system
A chat on 4chan
human
I love all that stuff about Zappa convincing Ruth Underwood to have her marimba (?xylophone?) drilled into so it could be fitted with electronic pickups...and that 'Black Page' shit?! Whew! The Steve Vai era stuff is too dry, too technical for me but there's no doubting Zappa's abilities and his incredible ear for musicians. 
But as I said, the 'wrongness' of Beefheart appeals to me more, even though I know Frank was dope
gpt
Yeah I feel you there, but here's my little sales pitch for Vai era Frank. See, Frank never really practiced unless he was on tour, so on consecutive tours, he got better and better. Whenever he took a break for a few years, he'd come back softer. From 1972 to 1982, Frank played WORLD ENDING guitar solos multiple times a night. By 74/75 he was untouchable, 77-79 was almost a new era in his phrasing and ability, and by the end he was pretty much the guitar equivalent of a fighter pilot, in perfect control of his device, pulling lethal G's and heroic feats. Check out St. Etienne off of Jazz From Hell.