Frank Zappa was the original oddball musician. With his crazy way of sharing stories with people. The songs seem to make no sense but they are hilarious! Check out this peaceful, funny man!

Frank Zappa and his friends have produced a cornucopia of CDs and I am sure his heirs hope you collect them all. I personally 'enjoyed" "We're Only In It for the Money." With this CD, "Let's make the water turn black," "Trouble Every Day," and perhaps "Don't eat the yellow snow" were entertaining. And, there is much more. So, if you prefer the esoteric Zappa, be prepared to have a good time.

Strictly Commercial is by no means a definitive Zappa collection. Between his work with the Mothers of Invention, Solo albums, live albums, orchestral works and the later solo guitar albums (and who knows how much unreleased stuff is sitting in his archives), 19 songs on 1 CD barely scratches the surface if you're a hardcore fan. The important word being IF. But if you're a casual fan (like me), and your local radio station occasionally played "Montana", "Joe's Garage", "Cosmik Debris", or even "Valley Girl" (like mine did) this might be the collection for you. Strictly Commercial is just that, some (but probably not all) of the commercial (i.e. accessible, or best known) music Zappa recorded in his long career. Don't get me wrong, Frank Zappa was an artist way ahead of his time. He challenged not only his audience, but himself with every album he recorded. Did he get it right every time? Not always. Was it always different? Absolutely. But the problem with Zappa is he more than often went too far and created immensely complicated or flat-out weird albums (i.e. Uncle Meat, Lather, Thing-Fish) that probably drove fans away shaking their heads. So an album like SC works as a starting point. If you want to go further, there are plenty of paths you can take. But as the saying goes; a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For better or worse, Strictly Commercial is that first step.

Someone gave me this album and I've only been able to hear it in small doses. I never listen to it now. Zappa could shred on guitar, he played with other competent musicians . . . so why do I dislike Zappa's music? It's a question of taste. I dislike his STYLE. I don't find it clever or funny - just stupid. And very, very SELF-INDULGENT. Have you ever seen "200 Motels?" That has to be the most self-indulgent dung heap ever committed to celluloid. I guess I like Zappa best when he's just playing as on HOT RATS, but even his instrumentals seem to scream, "look how clever I am!"
Zappa himself was actually a very cool dude and I would recommend to anyone "The Real Frank Zappa Book." I have heard some of his other albums, and believe me, I love experimentalism (Faust, Mr. Bungle, etc.) but I can't get behind someone recording idle conversation into a covered grand piano as if it was an ingeniously clever thing to do. Uh, no. No, thanks. Zappa's music is just too obnoxious and smug to be enjoyable in my book.

'Strictly Commercial: The Best of Frank Zappa' is a great set for fans who aren't ready to buy his individual albums. The record's title is taken from a lyric from the hit comedic rock song 'Don't Eat The Yellow Snow.'

You will find that track and many other gems here, such as 'Muffin Man,' 'Peaches En Regalia,' 'Joe's Garage' 'My Guitar Wants To Kill Yer Mama,' 'Montana' and many other gems appear on this nice set.

And, it's a career spanning retrospective. It spans his entire career as a performer, from the beginnings (like 1969's legendary 'Hot Rats') to the 1980s endings, you'll get a great overview of Zappa's finest work.

If you're a casual fan looking for the hits and the hits only, look no further. And, it's readily available at many stores, so it's easy to track down. And if you're a beginner looking for a starting point into the legendary music of Zappa, than this is an excellent choice.

New fans who have enjoyed this release may want to move on to records like 'Hot Rats,' 'Joe's Garage,' 'Sheik Yerbouti' and 'Roxy & Elsewhere.' And, Rykodisc remastered the tracks. In translation, the sound quality is superb.

Highly recommended for the new or casual Zappa fan. ENJOY!!!