I'm a lukewarm Zappa fan with the Joe's Garage albums being my favorites, but never was that impressed with Frank overall. His fandom is quite strong, hence the thread title. So, have at it and tell me your opinions.
No, no Cult of Personality here. More like anti-Cult of Personality. We're looking at a true 20th Century musical genius here. The likes of Stravinsky, Duke Ellington, or Ennio Morricone. It's easy now to explore his enormous catalogue, and I would recommend you look at some other eras. When I was collecting Zappa's music, you had to know someone who had it, or buy it if you could find it. So, go for it.
Super-talented to the point of it being a little spooky, for sure. But not sure what you mean by "good music", so can't really answer that one. If by "did Zappa make good music" you mean "did Zappa make music I like" - well, nobody else can answer that question for you
Personally, Framk was not exactly everybody's cup of coffee. He's definitely more widely attractive musically.
I have always thought he was a great musician. He was also very smart and funny. For me he was never a match because he was a thinking man’s musician, and I look for emotion from music. You don’t get that from Zappa. You get cold intellectual music. But always respected him.
"Cult of personality"? Wtf? You either like him or not. I like his music. Some of it is among the best music I've ever heard. And for the record, most of it emotionally resonates with me.
I think a bit of both as well, but I think largely he’s just an excellent all around musician and composer. Just look at the veritable whos who thats been through his various ensembles and what organizations have taken on the brave responsibility of playing his music in whatever form.
Zappa's music is not for everyone. He was fiercely intelligent and often seemed irreverent towards everything, but he made some stellar music imo. A lot of people are turned off by his frequent scatological humor and yes, it can get a bit much sometimes, but mostly I find it quite hilarious. It is this combination of frequently challenging music with hilarious lyrics that made Zappa unique. On the one hand there are people who adore his music and others who just wonder what the big deal is. Cult of personality has nothing to do with it imo.
I used to listen to him, pretty much up through "The Man from Utopia" and then. . . I just cooled to his whole thing. I have revisited his work over the years, but my interests went way way off into the whole span of jazz and I just don't feel the need for Zappa.
I don't think his music and type of humour is ageing that well. Too seedy by half. Doesn't sit well in a pc world. Hot Rats still is special tho.
Zappa was eclectic and pioneering. Zappa's music was not for everyone and some regarded it as "musicians' music." As time marches on, Zappa's lyrics will be considered highly offensive by the Woke crowd and relevant by others. (Bobby Brown comes to mind) Zappa was highly concerned about censorship. The issues he championed are still with us today.
A lot of the geniusness of him and the band ‘faded’ a bit because of the technical advances that have been made since the 70s. What he did manually, in concept and in execution, got soooo much easier now. That makes his cunning seem less impressive than it should be.
Certainly not a "cult of personality" for me. I actually don't even like Frank's personality. But some of his music is amazing. He composed and performed in so many styles that is it easy to dismiss his music after hearing a portion of it. I am fortunate that I was introduced to him by a big fan some 4o years ago. Had I relied on the more common songs that might appear on radio, etc., I likely would have listen no further.
His lyrics typically were juvenile, lame and condescendingly mean spirited. Never appealed to me in the 70/80's and still doesn't.
In actuality, the music is aging just fine. Since Zappa's death, ensembles around the world have been playing his music to enthusiastic audiences. People want to experience it. Dweezil has been touring the music for 15 years. As far as the lyrics go, there is a more serious message being conveyed beyond offending prudish types. You'd have to be living under a rock not be aware of the far right political and religious tendencies in America and other places. FZ spent his entire career opposing these zealots so this will be forever relevant as far as I'm concerned. As far as the OP's lukewarm stance, I'd say he needs to explore much further if Joe's Garage is his favorite. It's a fun album with some sleazy humor and more serious messages but it's not the most challenging music Frank ever composed. But as a record it's a brilliant production.
I think Zappa is just an acquired taste... I don't think his success is based on a cult of personality thing, I think it is his very broad stylistic releases, and music that is almost always at the very least interesting. I don't love everything Zappa ever made, but I appreciate that he made it, because it speaks to the diversity I like to hear from an artist. I think We're Only In It For The Money Uncle Meat Hot Rats Grand Wazoo Roxy And Elsewhere Apostrophe One Size Fits All Bongo Fury Sheik Yerbouti Joe's Garage Ship Arriving Too Late Them Or Us are essential albums, but I would include a lot more, because there are so many great albums worth checking out. In fact each look at that list feels like too many are missing.
No cult of personality here, I just love his music so much that I have all the albums he released during his lifetime in the original mix and the cd variation and most of the posthumous releases...
Both descriptions are appropriate. I never dug either of them. To be fair you could add bad music to the title as well.
You are not wrong about the lyrics. I have long preferred instrumental Zappa. But much of it I absolutely love.
The OP's question is a bizarre one. He states "His fandom is quite strong, hence the thread title", but why should this be indicative of a cult of personality? There are lots of artists with a strong fanbase -are they also all suspect as nothing more than representing a cult of personality?
Zappa is, I think, a genius, but he is also, as a poster above put it, sometimes juvenile, condescending, and mean-spirited. I find that a curious mix. And mostly I can put up with the blight of the mean stuff, just because the musical genius is so powerful. I think it's not crazy to ask the "cult of personality" question for two reasons: (1) the reputation (and actuality, I would say) of genius will be a special attraction to some listeners, take that as you will, and (2) some contrarians will be perversely attracted to the meanness, as if meanness were a virtuous sign of independence rather than an unhappy sign of some moral defect. In short: the personality is a strong one and for some it will be a special attraction.
If the OP is asking if Zappa's continuing popularity among his fan base is due to his music or his personality I would vote for the music.
