Best Frank Zappa´s Recordings

great to see how many people love & appreciate the genius of zappa....my faves:
joe's garage
apostrophe
one size fits all
honorable mention to overnight sensation...now, if only they'd remaster those cds so they have some stage!

rhyno

Seldenr I think everyone likes Apostrophe but it is (in some people's opinion) kind of his first 'commercial' record and is a departure from the typical FZ record. I think it is ignored not for what it is but what it represents.

that said I am in the camp of 'Frank Zappa did no wrong' in his very prolific career I like almost everything I have heard from FZ and that definetly includes Apostrophe.

I have a lot of Frank Zappa. I've enjoyed most of his music since soon after "Absolutely Free" first came out in the '60s.

I don't know that these are his best, but these are the six that I think I play the most these days:
"Freak Out"
"Weasels Ripped My Flesh"
"Roxy & Elsewhere"
"Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar"
"One Size Fits All"
"Apostrophe"

Phil, Burnt Weenie has some of the commentary and has the most "experimental" music on it. Chunga's Revenge is kind of a turning point with some more conventional music, still some parody and sarcasm. Waka Jawaka and the Grand Wazoo are almost all instrumental, the Wazoo has a lot of charted horns. I saw him play this live and it was incredible, the players looking a little puzzled at times but a great performance. None of these albums feature the spoken narration style like Overnight Sensation and much of his later work. And oh ya, I love Ruben and the Jets but it is all tounge in cheek 50s music Zappa style.

i've been listening to zappa since my older brother turned me onto Hot Rats in 1970 at the age of 9 (this also introduced me to Captain Beefheart who has also remained a favorite over the years). I've been a devout fan ever since, owning virtually his entire recorded output plus many live reordings and seeing him many times over the years (the last time being the great "Best Band You Never Heard" tour...a set well worth checking out if you've never heard it...even for those of us that are partial to Frank's earlier and more experimental material).

Hard to pick faves among Frankie's vast output in part because there are many Zappa's to choose from; but if pushed i would have to say (in no particular order):

Weasels Ripped My Flesh
Freak Out
We're Only In It For The Money
Uncle Meat
You Can't Do That On Stage (volume 2)
Bongo Fury
Hot Rats
Just Another Band From LA (was and still am a Turtles fan)
Roxy And Elsewhere
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Grand Wazoo

Of his later output (i thought Zappa was musically reborn after as he emerged from the Warner Brothers suit) i'm also partial to:

Thingfish
Best Band You've Never Heard In Your Life
Make A Jazz Noise Here
Lather (o.k. technically earlier material but "officially released" later)
Yellow Shark

Would be interested if people have heard any good quality boots. I've gotten a couple of good ones recently (via ebay) and would be interested in comparing notes if others are interested.

Also, curious what folks think about Zappa's ambiguous relationship with his audience. It seemed that he had as much of a love/hate relationship with us that he did with pop music and pop culture in general.