You Are What You Is (studio album)
by Frank Zappa

You Are What You Is by Frank Zappa
Year: 1981
Overall rank: 6,130th   
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 106 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1981 (109th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (902nd)
Award Best albums of all time (6,130th)

Listen on Spotify Spotify
Product Details
Availability

eBay
eBay
Frank Zappa - You Are What You Is on EMI - UK pressing
Condition: Used


eBay
eBay
Frank Zappa - You Are What You Is - CD, Album, Ltd, RE, RM, Pap - Mint (M)
Condition: Like New


eBay
eBay
Frank Zappa You Are What You Is 8-Track Tape SEALED RARE
Condition: Brand New

$125.00


Go to store

  My favourite store:  

Frank Zappa bestography

You Are What You Is is ranked 18th best out of 123 albums by Frank Zappa on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Frank Zappa is Hot Rats which is ranked number 230 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 6,949.

Frank Zappa album bestography « Higher ranked (5,357th)
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
This album (6,130th)
You Are What You Is
Lower ranked (7,768th) »
Zappa In New York

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Feb
14
Sat
19:30
Atmosphere - Winter Carnival Tour 2026
Channel 24, Sacramento, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Jan
22
Thu
19:30
Colter Wall - Memories and Empties
Bayou Music Center, Houston, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Feb
20
Fri
19:00
Joe Pug
The Peppermint Club, Los Angeles, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Discover more upcoming concerts

Listen to You Are What You Is on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

You Are What You Is track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Average Rating: 80 (12 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
2.
Average Rating: 79 (15 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
3.
Average Rating: 75 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
4.
Average Rating: 78 (11 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
6.
Average Rating: 77 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
7.
Average Rating: 79 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
8.
Average Rating: 79 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
9.
Average Rating: 77 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
10.
Average Rating: 78 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
11.
Average Rating: 77 (9 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
12.
Average Rating: 79 (15 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
13.
Average Rating: 78 (9 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
15.
Average Rating: 77 (11 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
16.
Average Rating: 78 (11 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
17.
Average Rating: 76 (9 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
18.
Average Rating: 77 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
19.
Average Rating: 77 (9 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
20.
Average Rating: 78 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify

You Are What You Is rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 6,130th | 1980s rank: 902nd | 1981 rank: 109th

You Are What You Is collection

You Are What You Is ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 106 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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 106 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 !
12/05/2025 14:30 Araldo   1,46980/100
 
60/100
 !
08/30/2025 04:25 zags7000   20,41064/100
 
90/100
 !
02/20/2025 06:47 al66   8581/100
 
75/100
 !
04/19/2024 03:23 ScrumpyArbuckle   1,13178/100
 
85/100
 !
03/29/2024 20:08 ExTeaSea   5,07882/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 13% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.4/100, a mean average of 72.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.1.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

You Are What You Is favourites

Showing all 13 members who have added this album as a favourite

You Are What You Is comments

Showing all 3 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
5/100
From 11/28/2020 13:20 | #261548
Truly awful
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 02/18/2018 09:39 | #208651
Knowing Zappa's strange sense of humour, I expected 'Teenage Wind' to be about gas, not freedom so was pleased to realise this! 'Harder than your Husband', mmm, this wasn't about what I thought it might be either...

A very varied album from the fun of 'Goblin Girl' to the instrumental work out of 'Sinister Footwear' which showcase some great guitar noodling. 'Beauty Knows no Pain' is a personal favourite, mainly for the vocals.

The albums which I mainly rate more highly are the Waka Jawaka type free form jazz offerings.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 06/19/2016 14:51 | #169155
My favourite of the 'latter'day Frank Zappa recordings. Some wonderful stuff on here, especially, harder than your husband, Doreen, and, Charlie's enormous mouth, all great. I've always loved this album, still do.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for You Are What You Is

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
Best Albums of 1981
1. Moving Pictures by Rush
2. Computerwelt by Kraftwerk
3. Discipline by King Crimson
4. Juju by Siouxsie And The Banshees
5. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts by Brian Eno & David Byrne
6. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
7. Faith by The Cure
8. Dare by The Human League
9. Damaged by Black Flag
10. Deceit by This Heat
11. Youth Of America by Wipers
12. Tattoo You by The Rolling Stones
13. Fire Of Love by The Gun Club
14. Ghost In The Machine by The Police
15. The Ascension by Glenn Branca
16. Heaven Up Here by Echo & The Bunnymen
17. Face Value by Phil Collins
18. Killers by Iron Maiden
19. Movement by New Order
20. Nightclubbing by Grace Jones
Back to Top