Poll - Favorite Zappa Posthumous Release 2012-2018

'Tis a fantastic album.

 

Roxy Performances
Halloween '77 (3 disc version)
Meat Light

 

The Roxy box, by miles.

 

That was my vote too. Looking forward to more in 2019. Any rumblings in what’s in store?

 

Road Tapes #1
Roxy Performances
Halloween ’77
Chicago ’78

 

Meat Light

 

"Joe's Picks"
(or) "Ahmet the Dick...'s Picks"
(I know, that was cruel...that's what ya get for not having anybody in decision-making position named "Dick")

 

I'm a Flo and Eddie guy, so it's Road Tapes 3 for me. (Where's Carnegie Hall?)
#1 is typically maddening from that period. Any show with the Truck on it has merit, but it has the deliberately obtuse crap on it that Frank loved to challenge audiences with.

 

Looks like my picks reflect the consensus.

• The Roxy Performances - Simply one of the best live archival box sets of any artist. Period.
• Halloween '77 - I like that all of the performances were made available on USB stick, but the three-disc set is sufficient for me. An excellent companion to the Baby Snakes film and soundtrack.
• Road Tapes, Venue 2 - A great recording of an underrepresented band. Recorded the same week as the Stockholm show, which has circulated on audio and video for years. An absolute treat.
• Meat Light - Despite the horrible packaging, the best way to hear the original Uncle Meat album on CD, along with an alternate version and some great outtakes.

 

It's the Roxy Performances for me too. My favorite FZ era/band, and I love getting to hear show after show in context. Something odd does strike me about FZ's guitar tone on the release, but I've gotten over it.

 

In no particular order, even though my favorite is the first I'm gonna mention:

The Roxy Performances: my favorite Zappa band, superb sound, excellent extra material. A flawless release.

Road Tapes, Venue 2: an awesome band, pretty good sound recording. There's gold in here.

Meat Light: as an Uncle Meat fan, I have to love this one. I wish this had been a 10-cd release, but it's truly great anyway.

Little Dots: Imaginary Diseases' brother. Amazing!

 

Roxy Performances
Roxy Movie
Little Dots
Road Tapes 2

It’s all good though...

 

I agree; but the thing that keeps it from being 100% flawless is FZ's guitar. Compared to a few months earlier on Road Tapes 2 or few months later on Token, it just comes across as weak. It's like he reigned it in a little bit. It's nothing like what you hear dubbed in on R & E (ie Penguin).

Otherwise the band is the best and sounds great!

 

It's not dubbed in. What Frank did was toying with the guitar tone in the studio, enriching it, but the solo is exactly what was played on the 12/8/73 "Penguin".

 

The ones I don't have:

Road Tapes, Venue 1: I have enough early Mothers, but I would receive and '69 Ark release with my arms wide open.
Understanding America: The extended "Porn Wars" was not seductive enough to make me buy this compilation.
Baby Snakes, The Compleat Soundtrack: rip the audio of your DVD, and voila!
Joe's Camouflage: not interesting enough for me.
200 Motels: The Suites: a great score, but Frank was not involved and is not the same for me.
Zappatite: nothing new to offer.

Regarding Halloween '77, the 3-cd set was enough for me.

Edit: I used the word "enough" too many times. Sorry.

 

Carnegie Hall was included in the 2012 poll -- see link in first post of this thread

 

I find Motorhead's ramblings and "Octandre" (which Frank mispronounces "Ock-tan-duhr") to make this one worth it.

"Porn Wars Deluxe" is not worth it. It's not a good compilation.

Yes. This.

Agreed.

There are some interesting moments. Kind of a mixed bag. Pretty good for something that is essentially a tribute album.

For newbies. Doesn't apply to us.

 

At this very moment it's

The Roxy Performances
Halloween '77
Dance Me This
Little Dots

But I have and love them all. (except for Zappatite)

 

Probably like many fans, I was curious how this band sounded, and there are some great bits. But yes, not a lot going on there, which may be a reason FZ didn't let this group play live.

 

Unrelated to the question at hand, but Zappa related. I’ve been spending a lot of time with the Ulrich Big Note book. A must have. Hope we get slot a lot of archival material in 2019, instead of only focusing on the hologram. Looks like Alex Winter’s FZ movie will be out in 2019 too.