4 ms·

It isn't possible for anyone who hasn't heard a particular Beatles or Zappa (rock, not classical) song before, to recognize it as a Beatles or Zappa song?

unalone 18y ago
When I heard latter-day Beatles I didn't recognize it. Two years ago, all I knew by them were the oldies. I'd hear Let It Be or Across The Universe or Eleanor Rigby, and I'd ask what band it was playing. I think I had that revelation something like 10 times, and finally, after Why Don't We Do It In The Road?, I took the time to listen to their entire discography. Zappa you can't tell. In the last 3 months I've listened to all 60 of his albums because he never repeats himself, not even song to song. Even on Freak Out!, his debut, you can't guess from the first song just how incredible the third song will be, or that from there it will move to doo wop or kid's songs. He does it all. If you've heard that album, you can't tell what Absolutely Free or We're Only In It For The Money will do. After that he does a postmodern doo wop album and moves on to jazz fusion and movie tracks, returning to pop rock just in time to release an album consisting of only guitar solos. With Zappa, if he's not singing you can't tell it's him writing the songs. He's the single most diverse composer I've ever heard. I've just made an impromptu collection of Zappa songs - http://omegaseye.com/Zappa.zip http://omegaseye.com/Zappa.zip. His rock songs never sound the same, his pop doesn't sound like anything else. The closest he ever gets to generic is Fountain of Love, which has a surprising guitar line, a very complex choral arrangement, and quotes from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring at the end. I could give you more songs from any of these albums, or show you other albums of his, and unless I told you you would be unable to guess it was Zappa.

4 ms·

It isn't possible for anyone who hasn't heard a particular Beatles or Zappa (rock, not classical) song before, to recognize it as a Beatles or Zappa song?

by gravitycop 18y ago

unalone 18y ago
When I heard latter-day Beatles I didn't recognize it. Two years ago, all I knew by them were the oldies. I'd hear Let It Be or Across The Universe or Eleanor Rigby, and I'd ask what band it was playing. I think I had that revelation something like 10 times, and finally, after Why Don't We Do It In The Road?, I took the time to listen to their entire discography. Zappa you can't tell. In the last 3 months I've listened to all 60 of his albums because he never repeats himself, not even song to song. Even on Freak Out!, his debut, you can't guess from the first song just how incredible the third song will be, or that from there it will move to doo wop or kid's songs. He does it all. If you've heard that album, you can't tell what Absolutely Free or We're Only In It For The Money will do. After that he does a postmodern doo wop album and moves on to jazz fusion and movie tracks, returning to pop rock just in time to release an album consisting of only guitar solos. With Zappa, if he's not singing you can't tell it's him writing the songs. He's the single most diverse composer I've ever heard. I've just made an impromptu collection of Zappa songs - http://omegaseye.com/Zappa.zip http://omegaseye.com/Zappa.zip. His rock songs never sound the same, his pop doesn't sound like anything else. The closest he ever gets to generic is Fountain of Love, which has a surprising guitar line, a very complex choral arrangement, and quotes from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring at the end. I could give you more songs from any of these albums, or show you other albums of his, and unless I told you you would be unable to guess it was Zappa.