Independently published Zappa(s)

Frank Zappa had an enormous breadth of musical interests and recordings, and to be fair to Adam he does try and put this into some sort of order for the newcomer, and for that he is to be congratulated.He does have his own 60s conservative take on Zappa's music, so his personal, sometimes very personal, album reviews should not be taken as written in stone. Personally I agreed with Zappa that on the 1960s Mothers albums the musicians simply were not up to the task of performing Zappa's complex music, they were a bar band thrust by convenience into the limelight, and faded just as quickly when Zappa moved on with better musicians. Geoff Wills excellent Zappa & Jazz explains why in more detail.Whilst most followers of Zappa consider the 1973-75 Roxy era band the greatest , I would certainly rate the 81/82 band with Steve Vai a close second, and Adam dismisses them out of hand as a rock band with clever moves. Compare for instance 1982s Drowning Witch, one of the most complex ( and worthwhile) pieces of rock music ever recorded, with any of the Mothers 1960s schoolboy pyschedelic efforts. He does however recover the situation witha good overview of Zappa's New Orchestral music, large parts of which have now entered the classical performance canon.This is as good a general overview as any to those starting out on the journey, but as with all things Zappa dip in your toes and follow your nose, don't forget some superlative 70s and 80s rock albums.