Originally Posted by
Zappathustra
I admit that for some reason - mainly sheer prejudice - I had persistently ignored the albums that Zappa released during the 80's decade. I always felt that there was good music in there, mixed with stuff I didn't care about, and in any case there was a severe slump compared to his earlier, majestic output.
And this, despite the fact that Zappa is probably my favorite artist ever.
So lately I have been digging into his 80's catalog, and I must say I am very pleasantly surprised by the high quality of music he produced during this era. There is a lot of music I listen to for the first time! Is it as good as what came earlier? Probably not, but the times had changed, and how could it be anyway? He still continued to evolve his sound and writing - there is stuff that is intimidating in its density.
If I may highlight some basic characteristics that mark this Zappa era:
- a new focus on Zappa the guitar player, the soloist, with the heavy use of xenochrony, as it is portrayed in his Guitar and Shut Up and Play Your Guitar albums
- his symphonic collaborations with LSO and Boulez
- the synclavier works, which opened new paths for ultra-dense composing
- a massive production of songs which use the current culture and subculture (everything fits: disco, reggae, ska, punk, post punk, heavy metal etc) along with completely obscene and vitriolic lyrics that also draw from the mundane and the current state of affairs
- a huge output of live performances, edited and often mixed with studio music in the same record (the You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore series is monumental)
...all this thrown into the huge melting pot that the genius of Zappa is.
One of his most consistent efforts of this era is the album Them Or Us, which has a balance that perhaps other of his albums of this time are lacking. Tracks like Ya Hozna, Sinister Footwear II, Truck Driver Divorce, Marque-son's Chicken and the scorching guitar solo of s/t track are top Zappa music, and could very well fit to any of his 70's albums in terms of quality.
So what do you think of 80's Zappa nowadays? And if you care to specifically comment and N-Lite me on the albums I intend to visit in this thread, like the aforementioned Them Or Us, I would appreciate.
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