By Andy Beta, eMusic ContributorIn most other cultures, the beard is a sign of maturity, wisdom, an indicator of "yang" energy; but in America, the bearded are pushed to the fringe, to the brambled outskirts of a well-groomed, highly… more »
By Richard Gehr, eMusic ContributorIn 2012, the Zappa Family Trust reissued Frank Zappa's original 58-album catalog through Universal Music, with nearly two dozen early-ish titles benefiting from a significant audio upgrade. So what better time to introduce yourself to… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorIt was actually Edgard Varèse who said, "The present-day composer refuses to die," but there's certainly a reason why it gets mentioned around Frank Zappa more often than not. Zappa wore his influences on his… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorOn In New York, Zappa proves his ingenious musical improvisations are a perfect analogue to his impeccable comic timing. His dry, hilarious banter reaches new heights in a run-though of "Titties and Beer," a "Devil… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorFrank Zappa focused most of his final years on art music, working with Pierre Boulez's Ensemble InterContemporain, composing dozens of works for Synclavier and releasing The Yellow Shark, his work with German classical group the… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorOne of three double albums chronicling Zappa's final tour, Make A Jazz Noise Here focuses solely on the most challenging rock compositions in the Zappa catalogue, making it the essential listen for chops-geeks engrossed by… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorZappaphiles bemoaned Frank's post-"Yellow Snow" obsession with ultra-hooky novelty songs and potty humor, but it exposed him to his biggest and broadest audience ever — and it enabled him to afford orchestras for his more… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorZappa's equally essential 1973 album Over-Nite Sensation was an unexpectedly catchy, occasionally filthy set of tunes that flowed into one another both musically and conceptually, establishing the sound Zappa would evolve over the next decade.… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorA wheelchair-bound Frank Zappa, recovering from a broken leg and fractured skull after being shoved off a London stage, disbanded the Mothers and focused on studio work, penning the glossier Hot Rats sequel Waka/Jawaka and… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorAs the darkly comic evisceration victim on the cover would imply, Weasels Ripped My Flesh is Frank Zappa and crew gleefully ripping through odd time signatures and bent melodies in a particularly heavy and sinister… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorHis first record sans Mothers (save the hyper-experimental tape-manipulation tornado Lumpy Gravy), Hot Rats is a jazz-fusion essential, mixing deviously complex rockers like the classic Rimsky-Korsakov funk of "Peaches En Regalia" with sprawling jams like… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorDistancing himself from the so-called "freaks" associated with the previous year's Summer of Love, Frank Zappa envisioned We're Only in It for the Money as a scathing satire of hippie culture, exposing their fashion and… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorFrank Zappa quarantined his catchier numbers from his neuron-frying experiments by two separate pieces of wax on his debut, but seamlessly combined the two (along with elements of improv jazz and inharmonious transmutations of "Louie… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorTo procure the funds to release Freak Out! intact, Frank Zappa took a cut in his publishing rate so Verve could press the 60-minute monsterpiece onto two vinyl slabs — making it rock's first double-album… more »
By Christopher R. Weingarten, eMusic ContributorUncle Meat was, as the note on the cover explained, "most of the music from the Mothers' movie of the same name which we haven't got enough money to finish yet." Mostly instrumental, this hypothetical… more »