~You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold~
All right, so second post of the day, and now we are going to check out the letter F. And for that there is no other choice than Frank Zappa.
Frank Zappa was a pioneer in early prog rock and somewhat of a misanthropic genius stuck in a world that was passing by too slowly. He had an ironic sense of humor that shows through his music, but he also showed a clear disdain for unorganized chaos. He was a notorious tinkerer and micro managed his band members to the extent that people would have breakdowns due to his expectations.
His music blends genres and styles all over eachother, but you could say it's mostly rooted in funk and jazz, with a sense of a prototype version of the prog rock that became overwhelminlgy popular in the 60s through 70s. And choosing three records from his discography for me is like picking the three types of candy in a universe where everything is literally the worlds biggest candy store. So with that being said:
Hot Rats
The first album I am going to bring up is called "Hot Rats" and it is Frank Zappa's second Solo record. It opens up with the instrumental "Peaches En Regalia", a track that won them a grammy. It is a very technically interesting track, filled with variations and shord combinations that make for a very tense build into a smooth release, followed up by the 2nd track "Willie the pimp". This is another semi-instrumental. Frank Zappa has a superb way of handling the melodic aspect and it feels as though his guitar is like the stick of the conductor in an orchestra, as everything moves in perfect tandem with it.
Another great track on here is "The Gumbo Variations", a 13 minute long instrumental prog rock piece with the solo spot being passed around between horns, fiddles, guitars, drums and the bass.
However for my highlight I want to show you the opener, as it's such an iconic piece for his style and it is one of the first tracks I remember being exposed to as a kid, and it's still fresh to my ears. This album is a great piece of work and a joy to listen to.
Peaches en regalia
Over-nite sensation
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Over-Nite Sensation is an album from Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and it's a sleazier record filled with weird lyrics. The track "Dinah-Moe Humm" Is a strange tale of a man attempting to win a bet with two women with a stiffened thumb on a sugar plum, "Dirty Love" is a groovy love song with a thick beat and "I'm the slime" is a song about corporate media and the sludge it feeds to the public. And "Montana" is well.. about a man wishing to move to montana to raise up a crop of dental floss.
This record has a great sense of humor and a more calm approach than "Hot rats", and my favorite track on here has to be "I'm the slime". It opens up with a chaotic guitar solo before releasing itself into a super tight groove and a timely message.
I'm the slime
Apostrophe(')
Finally the third album I've picked from his 109 strong discography, and it is "Apostrophe(')". It's Frank Zappas eighteenth album, and it was recorded at the same time as "Over-Nite Sensation". It continues the thread with humorous lyrics and a perfectionist level instrumentation.
The record starts off with the two part track "Don't eat that yellow snow" and "Nanook rubs it", telling the tale of a man who takes vengeance upon another after he started hitting his favorite baby seal with a led filled snow shoe. It's a great thread to follow and the spoken word-esque vocals make it sound closer to beat poetry at times, than music. After this the album goes on to great tracks like "Uncle remus", a piano honky-tonk piece with blues sensibilities, and "Stink foot", a track about athletes foot, snake boots and a talking dog called fido.
My favorite on here however is the track "Cosmik Debris", a track wherein a charlatan tries to fool us into believing we could buy ourselves a piece of nirvana. Frank on the other hand teaches him a lesson using a newspaper, some mumbo jumbo and hypnosis. It's a great track with a funky beat and that amazing frank zappa guitar sound. Enjoy!
Cosmik Debris
Well, that's it for this one, I urge you to check out his discography if you haven't, these three are merely grains of sand in his selection, and they all have their own flavor. If you enjoy these articles, feel free to upvote or follow me. You can also comment down below if I said something wrong or if you agree/disagree with me! Peace out for now!
Links:
https://www.discogs.com/artist/92623-Frank-Zappa
http://www.zappa.com
