Frank Zappa RYKO?

hi, a friend send me around 50 frank zappa ryko cds!!! I hear great sound but any zappa expert, that are the best zappa releases on CD, talking about the sound of course

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Therea are some great Ryko Zappa cds and there are some horrible ones. Of course the bad ones were Zappa's own fault, not Rykos, because of Frank's revisionist rerecordings and remixing, particularly on Cruisin' With Reuben and the Jets and We're Only In It For the Money.

Of course, for the majority of his catalog, Ryko was the only company that ever pressed the cds.

 

First of all, WOW! That's a fantastic gift.

The Ryko Zappa's are the easiest way to get the entire collection.

However, lots of his early catalog were also released on Barking Pumpkin CDs, and some of those are preferable to the Rykos, mainly for preferred mixes, compared to the later Ryko remixes and new recordings, as seed_drill mentioned.

Ryko released a few Zappa albums on gold CD; those are worth tracking down, especially One Size Fits All, and worth the premium price you'll pay.

In my opinion, though, you're probably best off just enjoying this free gift of most of the Zappa Ryko catalog. Just fill in what you're missing until you have the entire Ryko collection, and enjoy!

Craig.

 

thank you, any site that show the complete list of ryko? for know how I have and how I dont?

 

Did RYKO put out any good reissues?

It seems like most of their higher profile reissues (Bowie, Hendrix, Elvis Costello) are not very well regarded. Although they did seem awfully proud of their green, "plate glass"-look jewel boxes.

 

I prefered the Ryko Bowies to the nth generation, never authorized, RCA versions that everyone here swoons over. But, to be fair, I haven't done a side by side comparison in 20 years, since I dumped my one or two RCAs.

Their jewel boxes deserved a class action law suit. I don't know if I ever got one that didn't have broken teeth in the tray.

 

Some good basic info and discussion here:

http://www.lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/vinylvscds/index.html

 

I agree with the gold discs. However, I don't remember any Barking Pumpkin cds coming out before the first Ryko deal. I have some Barking Pumpkin cds, but they are from later on.

BTW, the correct WOIIFTM has been out for 15 years now. Is it only the version that was combined with Lumpy Gravy that is messed with?

 

talking about bowie ryko, I prefer that remasters that all other I ever hear... I have the 90s remasters and the mini lps shm etc... and ryko still are the best... for me... and have some great bonus track, like "velvet goldmind" in ziggy

 

With regard to Zappa on CD, the Rykos are usually the only game in town, however, there are a few alternatives that are available:

Disc 1 of MOFO contains the original vinyl mix of Freak Out! and it sounds great. MOFO comes in two-disc and four-disc versions.

Au20 (gold) CDs of Apostophe(') and One Size Fits All. The genuine ones cost a bundle, but some of the standard Ryko versions were released with the Au20 mastering. I explain how to find them here: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=5784855

Generally, any CDs of albums released after 1985 (excluding compilations) usually sound great. The exceptions to this are from the Beat The Boots and Joe's Corsaga (Corsage, Domage, XMASage, Menage) series'. The archival releases from Zappa.com sound pretty good, as well.

 

im a little new in audiphiles world... Im young (I think) I have 25 years old... so I see sometimes is good have ALL editions, some have good things and some others good others over others etc...

 

I have several Barking Pumpkin CDs that came out before 1995 (isn't that the year when the Ryko series kicked off?).

I'm at work right now and away from my collection, but I have a spreadsheet extracted from my collection's database catalog, so here's quick glance at some Barking Pumpkin CDs I have with dates before 1995. (My notes aren't perfect, so I'm confident that I failed to annotate the year the CD was issued consistently for all titles...)

• Zappa In New York (2 Disc set) (Barking Pumpkin 1991)
• Sleep Dirt (Barking Pumpkin 1991)
• Baby Snakes (Barking Pumpkin 1988)
• Ship Arriving Too Late... (Barking Pumpkin) (note: "Barking Pumpkin album #35; 1991 version")
• Francesco Zappa (Barking Pumpkin 1992)

I think I have a few others titles that aren't noted in my database, but that gives you a hint of what was released before 1995 on Barking Pumpkin CD.

Craig.

 

1986 WOIIFTM/Lumpy Gravy Ryko CD: "messed with" (i.e. 80s remix with new bass and drums)
1993 WOIIFTM CD: original mix
2009 Lumpy Money: mono mix/80s remix

 

Doh! It's been so long since I've been immersed in the Zappa catalog....

Totally slipped my mind that there were TWO series of Zappa's catalog released on Rykodisc!

There was a first series in 1987 or so, and another in 1995.

I believe that the 1995 series is generally superior to the 1987 series, in several facets: sound quality, packaging, annotation, etc.

stenway, can you tell us whether you have the 1987 or 1995 Ryko series (or is it a mixture of titles from both series)?

Ugh, I feel silly for forgetting about that entire circa 1987 run from Ryko!

Craig.

 

There were some EMI CDs released in Europe prior to the Ryko deal.

1985
The Perfect Stranger

1986
Sheik Yerbouti
Tinsel Town Rebellion
You Are What You Is
The Man From Utopia/Ship Arriving To Late To Save A Drowning Witch
Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention (European Version)/Jazz From Hell

Yes, but it was re-released on Lumpy Money. All stand-alone WOIIFTM discs are the correct version.

 

The first series on Ryko came out in installments between 1986 and 1990. After that, some further titles came out on Barking Pumpkin up through 1993.

Then Ryko reissued everything in 1995. Packaging was generally better. Sound quality was only changed on a few titles, if I recall right.

 

You do recall right.

 

Really? First time I've heard about this. I have Joe's Corsage and I dont hear anything utterly wrong with it.

 

Whatever you do, hold on to Hot Rats, at least temporarily.

The mix is totally different from the vinyl (opinions vary which is better--the differences are NOT subtle); but most importantly The Gumbo Variations is much longer.

Find a nd of the vinyl later and compare the two and make up your own mind.

Again, great gift. Welcome to the world of conceptual continuity.

 

Well, I generalized.

The sound on Joe's Corsage and Joe's XMASage is actually pretty good.

The sound on Joe's Menage is okay. The sound on Joe's Domage is wretched.

 

The only one of those I have is Domage. It doesn't sound good at all, and predictably so since it is a rehearsal cassette from 1972, but it's educational if you like that sort of thing.

 

Yeah, I have heard about Domage before. I skipped that one.

 

Out of curiosity, I went to the Ryko website and did a Zappa search. Nothing. I also noticed (and noted on another thread) that many of Zappa's Ryko CDs are now OOP. So is Zappa's catalog now in limbo?

 

There have been reports going back a year or two that some people have received CDRs "on demand" from Amazon for Ryko Zappa titles. It isn't clear precisely what's happening.

 

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