Suit yourself.
It's easy to think of Zappa as a comedy-musician who made his living making songs about farts and anal sex, but what's easy not to see beneath that is a first-rate, unique guitarist with unparalleled improvisational talent, a multi-genre, multi-instrument ability of the highest order, and then his work as a composer. Zappa is probably the only 20th century musician who has been both acknowledged in the world of rock music and in the world of 'high' (i.e. academic) music, and has probably advanced and influenced all directions of modern music we have today, directly or indirectly. He's also had a huge influence on the way music is recorded, produced and mastered today, and raised a whole generation of musicians who played with him and then went out to spread that influence. I dare to suggest there's not a single good musician today who's not been influenced by Zappa, even if they don't know it. Then there's also his anti-censorship political activism, which only makes me admire the guy more and more. It's a shame he died at what should have been the peak of his creative career.
Well, there's my rant for this otherwise non-discussive thread
