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Rykodisc purchased the Zappa catalogue several years ago and has released a whole bunch of his material. Quite frankly (no pun intended), I am not sure how many Mothers of Invention and Frank Zappa records there are in the world, though one discography I reviewed had more than 50 titles listed, which does not include the Zappa live concert series that his wife and protector of the family name, Gail, is planning on releasing in the next couple of years. Apparently she has enough stuff for (maybe) as many as 100 releases because Frank recorded virtually all of his performances (and may have stowed away a few nuggets before he died of Prostate Cancer in 1993). Zappa is an acquired taste because his music was extremely sophisticated, unconventional and his wit was intentionally provocative and acerbic. I wasn’t allowed to listen to Zappa because of some of the (ahem) adult themes of his songs until I was in my late teens. That said, I am a fan of the man and his music, maybe not everything he did, said or wrote, but instead of how he approached his material. To do any sort of collection record from Frank Zappa’s work is a task of unbelievable challenge and opportunity. I think for the most part, both Jon Fishman (Phish) and Larry LaLonde (Primus) did a good job considering they had to comb through a mountain of product. The liner notes from the records are very interesting and provide insight into the influence that Zappa had on them as people and musicians. Both LaLonde and Fishman admit that the job was overwhelming and chose to do very personal track lists as opposed to trying to please some other entity or work with a theme. They both indicate that these discs are merely a sample of Frank’s music and that if you like them, you should dig deeper into his vast catalogue. I found that my personal Zappatite was more of a match for the LaLonde selections because he focused on 1975 to 1981, which featured a couple of my preferred Zappa records (like Joe’s Garage and You are What You Is) and my favorite players that Zappa worked with. Frank Zappa, among other things, was a man who helped train a ton of notable musicians, including but not limited to: Adrian Belew of King Crimson; Terry and Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons; Steve Vai, a guitar god; Warren Curcurillo of Duran Duran; and George Duke, the Jazz god. Fishman’s selections, meanwhile, are a little more avant-garde and focus on an earlier period (1972-1975) and records like Just Another Band From L.A. and Roxy and Elsewhere. Only one track, “Sofa No. 2,” was selected for both discs and there is very little (a track or two) that appears on either one of these and the other two collection records -- 1995's Strictly Commercial and 1997's Have I Offended Somebody. If you have been intrigued by Zappa, then these two new releases (and the other two collection records) are a great place to start. If you are a fan who’s interested in a couple of cool, newly packaged subsets of his work, then this is for you. If you are a musician, particularly a guitarist, and you want to hear some licks from one of the most under appreciated axe men in the world, you should also check this out. Remember, this stuff is not for everyone, but the intended audience is going to enjoy it, or re-enjoy it, immensely. ~R. David Smola pretendcritic@aol.com
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