Frank Zappa is such a genius , and a true musician and artist , in the truest sense of the terms .
" We Are Not Alone " and " The Torture Never Stops " are my top two fave songs .
Some may find it *strange* that I'm a fan of both Zappa as well as the Velvet Underground .
I say this , as there was a bone-of-contention between V.U. and Zappa , starting in May 1966 . Both groups played at The Trip ; Zappa had his west coast following , and Andy Warhol , et al. , had a definite east coast sensibility .
Needless to say , the shows were a blow-out . Zappa was heckling the Avant Garde Velvets ( he *followed* them to the Fillmore West and heckled them there as well ) , and Lou Reed , et al. , despised Zappa for this ; total contempt for each other .
As time progressed , both bands were signed to Verve , which was MGM's Jazz Subsidiary label ( no one knew how to 'classify' Zappa's off-beat , untraditional psychedelic-jazz-classical sound , nor how to categorise the V.U.'s avant garde , macabre , drug-filled , meth-charged songs ) .
Mothers of Invention " Freak Out " was released prior to " The Velvet Underground & Nico " , due to problems with the album cover design ( by Warhol , featuring a peeling banana ; only 500 copies were ever issued !! ) and other production problems .
This pissed off Reed , et al. , and the record wasn't released until March 1967 ( was supposed to be released in July 1966 ).
After many years , Reed and Zappa finally admitted their *secret* admiration for each others works , and subsequently squashed their rivalry .
In short : I absolutely LOVE both of them !