with the album, there are several terrific performances here including a marvelous expanded version of Bogus Pomp. Best of all, there is nothing quite like hearing Zappa's music played by a 110-piece symphony orchestra!

Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of PreventionMEETS THE MOTHERS OF PREVENTION

Despite its excessive cynicism, this album is well worth hearing. The broad selection of vocal and instrumental tunes make it an ideal "sampler" of late-period Zappa. It is also a snapshot of the composer as he moves from the warmth and unpredictability of live musicians to the speed and precision of the Synclavier. Zappa's direction is clear throughout: even the instrumentals performed by his regular band (Alien Orifice and What's New In Baltimore) have the feel of computer-generated music. The album's centerpiece, Porn Wars, is unique in Zappa's discography. It is a brilliant twelve-minute recreation of the 1985 Senate hearings on rock music indicating just how far certain public officials were willing to go to discourage objectionable lyrics.

CHOICE SECONDS

1. Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Absolutely Free /1967/ Rykodisc RCD 10502

2. Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Weasels Ripped My Flesh /1970/ Rykodisc RCD 10510

3. Frank Zappa & The Mothers, Fillmore East, June 1971 /1971/ Rykodisc RCD 10512

4. Frank Zappa, Apostrophe /1974/ Rykodisc RCD 10519

5. Frank Zappa, Studio Tan /1978/ Rykodisc RCD 10526

6. Frank Zappa, Joe's Garage, Acts I, II & III /1979/ Rykodisc RCD 10530-31 [2 discs]

7. FZ, London Symphony Orchestra, Vol 1 & 2 /1993/ Rykodisc RCD 10540-41 [2 discs]

8. Frank Zappa, Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention /1985/ Rykodisc RCD 10547

BACK TO "ZAPPA FILES"