Frank Zappa's music is a load of horrible, smug old bollocks CHANGE MY MIND

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

"frank zappa" is what i call my electric hotdog cooker

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[chutnut]

Imagine having an electric cooker just for hot dogs
Living the dream

[idunnosomename]

necessities are the mothers of invention

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

A few examples of Zappa music that lacks his frequent difficult/misanthropic/smug/smutty thrust - enjoy (or don't; what do I care?)...

Village Of The Sun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQHU-Widcoo

Blessed Relief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-Qk8VxUwuM

Toads of the Short Forest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acpOO0kvfn4
(the first minute of it, anyway - beyond that, it will irk a lot of you, though I'm fine with the showoffiness of it)

Little Umbrellas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmFx4nJIJws

Apostrophe('): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXP_pr7np-o
(very nice impromptu studio jam with former Creamster Jack Bruce and future mom-killer Jim Gordon)

And yes, the fact that only one of these has lyrics says something, not too favorable, about him...

I'd add Holiday in Berlin, Full Blown to that list, proper gorgeous and one of my fave instrumental bits of Frank/Mothers.
Kavus Torabi picked that album as one of his Quietus bakers dozen picks, and in the process summarised a bunch of my thoughts on Zappa:
https://thequietus.com/articles/15887-kavus-torabi-knifeworld-favourite-albums?page=8

[Egyptian Feast]

The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution is a current favourite. Another lengthy but genuinely lovely instrumental.

The Flo and Eddie stuff gets a bad rap and I can totally understand why, but I love their vocals in general (Turtles, T-Rex and solo) so they helped me get into Zappa's music. The lyrics for this song may be the usual groupie shite but I love the tune and the vocals: What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning?

[PlanktonSideburns]

Yea that ocean solution one is great, with its mad stereo panned electric bouzouki thing

[kalowski]

Hot Rats is fucking brilliant.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution is a current favourite. Another lengthy but genuinely lovely instrumental.

i think this has the same problem that LOOads of zappa has where it begins with this wonderful melody and develops into 40 minutes of boring wank solo. this is why hot rats is not a remotely good album; people remember the first minute of willie the pimp and forget the fucking loathsome year long guitar solo. peaches en regalia is the only good one bc it's only a couple minutes long

[Video Game Fan 2000]

+1 was gonna post that about Ocean and most of the material on Hot Rats. If anything I find them even worse than just shite Zappa, because its someone coming up with something genuinely brilliant and then deliberately not making anything of it. You're enjoying this you idiots.

God, I wish there more recording of Beefheart singing with violin accompaniment though. What a cool combination. Then guitar solo. Talking about Zappa being a shite producer, that's crime number one: fading out the violin on Willie the Pimp! Why? 40 seconds of the coolest sound you've ever heard in your life then a bunch of weedling shit.

[idunnosomename]

what are we supposed to think about Joe's Garage? it's like his Magic Flute? or indulgent blackface bullshit? I could listen to it, I suppose. Honestly never really heard anything beyond the Mothers.

[extraordinary walnuts]

used to like when was babby but am now adult with a fully formed soul

very much this

Can't listen to him much these days, but I do keep coming back to this 1976 performance of Black Napkins on the Mike Douglas Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q0nImsfMvE it's so good!

The Jim Cox parody posted earlier is superb, authentically cruel both musically and lyrically.

[Oh, Nobody]

Love this compilation (actually funny live fuckabout version of Joe's Garage and there's even a 'Zappa's a prick' soundbite on there) and that's about it I think.

Also love when Zappa superfan Matt Groening was desperate for him to guest on the Simpsons, and he went on Ren & Stimpy instead.

[bloom]

Imagine having an electric cooker just for hot dogs
Living the dream

It's the fastest way to a Burnt Weeny Sandwich

[McChesney Duntz]

I don't know why I keep doing this, but what the hell, I'm sure there are a few of you anti-Zappoids out there that might find some use for this:

https://youtu.be/PdZKJOVH2WM

[famethrowa]

Also any Zappa thread, positive or negative, should include this clip from Tom Scharpling's Best Show on WFMU.  Even as a fan, it's spot on and hilarious about everything that people object to about him.

https://archive.org/details/podcast_best-show-gems-with-tom-scharp_bryce-calls-about-frank-zappa_1000122519275

Hehe love that one. "Shuggy Otis...."

[kalowski]

i think this has the same problem that LOOads of zappa has where it begins with this wonderful melody and develops into 40 minutes of boring wank solo. this is why hot rats is not a remotely good album; people remember the first minute of willie the pimp and forget the fucking loathsome year long guitar solo. peaches en regalia is the only good one bc it's only a couple minutes long

Hot Rats is a fantastic album.

[SpiderChrist]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0010rl8

2 hour Zappa documentary on BBC4 tonight. Shorter than a lot of his guitar solos.

[Shit Good Nose]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0010rl8

2 hour Zappa documentary on BBC4 tonight. Shorter than a lot of his guitar solos.

That's the Alex Winter doc, which a lot of us fans thought was a bit of a wasted opportunity.  The BBC FZ doc from the 90s (still on YouTube last time I checked) is still the best one out there.

[chutnut]

The 2nd half of What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? is probably my favourite thing he's done
I quite like Camarillo Brillo too

[kalowski]

Hot Rats is a fantastic album.

Listened to it on the way to work and I'm right. It's great and Zappa's playing is top notch.

[Petey Pate]

Another point in Zappa's favour, unrelated to whether you like his music or not, was his taking a stand against the PMRC and censorship.  I don't think many other musicians at the time were as willing to articulate against the cause.

[lazyhour]

I think some of you just don't like guitar solos. And that's fine. Not really Uncle Frank's fault though, is it?

[lazyhour]

I'm listening to my Hot Rats LP right now and the guitar solos on it are fucking fantastic.

And I'm not even much of a guitar solos guy.

[Shit Good Nose]

I think some of you just don't like guitar solos. And that's fine. Not really Uncle Frank's fault though, is it?

I think that's true.

I'm also a big fan of guitar solos, and solos in general, as long as they're tasty and tasteful.  The million notes a second shredding (which Zappa leaned towards throughout the 80s, presumably influenced by Steve Vai's time with the band) I can leave though.

[SpiderChrist]

Another point in Zappa's favour, unrelated to whether you like his music or not, was his taking a stand against the PMRC and censorship.  I don't think many other musicians at the time were as willing to articulate against the cause.

Ice T and Jello Biafra were pretty vocal, but I don't recall any others off the top of my head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKRGX1a-JBE

[Pauline Walnuts]

[Shit Good Nose]

His entrance to that remains TV gold

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

did anyone know that the mothers bassist was a paedophile. napoleon murphy brock also

[lazyhour]

Yes, I knew that.

[chveik]

nonce music. it all makes sense now