I easily count Zappa in my top five artists of all time. If you're a fan, you know why. If not I strongly urge you to give him a listen. He may very well not be your cup of tea, but it's worth finding out. No one else can fuse virtuoso performances and world-class instrumentalism with biting lyrics and stupid bathroom humor the way Frank does. His music stands in a class completely apart from every other artist on the planet, that has ever existed...ever.
I recently "came into the possession of" FZ's entire discography. I've bought and listened to my fair share of his music over the years, but I knew I was only scratching the surface. He was an incredibly prolific composer with a huge body of work. He's most known for his rock albums, but he's also composed classical music and dabbled in other genres as well. I got into Frank back in college with "Apostrophe Overnight Sensation". It's a good album for the uninitiated to start with. Out there, for sure, but still somewhat reserved and approachable. After that it's a smorgasbord of musical influences and directions to enjoy. "Freak Out" and "We're Only in it For the Money" are two other very good albums to start with.
Unfortunately I never got to see Frank perform live. But I did see the next best thing. Kate, for a birthday present a couple years ago, bought us tickets to "Zappa Plays Zappa", a tour where Dweezil, Frank's son and a host of musicians, some part of Frank's original ensembles, played Frank's music. Dweezil in all respects is an equal, if not better guitar player than his father. Their faithful rendition of FZ's music was stunning. And on some songs, using a giant project monitor Dweezil and his father played together, seeming to riff off of each other even though only one of them was "live". It was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.
Give Frank a try. He may well change your view of music, likely for the better.
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