I agree with you borg, he was an absolute genius. "Blow it out your ass motorcycle man, i mean i am the devil don't you understand!" The thing i like most about his work is that he would always put down -and mostly publish- ANY damn note that was running through his brain because he wanted to hear it. That's artistic integrity. But of course i can understand people that don't like him because most of his work is hard to assimilate. You have to listen and listen to it again and again until it reaches you... The same way one would do if listening for the first time to Bartok for example. I have a friend who recently told me that he finally discovered FZ 15 years after he first listen to one of his songs and this guy couldn't even stay in a place where his music would play. After that it's a question of taste... i don't like the Rolling Stones! yeah bad example i know
anyway, does somebody like the synclavier art work of Zappa ? i LOVE it !! if you don't know, just listen to
" Jazz from hell " and " civilization phase III " albums... quite incredible .
jupiter8: Why does it hurt, when I piss?
IMHO the problem with Zappa is that you should have been to a concert of the band for easier access to the whole thing. He was a studied musician and a conductor. The music has priciples of "constuction", school of Edgar Varese, so his presence helped to understand. You cannot see him listening to a vinyl. Yeah, and the band, oh yes, great ones (Preston, Dunbar etc...).
But the whole thing is a libretto, a "director's cut". Even the improvisation. And that is what some people maybe do not prefer. A matter of taste. I like it and some of the concerts have been very good and powerful, so I did'nt care if all the movements have been by situation or by script.
a genius and a jerk.a talented artist who's worked with the finest musicians,(many of the greats getting thier start from him) and ultimately,unimportant.
On 2003-02-24 12:37, garyb wrote:
a genius and a jerk.a talented artist who's worked with the finest musicians,(many of the greats getting thier start from him) and ultimately,unimportant.
well,he's kinda an iconoclast...and i don't think that valley girl,yellow snow or tales about paste in groupies underwear will be sighted as music that is the foundation of pop music or recording 20 years from now.(except among his fans)one can't ignore his crappy behavior to other people either.(much of what he did is ridicule others as assholes when he definitely had his own problems)on the other hand he WAS quite a talent and entertainer and many famous things did come from him,i guess..(like the band Journey )
so,i see a dichotomy,a scizo personality,a love/hate thing.plus he's dead and can't fight back...