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  | FRANK ZAPPA ~ PLAYS THE MUSIC OF FRANK ZAPPA: A MEMORIAL TRIBUTE
ZAPPA UMRK 02 (Barcode: 824302996126) ~ USA ~ Avant-Garde Jazz-World Fusion
Recorded: 1974 - 1979 Released: 1996
This is the 66th album by iconic American guitarist / composer / bandleader / visionary Frank ZappaFind albums by this artist, released posthumously in 1996. It presents what Zappa considered as his “signature” tunes, according to Dweezil ZappaFind albums by this artist, who talked about the subject with his father shortly before his death. The music was recorded between 1974 and 1979 and compares the studio and live versions of three compositions and adds one more tune, which only exists as a live recording, altogether seven tracks of Zappa’s prime compositions and performances.
The musicians participating on this album include no less than twenty contributors, who were members of Zappa’s bands in the mid to late 1970s. The list reads like a who’s who of the collective Zappa clan, but Zappa’s guitar playing is the absolute focus of this album, which offers a concentrated dosage of mindboggling guitar madness.
Guitar enthusiasts, who are keen to discuss heatedly the genius of their favorite Rock axe players, are sadly mostly unaware of Zappa’s genius. Listening to this album exposes Zappa as a player in his own class, completely outside of any known classification, light-years ahead of anybody else on this planet. Each of his lengthy soli on this album is an interplanetary journey into musical worlds way beyond our galaxy, which makes his legacy as a guitar player no less than a holy relic. Even when Zappa plays a straightforward Blues, his guitar sounds like absolutely nothing else done by hordes of other guitarist over the years.
Overall, although over forty years passed since this music was recorded, this album remains an absolute Classic in every respect, which stands proudly as an icon of superb music, which still shines brighter than almost anything else recorded since. Zappa’s genius, not only as a musician, but also as a visionary and a brilliant observer of the human condition and American folly and deceit, remain completely relevant and are even more actual today than ever.
| | Updated: 27/09/2022Posted: 27/09/2022 | CD 1 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend |
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