One Long Undifferentiated Piece of Work
Frank's Legitimate Recorded Output Arranged As I See It
Sometime around 1957, as he tells us in The Real Frank Zappa Book, Frank happened across the infamous Edgar Varèse album that marked the beginning of Frank's exploration into the works of Modernist composers. His initial attraction to that album was based on his observation of the album's cover photo of Varèse. He "thought it was great that a mad scientist had finally made a record." Perhaps it is no small coincidence that on the cover of The Yellow Shark, Frank looks like a cross between Mark Twain and Albert Einstein (or Social Satirist Meets Mad Scientist). In fact, I see Frank as just that -- a mad scientist of music working away in some secret laboratory, conducting experiments involving combinations of various personalities and the sounds he could get them to create. The albums that he put out are really nothing more than the published results of his research, much as is standard to any scientific field.
When I first started listening to Frank, I constantly found myself asking, "How the fuck could anyone think all this shit up? The guy's a fucking genius!" The more that I listened however, the more I began to realize that Frank's genius didn't come from any ability to sit around dreaming up "grand-scale" compositions. His genius came from his ability to seize that small "window of opportunity" that avails itself to a musician provided that they're quick enough to catch it. Only by being brave enough to allow the music to shape itself without interference, can one hope to gain the speed necessary to jump through that "window". And, although many composers will claim that they most certainly allow the music to dictate itself, few, if any, have any where near the output that Frank released to back their claim.
About this Discography:
Frank tended not to release things in chronological order which was probably due to the sheer volume of material he had at his disposal. Because he attempted to record every experiment, the sheer volume of recordings he amassed eventually required three bank vaults to be built in his home for storage. I can imagine him wanting to get the new stuff out, but also wanting to get the old stuff out and so, trying to strike a balance between releasing new and old.
What I have endeavored to do is to arrange the items in his catalog in chronological order but only in as much as they fit into a particular category. If you want to view his catalog in the order that the albums were released, check out Frank Zappaedia. Instead, what I have done is to arrange his work into the following sections:
The Moods and Themes of Frank Zappa
- the original Mothers
- the Flo & Eddie Period
- the '74 band w/ Napoleon, George, Ruth, Chester, & Tom
- Terry Bozzio period
Several of Frank's albums could easily fit into more than one category. In such cases, I have placed the album in the category that I feel best represents the content of the album. In such cases, I will reference the other categories that the album could fit in.
One Size Does NOT Fit All!
If you don't like my arrangement, create your own and arrange them however you see fit.
Keep in mind that some of Frank's stuff can be hard to digest. Every single album took repeated listenings before I thought it was any good. Some of them I still don't understand, and I've been listening to the man for over 20 years !
For Those Who Fail to Find Continuity, a quote:
"Thanks to songs like "Dinah Moe Humm," "Titties & Beer," and "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," I managed to accumulate enough cash to bribe a group of drones to grind its way through pieces like "Moe 'n Herb's Vacation," "Bob in Dacron," and "Bogus Pomp" (eventually released on London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 1 & 2) -- in performances that come off like high class 'demos' of what actually resides in the scores." FZ 1989
Or perhaps:
"Genius or asshole... You decide." Cream magazine circa:1982