Zappa was more than a brilliant and prolific composer. He was a new kind of composer, one who knew no stylistic barrier: he bridged rock and pop and rhythm'n'blues and jazz and classical music. And one who knew no rules of harmony: he would play anything that made sense to him, not to a certain tradition. Zappa co-invented the concept album (he even released a double album when most rock musicians were barely beginning to make LPs), the rock opera, progressive-rock. He was the first rock musician to consciously use the studio as an instrument. He did not just use the band or the orchestra as ensembles of instruments. And he made no distinction between tv commercials, doo-wop, music-hall, classical ballets, jazz improvisation or dissonant music. A living musical encyclopedia, Zappa managed to excel in all of these genres. He could have been a giant in any of them.
He always seemed more comfortable wearing the clothes of the clown than rewriting the history of music. He always seemed to think of satire as his first and main art, and music as a sort of soundtrack to it. His satirical tone ranged from the childish joke to bitter sarcasm, and he tended to excel at the latter end of the spectrum. His favorite victim was hypocrisy, regardless of how it appears in society. His natural targets were televangelists, corporations, politicians, but also ordinary people, whether "dancing fools", "catholic girls" or "jewish princesses". He showed no mercy for the human species, and relentlessly exposed its vices and perversion. He made fun of virtually every race, people, profession, hobby, habit, job, ideology, religion, etc. on this planet. Most of his repertory is "political", but without actually being militant. Zappa was not a protester or an activist. He was merely a man who used his brain. It turned out that, in one of nature's most bizarre accidents, Zappa the satirical genius shared the same brain with Zappa the musical genius.
Dylan Bell
>Zappa co-invented the concept album, the rock opera, progressive-rock I'm glad he's dead.
Cameron Wilson
lot of words to say "this unbearable queer had aids and died"
Jose Gonzalez
He also had some serious pipes.
Charles Allen
If he wasn't so pretentious I might give a shit
Jaxson Long
Zappa is my favourite artist and I really wish people would stop talking about him like he was this unsurpassed genius.
Jaxon Williams
...
Gavin Barnes
It's making people hate him.
Eli Barnes
>He could have been a giant in any of them. Probably true. To bad he decided to half-assedly try to combine them all with an ironic detachment (its "satire") to try to hide the fact that his music just wasn't very good.
Josiah Jones
more like a decent music comedy skit writer he wasn't the best among avantgarde composers he wasn't the best among rock bands he wasn't the best even among jazz fusion artists
and speaking of "music in general", which means including music since the early medieval era, he's not in top 100. or perhaps not in top 500.
Isaac Kelly
>more like a decent music comedy skit writer >he wasn't the best among avantgarde composers >he wasn't the best among rock bands How do you quantify the best? He was pretty damn good at what he did and his music will stand the test of time.
Jason Bell
fred zappa fag gay
Evan Powell
> Zappa was good, but Beefheart, he's the real deal
James Morgan
He's okay. Not really a musician to write home about. I guess he's a god if you're some pleb who just listens to pop music.
Nicholas Rogers
Ian Penman's demolition job on zappa is the only time I've ever read something and instantly changed my mind on music. At fucking last, I don't have to like frank zappa!
Christopher Collins
Ah yes, Frank "Jewish Princess" Zappa
Anthony Harris
I never cared much for the way JCB classified the avant garde with that quote
Zachary Wood
>Q: Do People like Miles Davis know about you and your music?
>A: Well, I met Miles Davis in 1962 in a jazz club in San Francisco called the Black Hawk. I really liked his music and I went up to him and introduced myself to him and he turned his back on me. And so I haven't had anything to do with him or his music since that time.
>Q: In 1962, though, you hadn't recorded anything.
>A: That's okay. He had his chance. I don't treat people that way.
Austin Turner
That picture is too fucking good.
Kevin Foster
Miles is too fucking alpha
Camden Thompson
Nice summary, he really was one of the best
David Clark
> some pleb who just listens to pop music.
Hahahaha.... Nice joke !
Thomas Campbell
The only good thing Zappa did was creating that one Madvillain sample
Landon Turner
Sorry, but Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd is pop.
Jaxon Brooks
Goddamn, he really does a good job knocking him down.
Jordan Williams
go to bed Ian Penman
Lucas Ward
Or he's an asshole who could write good music
Oliver Garcia
t. Ian Penman
Benjamin Wood
wtf i love pop now
Carter Reed
The thing is Zappa himself probably would've been annoyed by your high appraisal of him.
Oliver Perez
For the pop life of me, I cannot see why anyone past the age of 17 would want to listen to Frank Zappa again, never mind revere him as a deep and important artist, never mind worship at the tottering edifice of his recollected, remastered and repackaged works. Surely the only pertinent use for Zappa was as an interim stage for young lads ‹ scared witless by what they suddenly perceive as the transience or hollowness of popular culture ‹ for whom Zappa represents a gi-normous prefab sneer of self-importance behind which they can shelter for a while. (And, lest we forget: in the pre-Viz, pre-Mayall and Edmondson 1970s, he was the only legitimate supplier of fart and bum and willy jokes
Cameron Harris
I was serious though. What did he say that was wrong?