This cache was inspired by Bumble!'s outstanding "The Black Page #1 - The Hard Version". In a career spanning more than 30 years, Frank Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic and orchestral works, releasing more than 60 albums. This puzzle focuses on the four albums shown below, each of which date from the mid-70's (all rank high among my favorite Zappa albums):
To start the puzzle:
- Identify each of the four albums.
- Click on each of the four albums above and a short excerpt from one song on the album will play. Identify the song and its numerical position in that album's song list (the CD version of the album). Hint: You might want to listen to the excerpts all the way through and/or peruse the lyrics (in the spirit of "conceptual continuity", some things may show up again later in the puzzle).
- Then, go to this URL: http://tinyurl.com/zappaABCD, where A=the position of the relevant song on the first album, B=the position of the relevant song on the second album, etc.
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A few notes:
- All of the Zappa-related information needed to solve this puzzle can be found on the liner notes to the CD versions of the albums. This information is also available on the web. Be aware, however, that the information available in different references on the web varies in small but significant ways. I used the Wiki Jawaka (http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/Main_Page) when constructing the puzzle and suggest you use it when solving it.
- I enjoy listening to Zappa for his musical inventiveness and raw creativity, not for his lyrics, per se. Even a song that has somewhat "throw away" lyrics will frequently have amazing musical details or rhythmic passages percolating through it. With the exception of this first page, however, this puzzle focuses on song lyrics, not the music, as I found it easier to construct a puzzle around them.
So, a small caveat: Zappa's lyrics can run the gamut from being just silly or filled with word play, to offering outspoken social commentary, to those which may be found offensive by some. I have attempted to keep this puzzle focused on relatively "safer" territory lyric-wise (at most bordering on "marginally-not-safe-for-work"), but in your wanderings while solving this puzzle, you may stray into some of the latter territory.
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[2/16/2020: I updated the field puzzle description (at the very final step of solving the puzzle, not visible on this cache page) to match what is actually there now.]
[Congrats to Penguin Expeditions on the FTF!!!]