Frank Zappa

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Frank Zappa - egomaniac? He simply realized that the vast majority of humans are stupid. At least he concentrated on what -he- wanted to hear, not everyone else...at least for the most part. Tasteless? That's highly subjective. At least he didn't throw a bunch of fake emotion into his work. BTW you can't get a feel for who he is from a single album, or even two or three. Most of his albums are explorations of different areas of sound. You need to get the whole picture. ANYWAY yeah great guitar skills, got what was in his head out through an amplifier, five stars.

Its near impossible to judge 'stirctly' on guitar technical mastery. Composition, timing, presentation, the use of silence between notes, subjective opinions of style etc... As a fellow who plays several musical instruments (guitar among them), I'd rate his guitar playing (just his guitar playing) a 4-star out of 5. Now take into account the difficult, the uniqueness and the composition and wide range of expression....that has to be a 5. 200 yrs from now, a group of bassoonists in hamburg might pull out a song like "Echidna's Arf of You", and a chamber music quintet may take a shot at "Peaches En Regalia", a brass ensemble may be looking at sheet music for "Rollo" in 21/16 time and feel thoroughly challanged by it. Over intervening centuries, 'entertainers' are largely forgotten. History, in the long view, remembers composers. We remember Dvorak, not his cute well dressed flautist; we remember shakespeare not the names of his actors, we study Vivaldi-not how damn good looking and coo... Read more

Frank Zappa: #1 !!!!!

Zappa was a genius!  An astounding guitarist and a totally brilliant composer!  Maybe the best sense of humor in rock history.

He was a good guitarist , but a great musician. He was kind of a jerk, humorous, and very creative. His work was unique, silly and intelligent. The guitar work was a lesser part of the entire result.

On one of Frank Zappa's 6 or 7 or so ALL GUITAR albums, he stated, and I QUOTE, "THIS MUSIC IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN OR REPUBLICANS." Truth be told, judging by some of the asinine comments here, I would say he hit it "RIGHT ON THE MONEY"! Wouldn't you?

FZ is the best. Just listen to him go

gets 3 stars just for picking out such cool names for his kids

Zappa was a virtuoso.  I was pondering whether to give him 4 or 5 stars until I saw the comment about his being tasteless.  His guitar-playing is being graded here!  Nothing tasteless about it!  The fact that someone might be perturbed by the content of such ditties as "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" or "Dirty Love" is irrelevant.  Mr. (or Ms.) one star, cite and example of where his guitar-playing was tasteless.  Otherwise, do the right thing, and upgrade your vote without the subject matter of some of his songs as part of the criterion!

So many of the comments here represent a STUNNING level of ignorance, an appalling degree of HOSTILITY and just plain stupidity.  Zappa himself once said that the most common element in the universe is not hydrogen. The most common element is STUPIDITY! Sadly, having read some of the comments here, I would have to agree with him. "Average musician" my ASS!

No one else even comes close...any sissy ass pimple face punk that says otherwise is just a flat out ignorant moronRIP Frank

Strange but beautiful

what an amazing guitarist. steve vai even said hes the best guitarist ever next to hendrix

An average musician.

Very tasteless

I guess he hits about in the middle of the pack.

Overrated. Not funny, and very crass.

Wrong category. As noted by oscar, its hard to pin down where he belongs, but it certainly isn't in heavy metal. Intriguing musician though. Not always to my taste, but there is no denying his talent.

frank was a top notch musician and quite a wonderful person.fave:dancin' fool

Most innovative guitarist ever. The 20th century's most accomplished Musical genius

There sure is some stinging irony to the enlistment of Zappa to this category, nevermind to any list on the "RATEITALL" site in general ( MOSTLY 'dumb' and emotionally driven opinions here from the 20yr and younger crowd ).  In any case, Zappa is terribly underrated these days and was a consummate a r t i s t (what's that these days?).  I have no problem calling him a genius.

1 star is generous for this ego maniac.

I can see by some of the comments on this page that some people have never gotten past basic music theory. Frank did, and was truly one of the top innovative musicians and guitarists of all time, since he not only thought outside the 9 dots, he lived out there. He was just tired of the nine dots and had to create others. Some cannot understand innovation.  Edgar Varese Lives.

this is nuts! zap, 2 stars? amazing inovating guitar work on every song. just a great musician in general.

Truly woeful. Maybe the most distasteful guitarist ever.

Often considered just an amazing composer, Zappa was an incredible guitarist. No one can improvise like he can. He played with such fire, fury and passion but in such a controlled and thoughtful manner. Infinitely better than EVH.

Just plain bad. Real garage material.

A legend , very original, Has a very mean ass drummer, Terry Bozzio.

American genius or just too many cocksucker balls?

The world is a poorer place with out Frank. I was lucky enough to see him play 5 times in my life. Each show completely amazed me. He was a musical genius. I miss him, his musicianship and the way he looked at the world.

Some of THE funkiest, greatest musicians, at one time or another, played with Zappa during his "The Mothers of Invention" years. Chester Thompson ("Genesis")... The Fowler Brothers (Tom, Bruce, Walt)... Ruth Underwood... Ian Underwood... Sal Marquez... Jean-Luc Ponty....Plas Johnson... Roy Estrada...... Carol Kaye...... Jimmy Fielder.....Don Ellis... Don Preston..... Don "Sugarcane" Harris... Paul Humphrey.... Max Bennett... George Duke..... Wilton Felder.... Ernie Watts.... Aynsley Dunbar....Jeff Simmons... God, I'm just flooded with good, good, GOOD memories of all of Frank's combinations. He was such an artist!

Even noisier and more self indulgent than Jimmy Page. Very bad.

black napkins, apostrophe'

Not really sure why Frank's on this list, though he did do some stuff that could perhaps fit into this genre, he was really all over the place stylistically, as well as in terms of quality. It's a big stretch to put him into this category

Dreadful egomaniac. His passing is no great loss to the guitar world.

No style or grace. Self indulgent noise.Sorry folks, he does not rate.

Start by Realizing categorizing Frank, is like saying light is bright, it is , but in so many shades, depths and shadows, that the definition is lacking any useful information. If you can listen to one Zappa album, and not be moved (either mesmerized, energized, or offended) by the sheer genious, originality, quality, and skill of this story telling true artist, then you have no appreciation of real art in bloom. He never was a sell out, and his sounds are lyrical, dramatic, awe inspiring, but never mundane or the formulated drivel most other "artists" are forced to produce to call themselves successful.

I've been to well over 500 concerts, seen thousands of bands, and heard thousands of guitarists and Zappa could mop up the floor with most of them. Zappa is and was a huge influence on countless serious musicians and is much more popular in Europe than he ever was in the United States. But then, we elected George Bush. Go figger. Zappa belongs in the ranks with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page. Neil Young? Mark Knoffler? Ritchie Zambora? I don't think so!!!

Noisy no talent self indulgent dreck

Top three of all times. Obviously Seosan man doesn't play guitar.

Not my favorite music by far,but some of his solos really command my respect.Gotta give the guy his due!

Usually left off the "top guitarist" lists, Frank did more things to more guitars for more time than anyone else. You will generally find Vai or Satriani on the lists. Just ask them to name their #1. Whether "Variations on Carlos Santana" or "Sofa" or "My guitar wants to kill your mama," Zappa took it to another level.

My first listen to Uncle Meat and The Grand Wazoo made me a believer!

While I admit that he was an exceptional music mind, his desire to just be so off beat and alternative at the time chased me off. (I was a kid in the 70's) I still have a problem with those artist who value just being different rather than offering something that might be widely appealing. Not neccesarily pop...I dont mean that, but something with substance that will stand the test of time. If your following was considered a cult following like his, I probably did not like it. To me acult following is just the words used to describe a group of misfits who latch on to something just because it is different and contraversial...or...just wanting to bring attention to yourself.

one of the greatest musical ears and talents of our time. was a good guitarist but not the best. as a composer he ranks top five.

Frank was an AMAZING composer, with technical ability beyond what i can comprehend.. he may not have been the MOST technical guitarist though, but his knowledge of EVERY instrument and how they fit together and his arrangements for the guitar make him so.

Don't forget to vote! Zappa was a composer, musician and entertainer of the first rank. I think he'd be pissed to be in this category. If he only knew... He's somewhere with his synclavier and his guitar, smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of black coffee, thinking about his wife Gail and their smart, well adjusted children - who've done well no matter how psychotic America seems to get.

How can you really expect young people of today to understand Frank? Pearls before swine.

my guitar wants to kill your mama!