Zappa

Time to finally end the A-Z run that this blog has had. I'm gonna end it with Frank Zappa's 'rock opera', "Joe's Garage". Originally released as three separate records in 79 and later released as a box set in 87, this album dealt with the like of censorship, free will, the government and wondering why it burns when you pee. Somewhat of a tongue in cheek mixed with a cautionary tale, this album continues with the maddening genius that Zappa was. There's really no way to describe the record. It's bizarre, funny, overtly sexual and childish in parts. This is just one of those albums you really have to listen to. For me it ranks up with some of his best work.

Zappa was a creative genius on so many levels it's almost not believable. In his career Zappa released 62 albums. That alone is from 66-93 alone. After his death the family to date has released 32 albums. That's 94 total records. Let that sit in. That's insane. And it's not like he made the same record twice. He mixed plenty of styles of music, even going as far as recording classical music towards the end of his career. Not to mention he's played with some incredible musicians over the years, such as Captain Beefheart, Terry Bozio, Steve Vai and many more. Oh yeah and he testified on the Senate about the good ol PMRC. Plus he named his kids some whacked out names. In short Zappa was a mad genius.

Zappa I think has and always will be one of those artists that you either like or you don't. Almost like you get it or you don't. The music and the topics are just out there enough to draw you in. For me as a rather impressionable teen, finding Zappa's music was like finding gold. I think for me the point where I really got Zappa was listening to "Apostrophe". Still to this day I love that record front to back. And that is my goal with this blog, to find an album that you love, share it with the masses and hope you can find people that appreciate it as much as you do.

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Slowhand Unplugged

Time to resurrect this blog in some way. It's been a rather long time since anything was posted here. Trying to fix that. Work and life tend to interfere more and more daily. But tis no excuse to bring forth some quality records. Decided to go with some Clapton for this post. "Unplugged" has been gaining some attention again of late due to the fact of the newly released reissue. Not to mention I stumbled across the actually old Unplugged performance tonight on TV. So let's highlight this monster of a record.

Originally released back in 92, "Unplugged"  became a smash based on two songs alone. The popular ballad about Clapton's sons tragic death, 'Tears In Heaven' and the stripped down version of the classic Derek & The Domino's epic 'Layla'. To put things in perspective, a few facts about how big this album was. Six Grammy's, RIAA certified Diamond, for those unaware, that's over 10 million copies sold in the US. Oh and the guitar he played, that nice old Martin sold for $791,500 at auction in 04. All this while the guitar God grieved and went through the pain of losing a child. Simply put this album put Clapton back on the radar.

This is probably in the top five of MTV Unplugged ever. Top three in reality. Clapton was almost on the verge of becoming a forgotten guitar hero. His last album prior to "Unplugged" was 89's "Journeyman", an album that started a comeback of sorts for the trouble rocker. This album showed what a stripped down rocker could do with some old classics and blues numbers. Start to finish this is a beast of an album.

Many moons ago when we had moved up into the desert of California, we finally joined the tech craze and bought a CD player. Keep in mind this is like the mid 90's. We were behind the times. But also this is the time were everything was released on cassette as well. This was one of the first CDs we had bought. And to this day despite a few moves later, still has it and breaks it out on occasion. I can never put my finger on it, but it seems as the weather changes and the leaves begin to fall and I make the switch to Stouts, I have to break this album out. There's so many good memories of just hanging around, watching the leaves fall or the weather change and this album being played in the background. With a nip in the air and the impending Winter coming, it seemed like a good time to dust this classic off.

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