Customer Reviews

Francesco Zappa

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Yes, Zappa did indeed do some strange things. People who enjoy only the latest pop singles on the radio would be quick to dismiss this as childish nonsense, or something that "sounds like a hoover advert."

They're truly missing out.

If you can open your mind to it a little, Francesco Zappa could very easily become one of the most treasured albums in your collection. Its one of the more obscure items in the Zappa catalogue- there's no rock, no contemporary or freeform jazz, no avant guarde... only 18th century chamber music. Sounds a bit weird and frightening? Don't let that put you off at all.

As mentioned elsewhere, this was written not by Frank but by another composer who lived in the 18th century named Francesco Zappa. I have to say myself the man was a genius. As they are presented here, his compositions were rich in texture and full of melody and structure. FZ's renditions using his trusty synclavier are full of clarity and really quite soothing. Don't expect anything other than soft electrical sounds here. No percussion, no guitars, nothing other than the synclavier. I'd daresay its probably FZ's softest release. If you're a FZ novice looking for a good FZ album to begin your collection with then I wouldn't recommend this. I'd recommend one of his more contemporary classics such as Hot Rats or Joe's Garage.

If you're debating as either a FZ fan or just someone looking for something different, a listen to this album will create images in your mind and take you to a much more pleasant place. Truly, for me it is the ultimate stress-reliever. Francesco Zappa will make you forget every worry you had prior to putting it in the player, and will leave you smiling without a care in the world.

Like I said before, it IS an acquired taste, but if you're the type of person who wants some easy-listening, beautiful, absorbing stress-relief in their music collection then this will fit the bill perfectly. Truly a theraputic, uplifting and wonderful experience.

This CD is a good introduction to Zappa for classical music fans. I've played it in the background for dinner parties and love it when someone asks what it is!Frank Zappa!? That's my cue to educate them and possibly play the "London Symphony Orchestra" CD or even better; "The Yellow Shark". I love all of Zappa's music but I have a special fondness for jazz("The Grand Wazoo") and classical ("Orchestral Favorites"). By the way, Francesco Zappa is a real composer way back. He was a cellist and these pieces were written for the cello.

Let's face it, this album would be of trivial interest if the performer was ANYONE else. Even so, I value it mainly as a "breather" while I spend a few weeks traversing the whole of Zappa's "official" recorded output. Just to reiterate (since a few reviewers seem to have drifted in from the peanut gallery), there really was an obscure namesake Italian baroque composer whose music is rendered here by the more familiar Zappa on the Synclavier. Basically this album is Switched-On Bach, but instead of Bach you get a selection of keyboard and trio sonata movements from an also-ran Corelli.

I'd ordinarily say this album is for Baroque music specialists, since that's the style period to which the music belongs. But Francesco Zappa actually flourished in Haydn's time, so his music in addition to being obscure was also about half a century behind the times. Otherwise this CD is just for completists of the other, more recent, Zappa.

I've listened to the music of FZ for years. Too many years to mention at this point. As a teenager my listening of his music was more of the rock and roll material he wrote and performed. He was the freak on MTV or the freak whose band would come to New York and played the crazy shows that my parents wouldn't let me go to because I was too young. When I turned 19 and heard Francesco Zappa, FZ stopped being the freak and has become to me a great American composer. No longer did I listen to music the same way again. Even now when listening to the more rock oriented albums (Bongo Fury, Them or Us, Tinseltown Rebellion) you could hear more of an orchestration happening in the arragements that was not there before. After Francesco Zappa, albums like London Symphony Orchestra, FZ Meets the Mothers of Prevention and Lumpy Gravy made more sense to me. Francesco Zappa is a beautiful album and should be required to be in anyone's CD collection.

... not what you might expect from Frank. This is certainly his most gentle recording. It started with some trio sonatas written in the late 18th c. by a namesake of the 20th c. composer and performer. These are played straight on digital synthesizers, in a variety of pastel colors. The cover art by Donald Roller Wilson places this firmly in the Zappa catalog and so does the casually ironic tone of the whole production. Enjoy.

Whenever I tell people that Mozart's music is too primitive for me, they usually respond by saying "That's the way composers sounded back then", as if you couldn't write great music within the traditional 18th century harmonic mode.

Well, Francesco Zappa proves all those people wrong.
Apparently, there were talented composers whose music was neglected, because just like nowadays, the masses preferred mediocrity and that's what they perpetuated.

Frank Zappa claimed that he didn't alter Francesco's music. I find that hard to believe considering that Francesco's approach appears to be more sophisticated than all the famous composers of his day.

I'd compare him to Gary Brooker and Mathew Fisher.

The fact that the movements are consecutively numbered shows that he was fairly consistent. And the last five tracks are all highlights. Every group should do five songs in a row that good!

Occasionally there are repeated notes giving the impression that this is how Frank might have sounded had he lived back then. And the last track even contains a phrase at 0.07 that reminds me of a passage from "Strictly Genteel" ("Help all the rednecks and the flatfoot policemen"). You can sing Francesco's melody over Frank's chord changes and it sounds beautiful.

Naturally, Francesco's album doesn't have any music on the level of "The Black Page" or "Inca Roads" etc., but that could be said about some of Frank's albums too!

The works on this disc all have the formula of pop songs and I wonder if that was the modern Zappa's contribution. Other 18th century composers tend to run every idea into the ground. That may create the illusion that their music is more complex than Francesco's, but I like his choice of notes, even if the arrangements are relatively simple.

Frank didn't over-produce this album. The synthesizer sounds are tasteful and at times fragile. Zappa's computer plays with more feeling than most humans! Although I do enjoy the production, I'd love to hear a heavy band such as The Dixie Dregs record some of these tunes, especially the last.

I've loved Zappa since 1966, but I've always been very critical when he released an inferior album. "Francesco Zappa" is wonderful. It's kind of like a Frank Zappa Xmas album!
Some tracks are better than others, but there are enough good selections to satisfy me. I love it when an album has a climactic ending, and this album's ending is so cute you'll think Frank Zappa wrote it.

I could be wrong, but I believe this is the only recording of Francesco Zappa's music available. And I may be going out on a limb here, but I'll bet Francesco was waiting on the other side to shake Frank's hand when he crossed over.

Despite this album ususally not being taken too seriously, I quite like it & I think it should be used as lift muzak. Better than the dodgy Steve Vai rock stuff he was doing @ the time but not as good as Weasles Ripped My Flesh for example.

Okay, I love Frank Zappa. I mean, I *really* love Frank Zappa. I enjoy all of his albums, with one exception -- this one. Like one of the previous reviewers, I own it; but I never listen to it. This can't really be a serious effort. Why would anyone record music they like with the timbre of a music box throughout??!?

If you want a serious introduction to the TRUE GENIUS that Frank Zappa was, try The Grand Wazoo or One Size Fits All. If you want classical Zappa, London Symphony or The Yellow Shark are both excellent. If you like Synclavier, Jazz from Hell is a masterpiece.

Don't waste your time with this.

Perhaps I'm just not getting it, but to me, nearly every track on this album sounds like it was an ill-conceived alternate version of the Rugrats theme. I really haven't listened much to Zappa, so maybe some of the other reviews would be more helpful. All I know is that my grandmother has a synthesizer that plays a demo version of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are," and it sounds better than this. If you want background music, go and buy some of Brian Eno's ambient albums, which rewards many levels of listening. This doesn't reward any level of listening unless you like hearing a jack in the box.

The music on this album was not - I repeat: NOT - written by Frank Zappa, but by the 18th century Italian composer Francesco Zappa. Frank just had his synclavier play it. Have you ever, while telephoning, been obliged to listen to some electronic Mozart while the guy on the other side is looking for the person you wanted to talk to? It's not THAT bad - I even enjoy this album at times - but you got the idea.