Civilization Phaze III His orchestral+synclavier are the ones to hit if you're a true prog head. Everybody loves Zappa's jazzrock, but the gems are in his orchestra writing.
My first was FREAKOUT at 14 in 1970, the song "IT CANT HAPPEN HERE" at the apartment of my Hippie Biology teachers home while he was rebuilding his Triumph motorcycle in the living room. I was young and naive, and the whole scene was surreal & blew my mind. Then saw him in 74 at his peak with the ultimate lineup of OVERNIGHT from the 2nd row at an auditorium on LSD. It was so intense that it changed my life. Then again, in 76 with ZOOT ALLURES. Feeling blessed.
@@TheProgCorner Yes agreed. But Zoot Alures, Sheikh Yer Bouti and Joe's Garage are enigmatic and very unique in the world of Rock. Albums like Hot Rats are good, but they are not as unique. Anyway I enjoyed your video 🙂
This is a DIFFICULT undertaking. My top 5 are: 5. Freak Out! 4. Waka/Jawaka 3. 200 Motels 2. We’re Only In It For The Money/Lumpy Gravy (BOTH) 1. Uncle Meat
My favourite Zappa albums: the trilogy of Overnite Sensation, Apostrophe & One Size Fits All. My favourite Mothers band. Also:We're Only In It For The Money is the one I turn to the most. Cheers.
Man, I love your enthusiasm! Just listening to you go through the albums... I felt as if i was sitting on the dock with my feet in the water with a fresh glass of lemonade smoking a doobie. I am in s great frame of mind. Thank you! What is the name of the sing where they be singing how this girl stole George Duke watch? "It was a Timeax too...."
Excellent ranking! The first time I heard a Zappa album was when I bought One Size Fits All in 1975. Pretty good album to start with... I think besides that album my favorites are Bongo Fury, Hot Rats and We're Only In It For The Money and The Grand Wazoo. I'm glad you gave his later albums another chance, as I feel they are a bit underrated.
Among the others amazing Zappa stuff: - YCDTOSA vol 2 - Road tapes venue 2 the Helsinki concert - Zappa in New York - Jazz from hell - Orchestral favourites
I just came across this video via a random recommendation. I then watched it to just to get angry that you didn't rank Hot Rats and One size Fits All (one of the greatest albums of al time) high enough. Feel a bit silly now. Great job! Subscribed.
Almost impossible to rank Zappa's catalogue...even his most disposable album is interesting. Your ranking is as expected, my only raised eyebrow was the relatively low ranking of Roxy & Elsewhere, which would hover around #3 in my list.
Love Zappa. Could only afford select titles though. It doesn't matter though, because when I reach for Zappa it almost always ends up being Overnite Sensation. I absolutely treasure this disc.
I think Sheik Yerbouti was kind of like King Crimson's Starless and Bible Black in that most of the crowd noise was mixed out. As such, neither was ever marketed as a live album as far as I know.
My top 15: 1. Hot rats 2. One size fits all 3. Overnite sensation 4. Joe's garage 5. Apostrophe 6. The grand wazoo 7. Sheik Yerbouti 8. Zoot Allures 9. Waka Jawaka 10. Burnt weeny sandwich 11. The yellow shark 12. Bongo Fury 13. The man from Utopia 14. You are what you is 15. Ship arriving too late
Really appreciate an attempt to not only go through, but rank the Zappa albums - Not only are there way too many albums to go through, but such a diversity in styles! Love this dive into the catalogue.
Awesome list! I’ve listened to all of the Zappa albums that were released during his lifetime, and can say that my top 3 albums are the same as your list, which is a bit surprising because all three of those albums are of completely different styles. It starts to be nit-picky, but two albums that would be in my top 25 are Broadway The Hard Way and Fillmore East. Even if some of the songs on Broadway The Hard Way have dated lyrics, the funny and scathing humor still stand up for me and that 1988 tour band is just fantastic. For Fillmore East, I seem to enjoy the humor of Flo & Eddie more than most people, and this album hit their peak for me.
Good shirt, and good video. Hey, Frank Zappa is releasing albums from the hereafter. Weasels Ripped My Flesh gets special mention for me because it permanently warped me as a kid when I saw that cover in a record store in the 1970's.
Hey scott you probably know that the cover from the man from utopia was created in 82' by Tanino Liberatore who created ranxerox as well in 81' very good comic may be you got some in us ....;-))
Difficult decisions putting the list together. One thing I would change: "Roxy and Elsewhere" is great but I think YCDTOSA volume 2, "The Helsinki Concert" is even better.
Nice thing about Zappa's discography is that everyone will have a totally different top 25 from the next guy as the records are so stylistically different from each other. I'd be tempted to have 'Guitar' or one of the 'Shut Up' series as his best but I'd have 'Ship Arriving Too Late' and 'Man from Utopia' higher than you, Scot, and I'd have 'We're Only in it' nowhere! No right answers, no wrong answers though I think most will agree that Joe's Garage, Hot Rats and Apostrophe will be near the top.
Difficult to rank. I've been listening since 1969 and hear new things in his music all the time. I think you've done a really great job and makes me want to listen to some stuff I've maybe ignored for awhile.
He’s got so many records, I think it’s hard to rate them. One size fits all, Apostrophe, overnight sensation, joes garage are my favs. I think Inca Roads has Franks best solo.
Great selection Scot! it's not easy to select the best albums of FZ's HUGE discography, but my favorite Zappa album will always be the triple LP Shut up and play yer guitar, amazing guitar work by FZ, Steve Vai and co, as well as great drumming by Terry Bozzio, Vinnie Colaiuta and others...
Thanks for attempting the impossible, Zappa gave us so much great stuff from which to choose. Depending upon my mood I could pick from fifteen or so as my favorite.
Bro idk who you are but you seem like a cool guy! Instantly subscribed! Love from Germany! Also I don’t really know Zappa, but have listened to Joe’s garage religiously!
I think you did a bang up job on this. My top 5 is close to yours. Cheers Hot Rats The Grand Wazoo We're Only In It For The Money Overnight Sensation One Size Fits All
Great energy, maaaaan! ;-) I totally agree with your statement 'Money' is one the best albums ever but my absolute favourite is 'One Size Fits All' as well!
My best friend's younger brother, the surfer dude, pulled an album out of his International Scout and showed it to me. It was Apostrophe. Fifteen minutes later I was mesmerized about Don't Eat The Yellow Snow. I appreciate your time and effort, Scot, that went into this one. Thanks for that! Can't wait for your rankings of Captain Beefheart! 🦓
Great show, so many incredible records, and so many to discover. Overnite-sensation holds a special place to me, mostly because of my two favorite guitar solos of all the time, the ones present in Zombie Woof and Montana, wow Frank Zappa was on another level, those solos sounds so unique.
My older brothers had the 1st Mothers albums so I got to the hear all those records around 7 years old! "Freak Out" has a real nostalgia pull for me, but "Joe's Garage" is probably my favorite.
Absolutely agree about We're Only In It For The Money. Definitely my favorite Zappa! Where did Annie go when she went to town? Who are all those freaks that she brings around???
This could go in a lot of different directions but I still go to that awesome original LP release of Sleep Dirt. One of my maybe-top-5 rekkids of all time, any genre. I'd also give a shout out to his mid-80s and early 90s output. I love FZ Meets The MOP, Jazz From Hell (yes, Jazz From Hell!), Broadway The Hard Way, The Yellow Shark, etc. FZ is sorely missed in other ways as well. The modern world could use a good dose of FZ's wit and wisdom.
I know 'em all! My list for today: OS, ('), Roxy, WOIIFTM, Hot Rats, Läther, SUNPYG, Yellow Shark, TBYNHIYL, Halloween, Lumpy Gravy, Freak Out! and I could go on... Grand Wazoo, Guitar, CPIII, YCDTOSA Vol 6
Hey Scot! So you're saying Frank has a lot of music? Yes he does. Saw him on campus in 1980. Jeff Beck was the following Saturday. Saw some great bands at SIU. Later dude.🔈🔉🔊😎
Uncle Meat’s my all time fave Mothers record, but literally everything The Mothers put out was absolutely out of this world! Especially considering the time, who was doing stuff like that in the ‘60s?! No one! Only The Mothers 🤯🙏 🥰 We’re Only In It For The Money might be a mighty close second fave!! I’d put Lumpy Gravy up there too with the greatness of The Mothers era. As incredible as Zappa still was after he fired the band, it never got quite as mind blowing as The Mothers imo. His big band stuff is right next for my second fave stuff of his, Hot Rats, The Grand Wazoo, Waka/Jawaka, etc. those albums were so important to me as a musician as a teen. So many great albums tho! Literally one of my biggest musical heroes, as a musician myself! Wish I coulda gotten the chance to see him live, but alas I was 3 years old when he died 😫😅 I did get a chance to see Dweezil with his Zappa Plays Zappa thing he used to do. Saw em live twice. Fucking incredible! God, love me some Zappa so much 🥰🥰 Anyhoo, great list Scot! And as a wise man once said: “A moonbeam through the prune in June Reveals your chest, I see your lovely beans And in that magic go-kart, I bite your neck The cheese I have for you, my dear, is real and very new New cheese”
@@TheProgCornerdunno if you ever checked out the documentary “Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: In the 1960's”? Highly recommend if not! Really great doc about the band in that era.
A question. Why do you think that Frank Zappa had very little success in the UK? 1 top ten album and only 2 in the top 50. I have had very little exposure to his work and it was never something I encountered growing up in England. Why?
@@TheProgCorner Likely so. My first exposure to Zappa was seeing the 200 Motels movie and I didn't like either the film or the music - the humor didn't translate (and wasn't even spelled properly! It's humour, my US buddies! 😉) Once I heard the guitar-centric stuff later though, I was hooked.
Hey Scot..it’s Big Brother time!!! I love Frank Zappa..Bongo Fury is top five for me..I love Sleep Dirt too..my top ten would be 1/Hot Rats 2/Absolutely Free 3/ Apostrophe 4/ Bongo Fury 5/ Waka Jawaka 6/ Grand Wazoo 7/Freak Out 8/ Burnt Weeny Sandwich 9/ We’re Only In It For The Money 10/ Overnite Sensation..loved this video❤❤❤👍✌glen
Great ranking man. You handled his massive catalog perfectly and I can’t disagree. I also dig Zoot Allures a lot. My favorite is Joe’s Garage. My babysitter got me into Zappa via this album in ‘79.
Got to see him live in 76. I think I was thirteen when I got my first copy of Overnight Sensations and that was all I needed to form a life long appreciation for him and his band. Any order would have been correct. I really appreciate you making sure the line up for each album got credit. Nice touch.
With so many different eras I thought that was actually kinda the best way to describe the music as well. And one can never say “Jimmy Carl Black” too often.
I usually have a shopping list after watching your videos. Not this time. I was able to sit back and relax and am completely satisfied with the top 25. Zappa is my favourite artist of all time. I've been a fan since 1984, still learning new things about him and his work and somehow still don't have all the albums. My top 3 albums are Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch, Roxy & Elswhere and Lumpy Gravy, all of which are also in your list. You could easily make another top 25 with other albums. It wouldn't be any worse.
The top two on here showcase unique genius ...... hard to come to grips with the massive discography (and still expanding!) but Scot, The Professor of Prog, pulls it off. Brilliant.
Enjoyed it very much Scot. Your 25 and 24 picks I have actually not given a listen as of today based mostly on reviews I've been checking out since 1996 (first time I had access to a computer with internet). I'll give them their due time of day. Your top five include three of my top five, so I feel honored.
Nice one, any top 10, 20, is a difficult task, but you've pretty highlighted the album's key songs and quirks. Even song wise I definitely feel ya! Cheers
Great list, and really helpful for me. I've always liked the outrageousness and diversity of what he does, but have never done a deep dive into the vastness of Zappa's albums. There's only a half dozen or so that I really know well, so this provides some great guidelines for where to explore next. Really cool
Frank Zappa wlth those 43 studio albums,is not easy to make a favourite pick theirs a lot of excelente albums.Great excelent review Scott we enjoy it.👍
Great work, you've certainly earned your money with this labour! I saw Zappa in '88 and it was his bloody orchestral stuff which to be Frank wasn't what we wanted.
That was just for you!!! Hoping to drive some views to your brilliant three part Built To Spill reaction!!! Keep It Like A Secret!!! But Perfect From Now On is just as good and a little proggy at times. What a band.
@@TheProgCorner thanks buddy! See? I’m watching, even while away on holiday! Special thanks too for my mention on your video today, the best prog channels on RU-vid. Appreciate it so much! We really REALLY must get a video done together.
Great video scot I love Zappa anything to do with him glad to see one size fits all as number one it's probably his most consistent lp. And I forgot how great were only in it for the money really is probably the greatest concept album ever I could go on and on about Zappa's output but I'll end it here thanks again
