Zappa albums valorise the...
May 21, 2012 #Zappa albums valorise the idea of virtuoso instrumentalists and guitar heroes (or rather, Jean Luc Ponty, Terry Bozzio and Steve Vai) to a point which is beyond parody, however. We were always meant to worship these people, make no mistake about it. (You can never get through any piece on Zappa without certain giveaway buzz phrases cropping up: “chops”, “seamless virtuosity”, “modal run”, “great studio sound”, etc.) This is, in essence, as un-rock or un-subversive as music can get, in a way that Terry Riley or Morton Feldman or John Cage, say, never were: this is all about how fast your fingers can go. … And how low your sarcasm can dredge.—The Wire pulling no punches on reviewing Zappa’s oeuvre. Frank Zappa: Don’t do that on stage anymore
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