Rock’s first combination musician and satirist, Frank Zappa with the Mothers of Invention flaunted an unnervingly uncommercial sound with astounding musicianship to point up the grossly corporate nature of popular rock music in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Later in the 1970s, Frank Zappa’s band became a magnet draw and subsequent launching pad for a long line of extremely gifted young musicians who spread their talents throughout a series of rock bands, from syrupy early eighties pop through sublime experimental jazz/rock.

Securely ensconced in underground fame in the 1980s, Zappa continued forward to explore the boundaries of his music in a series of guitar-oriented and ‘jazz from hell’ recordings. He also was frustratingly revisionist about his earlier recordings, often overdubbing and remixing the originals for later releases on long player and compact disc.

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