Thing-fish
by Frank Zappa

Thing-fish by Frank Zappa
Year: 1984
Overall rank: 33,057th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
63/100 (from 34 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1984 (382nd)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (4,097th)
Award Best albums of all time (33,057th)

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Product Details
Availability

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FRANK ZAPPA THING FISH 3 LP BOX SET BARKING PUMPKIN Vinyl Record w/Booklet 1984
Condition: Used


eBay
eBay
Frank Zappa Thing-Fish Box Set 1984 Barking Pumpkin Records 3LP
Condition: Used


eBay
eBay
Frank Zappa Thing-Fish 1984 Vinyl Barking Pumpkin Records 1st Press Box Set
Condition: Used

$104.39


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Frank Zappa bestography

Thing-fish is ranked 57th best out of 123 albums by Frank Zappa on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Frank Zappa is Hot Rats which is ranked number 228 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 6,967.

Frank Zappa album bestography « Higher ranked (32,881st)
Congress Shall Make No Law...
This album (33,057th)
Thing-fish
Lower ranked (33,057th) »
Thing-fish

(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

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The Furious Bongos: A Tribute to Frank Zappa
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Aug
28
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The Stinkfoot Orchestra: A 14-Piece Tribute to Frank Zappa Feat. Napoleon Murphy Brock
Music Box, San Diego, United States. United States
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Thing-fish track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 75 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Thing-fish rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 33,057th | 1980s rank: 4,097th | 1984 rank: 382nd

Thing-fish collection

Thing-fish ratings

Average Rating: 
63/100 (from 34 votes)
  Ratings distribution 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 34 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
0/100
 
11/23/2025 19:13 TimBroad04  Ratings distribution  20369/100
 
15/100
 
01/09/2025 07:08 jeremy9  Ratings distribution  3,66670/100
 
60/100
 
06/29/2024 11:47 TonySayers61  Ratings distribution  23,91064/100
 
60/100
 
06/05/2024 14:18 LosWochos  Ratings distribution  46,86975/100
 
10/100
 
05/10/2023 22:07 Junomoogmello  Ratings distribution  88578/100

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 has a Bayesian average rating of 62.6/100, a mean average of 59.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 59.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 24.4.

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Thing-fish favourites

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Thing-fish comments

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Rating:  
10/100
From 05/10/2023 22:05 | #296867
Possibly the most bizzare album in my collection. To be listened to in moderation as one may go round the bend during the ear waggling experience. Not really music in the true sense of the word, more a series of odd little tales stitched together with some instrument noodling and spoken drivel. Just to understand the concept, the anger, the satire, requires a degree of boredom from everyday run of the mill musicians and artists. Had Zappa got to a point in his career where he could turn out any old shite and mugs like me would buy it and then try and defend it even suggesting it is clever, a work of genius?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 10/16/2016 08:14 | #176969
12:49 AM Sun. Oct. 16 2016 - Election Overload - Just listened to Thing-Fish I&II for the first time in years and it is an amazingly prescient look at how we got to now. The bone-crushing irony/satire (from 1984!) hits all the topics of our current clusterfuck... racism +/- religion, ignorance +/- hypocrisy, yuppies +/- punks. To me, this album is a funhouse mirror from the past... Surreal but in the end, accurate.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1984
1. Purple Rain by Prince And The Revolution
2. Ride The Lightning by Metallica
3. Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen
4. The Smiths by The Smiths
5. Let It Be by The Replacements
6. Hatful Of Hollow by The Smiths
7. Double Nickels On The Dime by Minutemen
8. Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads
9. Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü
10. Powerslave by Iron Maiden
11. Treasure by Cocteau Twins
12. Ocean Rain by Echo & The Bunnymen
13. The Unforgettable Fire by U2
14. Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers by Bob Marley & The Wailers
15. Reckoning by R.E.M.
16. Diamond Life by Sade
17. 1984 by Van Halen
18. Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
19. Meat Puppets II by Meat Puppets
20. E2-E4 by Manuel Göttsching
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