FRANK ZAPPA - Joe's Garage (Ryko)

[dot_fennel]

Recommended to me as a first purchase by some heavy Zappa fans -- but why?

Act I is accessible as in "stupid", with catchy parts separated by too much soulless humor (and the oddly appealling but momentum-killing segues from The Central Scrutinizer) to add up.

Act II drops most of Act I's coy smarminess and hits its sexual themes directly, which would be great if it didn't mean more lameness about homosexuality. Plus side: some flashy guitar rock songs. Minus side: interminable reggae.

Only Act III has anything like the scope listeners deserve for listening to a two-hour song cycle narrated lackadaisically by Zappa pretending to be an Eastern European robot... I expected to hate "Packard Goose" (synopsis: Zappa hates critics and punk rock) but hearing Zappa sing honestly about anything, as it turns out, makes him not an asshole, just an angry (and in this case, misguded but who cares) guy. Angry's fine! I'm now curious to read his autobiography.

Having now heard lots of Zappa, my reflex to single out the better 50% of Joe's Garage and mentally note conceptual continuity references for later comes naturally. If I'd picked this up first, though, you would have been spared many, many Zappa reviews.

There are two kinds of recommendations: (a) People who only feel the need for one record by Musician X are usually happiest with this record. (b) People who eventually become obsessed with Musician X usually find it started with this record. Sometimes these point to the same thing. When they don't, though, I want type (b).

Comments

[cabell.livejournal.com]

I read his autobiography in junior high, I think, and really liked it. It's been so long I don't remember much; I'd like to read it again.
Dad was a big Zappa fan; in junior high I used to listen to his old LPs of We're Only In It For the Money and Freak Out--whichever one of those has the telephone operator bit was Dad's first Zappa album, bestowed upon him by my (now crazy) aunt, who had been given another copy because she sounded so incredibly like the operator. Dad always credited it with unleashing his inner weirdness.
Dad also almost killed us both driving me to school one morning when I told him I'd heard on the radio that Zappa had died. He shouted "What?!" and emotionally wrenched the steering wheel, directing us toward a fairly substantial tree. He now maintains that we were never in any real danger.

[dot_fennel]

Unusual twist: a friend of mine has announced that he has a copy of Zappa's autobiography which isn't his, and he doesn't know where it came from. I'm trying to convince him to lend it to me before he worries about what friend he accidentally borrowed it from.

By the way, you do realize you're responsible for my Frank Zappa rampage, right?

[cabell.livejournal.com]

Yes, I remember you mentioned that a little while ago. :)

Your friend's situation reminds me that I really need to get in touch with the guy who has my copy of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. I lent it to a friend who still had it when I moved, and then apparently she lent it to him--I had actually planned to lend it to him at some point, which she knew, so it was really entirely reasonable, but I'd like to get it back.

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

this is going to sound really bizarre, but i really appreciate your posts on frank zappa. i'm going through a similar phase with the twilight zone -- wanting to like it, liking some of it, trying to figure out where i stand with it -- and reading your stories about zappa is helping me try and understand it. :)

[dot_fennel]

Not bizarre at all! I've stuck with it (the writing, that is) hoping it is actually interesting even if one doesn't care about Zappa. Thanks.