You Are What You Is
by Frank Zappa
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Frank Zappa bestography
You Are What You Is is ranked 19th best out of 125 albums by Frank Zappa on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Frank Zappa is Hot Rats which is ranked number 239 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 6,560.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to You Are What You Is on YouTube
You Are What You Is track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 77 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
You Are What You Is rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | stangetzaway | Top 43 Music Albums of 1981 | 32/43 | 1 |
| 2026 | LosWochos | Top 99 Music Albums of 1981 | 96/99 | 0 |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 85 Music Albums of 1981 | 16/85 | 4 |
| 2026 | BorderFreeAndrew | Top 100 Music Albums of 1981 | 32/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | zonrod | Top 49 Music Albums of 1981 | 17/49 | 3 |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Frank Zappa: So Far.. | 25/32 | - |
| 2026 |  ExTeaSea | Top 79 Music Albums of 1981 | 40/79 | 3 |
| 2026 | TroutMaskGreg | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 8/100 | 19 |
| 2026 |  Patman360 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1981 | 93/100 | 0 |
| 2026 | AAL2014 | Top 73 Music Albums of 1981 | 41/73 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 55 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 197 | |||
You Are What You Is collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 46 members
You Are What You Is 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 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 108 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 08/11/2026 00:25 | AAL2014 | 4,350 | 75/100 |
| ! | 04/06/2026 05:49 | Exist-en-ciel | 16,746 | 70/100 |
| ! | 12/05/2025 14:30 | Araldo | 1,472 | 80/100 |
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 13% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.3/100, a mean average of 72.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.9.
You Are What You Is favourites
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You Are What You Is forum mentions
neilgee 07/02/2021 20:21 in What album are you listening to right now?You Are What You Is comments
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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. (Edited)
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.
Truly awful (Edited)
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