The Grand Wazoo
by The Mothers
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The Mothers bestography
The Grand Wazoo is ranked 13th best out of 124 albums by Frank Zappa on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Frank Zappa is Hot Rats which is ranked number 231 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 6,737.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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The Grand Wazoo track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
The Grand Wazoo rankings
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 6 hours ago).
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The Grand Wazoo ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 169 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/21/2026 07:14 |  Hayden | 7,789 | 72/100 |
| ! | 03/29/2026 21:43 | Deckard | 267 | 80/100 |
| ! | 01/02/2026 03:40 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,254 | 70/100 |
| ! | 12/05/2025 14:29 | Araldo | 1,472 | 80/100 |
| ! | 11/17/2025 10:10 | cicadelic | 13,435 | 73/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.4/100, a mean average of 78.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.2.
The Grand Wazoo favourites
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The Grand Wazoo comments
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Along with Waka/Jawaka, this was made when Zappa was in a wheelchair, severely injured after being pushed by a lunatic into the orchestra pit in London. To me, this is the MUCH better of the two albums. Waka/Jawaka sounds like he was trying to force himself all the way into "jazz," which he never was; the long instrumental pieces there are bland and inauthentic to my ears. This on the other hand is top shelf Zappa.
Sandrof1969 02/15/2018 18:59 | #208316
In anni in cui gli onanisti progressive tentavano improbabili nuove strade musicali, lui le trova, miscelando rock, funk, jazz con un suono assolutamente figlio del suo tempo e pure invecchiato bene.
This and Waka Jawaka are my favourite Frank Zappa albums. I love the free form fusion jazz when I am in the right mood for it. I prefer Zappa's instrumental stuff although I have most of his albums. Depending on my mood, I enjoy most of his stuff, even the outright bizarre.
Musically amazing, another zany masterpiece from a master.
One of the best Zappa albums! My personal number 4. And one of the the best jazz albums ever. Completely underrated. While Zappa invented Jazz-Rock with Hot Rats, he drove it to perfection with this album
Only 1 chart and 4 points! Such a Shame. Eat that result...
The best Zappa album of the Waka/Jawaka and Hot Rats period, Grand Wazoo is also one of the most underrated within his extensive canon. Although the playing is possibly not as strident or experimental as say the jazz of 'Weasels', it does not enter the realms of kitsch as is the case with the overrated Hot Rats.
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