On 06/03/06, Career Records wrote: > The thing with some of the early stuff is that Frank reworked the records, > adding modern bass and drums. Ruben And The Jets suffers the most. The cd > stinks... It's got some jazz fusion guy hammering away 16th notes on the kick. > You need to hear this on original vinyl. Very true. However, the other ones were re-remastered for later editions, so the CURRENT CD versions of everything except Ruben are fine. Most people's recommendations have been pretty good, but my own choices would be the first four albums: Freak Out - to hear the garage-rock band the Mothers could have been Absolutely Free - the evil twin of Brian Wilson's Smile We're Only In It For The Money - his masterwork Lumpy Gravy - distilled essence of Zappa in brain-hurting form. Others I'd suggest would be: Bongo Fury - live blues(ish) album with Beefheart Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life - the best of his 80s rock albums (which are usually very patchy) The Yellow Shark - the best recording of his orchestral music Shut Up 'N' Play Yer Guitar - because the man could *play* Cruising With Ruben & The Jets - wonderful tongue-in-cheek doo-wop. -- DUMB ANGEL HAS UPDATED 7/11/05! - Little Brian In Smileland http://dumbangel.keenspace.com A webcomic about Smile