A Frank Zappa Categorical Discography & Top-N Lists Dec 20 '06 (Updated May 09 '07)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music Revelation [Digipak] by Journey From $12 Machine Gun Etiquette by The Damned From $40 The Bottom Line Frank Zappa was a prodigious musical genius. There's lots of great music to be sampled, here, spanning his thirty-year career and several genre. The aim of this review is to help consumers select CD's of Frank Zappa's music that are most likely to match their personal tastes. The categorical discography groups the albums by the various stages in Zappa's career. If you like one album from a particular group, you're likely to enjoy others from that same group. You can also compare the ratings that I've given for various selections. This approach to grouping Zappa's albums can also help you make sense out of his prodigious output. Underneath the Categorical Discography are a few lists of top albums by attribute. I hope you find this list helpful. Original Mothers:      1. Freak Out! (July 1966)  Rating: ****      2. Absolutely Free (Apr 1967)  Rating: *****      4. We're Only in it for the Money (Feb 1968)  Rating: *****      5. Cruising With Ruben & the Jets (Nov 1968)  Rating: *      6. Uncle Meat (March 1969)  Rating: ***** Jazz-Rock Fusion Music:   Small Ensemble Sound:      8. Hot Rats (Oct 1969)  Rating: *****   Big-Band Sound:      17. Waka Jawaka (July 1972)  Rating: *****      18. The Grand Wazoo (Nov 1972)  Rating: ***** Eclectic Rock, Jazz, Doo-Wop, Atonal Classical:      9. Burnt Weeny Sandwich (Dec 1969)  Rating: *****      10. Weasels Ripped My Flesh (Aug 1970)  Rating: **** Flo & Eddie (2nd Mothers) Period:      11. Chunga's Revenge (Oct 1970)  Rating: ****      14. Fillmore East (Aug 1971)  Rating: *****      15. 200 Motels (Oct 1971)  Rating: *****      16. Just Another Band from L.A. (Mar 1972)  Rating: ***** Electric Rock Band (3rd Mothers) Period:      19. Over-Nite Sensation (Sep 1973)  Rating: ****      20. Apostrophe' (Mar 1974)  Rating: ****      21. Roxy & Elsewhere (Sep 1974)  Rating: ****      22. One Size Fits All (Jun 1975)  Rating: *****      23. Bongo Fury (Oct 1975)  Rating: **** Zappa & Terry Bozzio:      24. Zoot Allures (Oct 1976)  Rating: **** Warner Bros. Period:      25. Zappa in New York (Mar 1978)  Rating: ****      26. Studio Tan (Sep 1978)  Rating: ****      27. Sleep Dirt (Jan 1979)  Rating: *****      28. Sheik Yerbouti (Mar 1979)  Rating: ****      29. Orchestral Favorites (May 1979) (grouped here by era)  Rating: ****      68. Läther (Sep 1996)  Rating: **** Guitar-Driven Eighties Rock:   1979-80 Band (Willis, Cucurullo, Bozzio, Mann, etc.)      30. Joe's Garage (Nov 1979)  Rating: ****      31. Tinsel Town Rebellion (May 1981)  Rating: ***   1981-2 Band (Vai, White, Mars, Mann, etc.)      33. You Are What You Is (Sep 1981)  Rating: ****   1982-4 Band (Willis, White, Thunes, Wackerman, etc.)      34. Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch (May 1982)  Rating: *****      35. The Man From Utopia (March 1983)  Rating: **      39. Them Or Us (Oct 1984)  Rating: **** Extracted Live Guitar Solos (mostly 1979-1988)      32. Shut Up And Play Your Guitar (May 1981)  Rating: *****      46. Guitar (Apr 1988)  Rating: *****      86. Trance-fusion (2006)  Rating: ***** DVD:   Music Videos:      36. Baby Snakes (See Review by thing-fish24) (March 1983)  Rating: *****      43. Does Humor Belong in Music? (Listing) (Jan 1986)   DVD-Audio:      79. Halloween (See Review by thing-fish24) (Feb 2003)  Rating: *****      81. QuAUDIOPHILIAc (Listing) (Sep 2004)  Rating: ***      83. Dub Room Special (See Review by thing-fish24) (Oct 2005)  Rating: ***** VHS:      200 Motels (1971)  Rating: *** Classical:   Orchestral/Modern Ensemble:      3. Lumpy Gravy (Dec 1967)      29. Orchestral Favorites (May 1979) – (Grouped here by style)  Rating: ****      37. London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 1 (June 1983)  Rating: ****      38. Perfect Stranger (Aug 1984) (partly synclavier)  Rating: ****      45. London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 2 (Sep 1987)  Rating: ****      58. Yellow Shark (Dec 1993)  Rating: *****   Synclavier:      41. Francesco Zappa (Nov 1984)  Rating: **      42. Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention (Nov 1985)  Rating: ****      44. Jazz From Hell (Nov 1986)  Rating: *****      60. Civilization Phaze III (Dec 1994) (partly orchestral)  Rating: **** Broadway Musical:      40. Thing-Fish (Listing) (Nov 1984) 1988 Twelve-Piece Band:      49. Broadway The Hard Way (Nov 1988)  Rating: ****      51. The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life (April 1991)  Rating: ****      53. Make A Jazz Noise Here (June 1991)   Rating: ***** Retros:   Archival:      47. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 (May 1988)  Rating: ****      48. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (Sep 1988)  Rating: *****      50. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 (Oct 1989)  Rating: ***      52. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 (Jun 1991)  Rating: ****      54. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 (July 1992)  Rating: ****      55. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 (July 1992)  Rating: ***      56. Playground Psychotics (Oct 1992)  Rating: ***      57. Ahead of Their Times (April 1993)   Zappa Family Trust:      61. Rare Meat (Listing) (Mar 1995) (Cucamonga material)      65. Lost Episodes (Feb 1996)  Rating: ****      72. Mystery Disc (1998) (Cucamonga and original Mothers material)      73. Cucamonga (Listing) (1962-1964) (1998)      76. Everything Is Healing Nicely (Dec 1999)      77. FZ:OZ (Aug 2002)  Rating: ****      78. For Collectors Only (Listing) (Nov 2002)      80. Joe's Consage (May 2004)  Rating: ***      82. Joe's Domage (Sep 2004)  Rating: **      84. Joe's XMASage (Dec 2005)  Rating: **      85. Imaginary Diseases (Dec 2005)  Rating: *****      87. MOFO Project/Object (Listing) (Dec 2006)  Rating: ***      88. MOFO Project/Object Deluxe (Dec 2006)   Compilations:      7. Mothermania (April 1969)      12. The Best of the Mothers (Mar 1971)      13. Transparency (April 1971)      59. You Can't Do That On Radio Anymore (June 1994)      62. Clean American Version (Jun 1995)      63. Kill Ugly Radio (Jun 1995)      64. Strictly Commercial (August 1995)  Rating: ****      66. Kill Ugly Radio Some More (Apr 1996)      67. Return Of The Son Of Kill Ugly Radio (Jul 1996)      69. Strictly Genteel (Mar 1997)  Rating: *****      70. Have I offended Someone? (Apr 1997)  Rating: ****      71. Half A Dozen Provocative Squats (Oct 1997)      74. Cheap Thrills (Listing) (1998)      75. Son of Cheap Thrills (1999) Boxed Sets:      Threesome No. 1 (1968) (Freak-Out!, Absolutely Free & WOIIFTM)      Threesome No. 2 (Listing) (1969) (Hot Rats, Waka/Jawaka & Grand Wazoo)      Old Masters Vol. I (Apr 1985) (FO, AF, WOIIFTM, LG, Cruisin', Mystery Disc)      Old Masters Vol. II (UM, HR, BWS, WRMF, CR, FE, JABLA, Mystery Disc)      Old Masters Vol. III (W/J, GW, O-NS, A, Roxy, OSFA, BF, ZA) Beat The Boots Campaign:   Volume One (1991):      Tis The Season To Be Jelly      The Ark      Freaks and Motherfu#@%!      Piquantique      Unmitigated Audacity      Saarbr?1978      Any Way The Wind Blows      As An Am   Volume Two (1992):      Electric Aunt Jemima      Our Man In Nirvana      Tengo Na Minchia Tanta      Disconnected Synapses      Swiss Cheese/Fire!      Conceptual Continuity      At The Circus *************************************************************************************** Top-Thirteen Zappa Albums All-Time (listed chronologically) 1. We're Only in it for the Money 2. Uncle Meat 3. Hot Rats 4. Waka Jawaka 5. The Grand Wazoo 6. Just Another Band from L.A. 7. One Size Fits All 8. Sleep Dirt 9. Shut Up And Play Your Guitar 10. Yellow Shark 11. Jazz From Hell 12. Make A Jazz Noise Here 13. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 *************************************************************************************** Top-Eight Rock Satire Albums by Zappa (in chronological order) 1. Over-Nite Sensation 2. Apostrophe' 3. Zappa in New York 4. Sheik Yerbouti 5. Joe's Garage 6. You Are What You Is 7. Them Or Us 8. Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch *************************************************************************************** Top-Four Classical Albums by Zappa (in chronological order) 1. Perfect Stranger 2. Yellow Shark 3. Jazz From Hell 4. Strictly Genteel *************************************************************************************** Top-Five Single-Venue Live Performance Recordings (in chronological order by release date) 1. Fillmore East 2. Just Another Band from L.A. 3. Roxy & Elsewhere 4. Zappa in New York 5. You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2

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