The Zappa Tier List 

This is a reuploaded copy of the stream since there were issues with the audio only playing through the left channel. Everything should be fixed in this version so I hope you enjoy.

A while back I ranked every Zappa album (excluding ones with largely recycled material such as some live albums) up to Civilization Phaze III, which I view as the final note of his discography. My opinion might have changed overtime, but here’s my list: 1. Apostrophe 2. One Size Fits All 3. Over-nite Sensation 4. The Grand Wazoo 5. Thing-Fish 6. Joe’s Garage 7. Zappa in New York 8. Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch 9. Civilization Phaze III 10. Uncle Meat 11. Waka/Jawaka 12. Hot Rats 13. Sleep Dirt 14. Broadway the Hardway 15. The Yellow Shark 16. Francesco Zappa 17. Studio Tan 18. Roxy & Elsewhere 19. You Are What You Is 20. Sheik Yerbouti 21. Chunga’s Revenge 22. Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention 23. Them Or Us 24. Just Another Band from LA 25. Guitar 26. The Perfect Stranger 27. Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar 28. Zoot Allures 29. Bongo Fury 30. Ahead of Their Time 31. London Symphony Orchestra Vol 1 + 2 32. Orchestral Favorites 33. Filmore East-June 1971 34. Weasels Ripped My Flesh 35. Burnt Weeny Sandwich 36. Lumpy Gravy 37. Jazz From Hell 38. We’re Only In It For The Money 39. 200 Motels 40. Absolutely Free 41. Freak Out! 42. The Man From Utopia 43. Tinseltown Rebellion 44. Cruisin’ with Ruben and the Jets

Dont self deprecate yourself, this is one of the level headed zappa rankings I've seen, moo aahr.

Can you please do a discograffiti episode of Weather Report, if they interest you :D? Zappa and Weather Report share a lot of fans, and Weather Report is getting many posthumous releases just as Zappa is.

My main problem with your earlier video was exactly what you mentioned in this stream: the fact that you wanted to work with the notion of recommending Zappa albums to others based on their accessibility. Now, the flaw with this idea is that what's accessible to you, may or may not be so to others. And even if it is, it's not possible to assume that, say, an album you find difficult, won't still be enjoyable to someone else. And vice versa, At least, this time, you present your own, personal ranking. I may not agree with that, either, but at least it's your own, personal taste. Which is OK.

Great video! Definitely an undertaking. I do think you are way to hard on Ruben and the jets but I get that type of music isn't for everyone but man fountain of love and cheap thrills are so solid. I recently got dance me this just because I love Zappa with the Mongolian throat singers. Lost episodes is definitely worth a listen it has some great songs and audio bits. Have fun at Dweezil! I have tickets to his concert as well I'm super excited.

Is, with all its flaws was prophetic considering the British blood scandal.

You Can't Do That On Stage Vol is the best band ever making some of the best music ever it deserved better! But this was a fun discussion of his discog it's interesting hearing a Zappa fan that likes some of the late 70's/80's more than the 60's and early 70's(also doesn't say you're a dumb ass for not getting orquestral stuff just because they like that stuff doesn't mean they are smarter than you, the way I see it they are dumbasses for not liking the stuf you like!

OK - an attempt to reconstruct my long response to the last upload. This video is clearly meant to be a "`discuss' - talking point". So here's MY tier system. Core Catalog Essentials - Every single album that is not named below, including the polarizing releases like Thing-Fish, orchestral/electronic/documentary albums, and Shut Up 'N Play. I could separate these into micro-genres if I had the time, but speaking journalistically I will not rate them by quality: I'm way beyond the point of interpreting the music like that. I have a certain bias towards bands like 1973-with-Ponty, 1972 Grand (not Petit) Wazoo, 1988 and xmas-1976, but that's just me. Core Catalog albums that are "hard to approach"/"seldom visited" - Francesco Zappa, Mothers Of Prevention, Does Humor Belong In Music, Mudd Club & Munich, Everything Is Healing Nicely Hardcore Collector Albums - Tier #1 - Lather (as originally released), every single one of the Beat The Boots and "grey market" CDs, Lost Episodes/Mystery Disc, Playground Psychotics, the 1971 and 1972 Boxes, Joe's Corsage/Menage/Camouflage, Lumpy Money, Greasy Love Songs, the 200 Motels Box Hardcore Collector Albums - Tier #2 - Guitar, Trance Fusion, FZ Plays FZ, Quaudiophiliac as released, Crux Of The Biscuit, FZ For President, Orchestral Favorites deluxe, The 1970 Box, Little Dots/Imaginary Diseases, the Overnite Sensation Box Hardcore Collector Albums - Tier #3 - Mothermania, Have I Offended Someone, Understanding America, the MOFO albums, Joe's Domage, One Shot Deal, Congress Shall Make No Law, Feeding The Monkies At Ma Maison (if you've already got Resolver & Brutality, that is), Zappa The Movie Even hardcore collectors might question the worth of these albums - Lather (the shortened second edition), Joe's Xmasage, the Dub Room Special s-t, the Token Of His Extreme s-t, every audio release bearing the name Baby Snakes, Finer Moments as released, Roxy By Proxy, Roxy The Soundtrack, all the "highlights" albums that have one exclusive track, Zappa Picks, the UK-only Best Of Frank Zappa, Cheap Thrills, Zappetite, the Halloween DVDA