Post-Mothers ZAPPA: C/D?

The problem with a lot of those post-Hot Rats records is that they have equal doses of the shitty stuff you so eloquently described mixed in with scattered good tracks. Roxy, on the other hand, is mostly good.

I am far from a Zappa completist so others may have more input.

Not to plug my own writing, but I reccommend some Zappa eMusic goodies here:
http://www.emusic.com/lists/showlist.html?nickname=WhineyG&lid=193837&p=1

And Thing Fish is hilarious...

Give me more of your rubber love you potato headed whatchamacallit!!

I reckon there's a pretty good album in the Joe's Garage trilogy too. Unfortunately it's spread out over 3 albums - which to me sums up the problem with pretty much all of Zappa's post-Mothers output: excessive vanity leading to inadequate quality control.

It's good, but it would have been inestimably better if they'd actually included "The Torture Never Stops", which was recorded at the same time; must surely have been the highlight of the live set; would clearly have been the highlight of the album if it had been included; but which inexplicably (although I suppose it's just conceivable that it might possibly be because it's such a fantastic performance by Don that if it had been included on the album it would have left absolutely no doubt that Don was the star of the show rather than Frank) wasn't included on the album - not even as a bonus track on the CD - and is only (legitimately) available on the comp.s You Can't Do That On Stage Any More Vol. 4 or the budget-line Cheap Thrills

Do people like "Billy the Mountain," the side long piece on Just Another Band from L.A.?That's probably one of the classic Flo and Eddie period tracks, but the last time I tried to listen to it I wasn't so into it.

I pretty much can't stand the Flo & Eddie band.

Actually, the best version of "G-Spot Tornado" I know of is by Ensemble Ambrosius, on their Zappa on Baroque Instruments record. That album and Omnibus Wind Ensemble's Music by Frank Zappa are fantastic records -- they dig deep into FZ the composer without any of the baggage of Zappa's personality or the comedy-music lyrics, which some people love but I don't have any time for. There was a fair amount of Zappa attention by serious chamber groups leading up to and right after his death... some of it wasn't so successful. The Meridian Arts Ensemble (brass quintet + drummer) has a lot of FZ in its repertoire — they actually managed to get an audience with the man near the end and played their arrangements for him, he gave his approval — but I don't think it's very successful compared to Ambrosius and Omnibus.

Kind of the same thing in spirit but much different in execution is Live in New York (much different band and sound at that time). Opening tune with the devil is hilarious. Also, Don Pardo FFS.

I also very much second the love for:

Grand Wazoo ("Eat that Question" slays me every single time, and the last track, "Blessed Relief," is one of the most beautiful things he ever did)
One Size Fits All (worth it for "Inca Roads" alone, one of his greatest tracks)
Overnite (features some of his best, best guitar work since the solos are short and sweet, also probably the tighest and most consistent album post-Mothers that I've heard)

I saw a clip of the Roxy show on the "Baby Snakes" DVD and I was drooling. Hopefully this shows up on youtube or as a torrent or something because it can't just sit in a vault.

cutty otm

Then again, I listen to Broadway the Hard Way constantly, so maybe my opinion suXXor.

Hot Rats
One Size Fits All
Overnite Sensation
Sheik Yerbouti
Apostrophe
Roxy & Elsewhere

And then I get confused about the order, but these are all pretty cool

Grand Wazoo - instrumental stuff like Hot Rats (not as good)

Waka Jawaka - instrumental stuff like Hot Rats (not as good)

Shut Up An' Play Yer Guitar = if you like his unique soloing style

Bongo Fury - w/Captain Beefheart (pretty good, but a little sparse)

Burnt Weenie Sandwich = great songs, but strange combination. Also a little sparse.

Weasels Ripped My Flesh = NO MATTER WHAT YOUR TASTES IN ZAPPY MUSIC, you will find 3 or 4 great songs. Unfortunately, you will not like the rest very much. Too varied and random, like the worst mix tape you ever got.

Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life (2 cds)- Incredibly dorky, but I love this album for it's silliness and it sounds like a really fun live show. A lot of bad covers (mockeries, I guess) of stuff like Led Zep, Cream and Hendrix with a reggae/big band/smooth jazz vibe. Amidst the goofiness are some beautiful musical interludes with some of Zappa's smoothest guitar tones and licks.

Zoot Allures - really basic rock album, but goofy. Might really disappoint. I was at first.

You Are What You Is - This album could annoy the shit out of anyone and even I can't listen to it anymore, but it's flawless perfection. The songs are not overdone and there's a lot of them. It's really funny the first few times, too. And FAST! Too bad the production is so 80s.

Zappa In NY - Lagging and lifeless, but some people really like it. I held onto it for about 5 years and finally sold it.

Joe's Garage = would be good as one double album and one single album with better arrangement of songs

LÄTHER -- INSTEAD of Sleep Dirt, Orchestral Favorites and Studio Tan. Those three were released as part of a record label compromise and there's all kinds of crap that shouldn't be there (vocals, etc.). Eventually, FZ got to put it out the way it was intended, as a box set called LÄTHER.

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If you like all that, experiment with the rest!

"black napkins" being my favorite guitar solo ever.

Plus, I never would have known what 'confinement loaf' was if it hadn't been for BtHWay. And then, tucked behind all those satires, you've got the big Serious song in Zappa's catalog, "Outside Now." I kind of hate Does Humor Belong in Music, but love this album.

Love early studio albums; hate the later ones.

Love the late live shows; lukewarm on the early/mid ones.

Anyone wanna say anything about Thing Fish?

Thingfish? What about Civilization III and Man From Utopia? Yeesh, what crap.

but they're both collections of music made by the first Mothers of Invention band in the '60s, so they don't belong in this list (yeah ?)

i think Ship Arriving Too Late is my favourite all-round colection of Zappa music that holds together, although i prefer side 2 (the title track et.al.)

i think Are Overnite and One Size are OK in some places but pretty dire and trite as well, with Apostrophe as the worst of this stuff

the Lather stuff = my favourite '70s Zappa

Yeah a few weeks ago one of the members of the California's E.A.R. unit were interviewed for a radio programme over here and at one point they talked about the time Zappa ws invited to write something for them. I think he transcribed a synclavier piece for them to play and they didn't manage to, and their attempts to play it were not to Frank's liking so they agreed to mime it in concert. xp

There is, it's called "Joe Garage, Act 1"! "Pretty good" not actually "good" of course.

Imagine if you could remove "Central Scrutinizer" and "Toad O Line" and replace them with "A Token Of My Extreme", "Keep It Greasy" and "Watermelon In Easter Hay" 'though; wouldn't that tip the balance?

http://www.calendarlive.com/music/cl-ca-zappa29jan29,0,3589253.story?coll=cl-music-features

fz1980-05-24.shnf

A+ quality 2-CD digital master of FM Broadcast. Not taped from the radio, but from the original source!

This is high-quality stuff that is better than half the stuff on the You Can't Do That On Stage series!

Get it now!!!

Here's the txt file:

.
.
Frank Zappa

May 24, 1980

The Ahoy - Rotterdam, Netherlands

OK, here's the scoop on this one. FZ played in Rotterdam in May 24, 1980 and
it was originally broadcast at that time. The show was booted ferociously but
here we have a recent re-broadcast captured to CDR from a master FM recording.

I'm not 100% sure if it was a master cassette or if it was a pure digital
recording, either way, this is sonically superior to any version that has circulated before.

Setlist (thanks to Jon Naurin's FZ Shows database):

Source: FM, A+

Length: 110 Minutes

Disc One

01. Chunga's Revenge

02. Keep It Greasey

03. Outside Now

04. City Of Tiny Lights

05. Teenage Wind

06. Bamboozled By Love

07. Pick Me I'm Clean

08. Society Pages

09. I'm A Beautiful Guy

10. Beauty Knows No Pain

11. Charlie's Enormous Mouth

12. Cosmik Debris

13. You Didn't Try To Call Me

14. Ain't Got No Heart

15. Love Of My Life

Disc Two

01. You Are What You Is

02. Easy Meat

03. Joe's Garage

04. Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?

05. (crowd)

06. Dancin' Fool

07. Bobby Brown

08. Ms. Pinky

09. (crowd)

10. Drafted

11. The Illinois Enema Bandit

12. (radio outro)

keith OTM on everything
-- cutty

Sutty OTM about Keith being OTM! Excessive length was always my personal chief complaint (ONLY complaint, practically) regarding Zappa's soloing. But Over-nite Sensation mostly keeps 'em under 60 seconds, densely-packed and heavy on the wah-wah (yay!) Well worth hearing as long as the pejorative term "muso" isn't part of your everyday vocabulary. Plus, as regards the usual dumb smut-songs, "Camarillo Brillo" and "Dirty Love" are among the best, cheerful and not mean-spirited. And only "Zomby Woof" succombs to herky-jerky overkill.

Shit, if you avoid the really annoying Zappa albums (save them for last), you will eventually come to love ALL of it and be quite sad there isn't more of it, which is about the time you will start to appreciate the really annoying ones!