Quote:
Originally Posted by Jester
The way he interjected humor into his work and exercised (arguably) more genres than any other composer, the fact that he was a huge figure in fighting censorship, and if Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band can be considered a concept album, then Freak Out! is the first concept album. He wrote hooky, funny pop songs to crazy, fucked up avant-garde jazz/rock, and has some odd, odd lyrics. He was an excellent satirist, and he was probably the most prolific record maker of his time. Maybe. His ideas are DNA for all sorts of stuff.
In short, he broke down a lot of genre barriers, wrote some of the best records, was an excellent satirist, and stood for freedom of speech more than anyone else.
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right. that's what makes him prolific. you're also right that the Beatles were around first (VU was the same time).
but what makes someone influential is how the future follows in their footsteps. while it's becoming very popular to name drop Zappa, there still aren't that many groups that draw a clear influence from him. especially not compared to a group like Led Zeppelin or the Who (which just about every other rock band you hear today still owes a major debt to).
drawing influence is not a matter of comparing the band to their contemporaries but comparing them to what came after them. in which case it's folly to deny LZ, at least up until the point when screaming like you had a downstairs zipper accident became the vocal style of choice. speaking of which, who deserves the credit for that influence on the masses? Chino from the Deftones or was there someone doing that style before him?