so far:
10. Lather (all of his best music put into one very huge two-and-a-half hour package. great stuff, but it's too exhausting for me to give a higher position.)
9. Apostrophe (almost flawless, but this is lightweight Zappa IMHO. Sheik Yerbouti and Zoot Allures are far more solid musically, and that isn't a compliment.)
8. Zappa in New York (alongside the other three albums that made up Lather - Sleep Dirt, Studio Tan, and Orchestral Favorites - this one really stands on its own well. absolutely fantastic show.)
7. The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life (shows that Zappa rocked hard even at the end of his far less successful 1980s. great, great stuff, and the cover of Stairway almost tops the original.)
6. Over-Nite Sensation (completely essential - Zappa's aggressively comedic without backsliding musically.)
5. We're Only In It For the Money (such a vicious attack on the 1960s. far ahead of its time, and the first album that got me aggressively into Zappa.)
4. Burnt Weeny Sandwich (went into this one thinking it was going to be Uncle Meat, Jr. It was, but the more I listened the more it grew on me. The Mothers were phenomenal at composition.)
3. You Are What You Is (not one bad track. not ONE. and although comedic, this is just about as solidly put together as any of Zappa's very serious stuff. it blew me away the first time I heard it"Doreen" especially.)
2. Roxy and Elsewhere (his best live album, bar none. the one-two-three punch of Echidna's Arf, Don't You Ever Wash That Thing, and Cheepnis has to be some of the best recorded music I've ever heard in my life. if only the beginning didn't sag a little)

1. Uncle Meat (absolutely perfect. I put this off to the very end when I focused on Zappa's 1960s output, and the hour and twenty minute length went by like nothing. too many fantastic moments on here to mention. even the throwaways like "Solar Czakl" are great. gets better every single time I hear it.)
   A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous. Got me?

I'm gonna break the mold on this one a bit, no Joe in my list
Roxy and Elsewhere (for technicality)
Absolutely Free (gonzo arrangements and free spirited joi de vivre)
You Are What You is (superb production qualities, layered sounds par excellence)
Civilization Phase three (for depth and complexity)
200 Motels (for range and variety)
Thing Fish (for humour and theatre)
Cruisin with Ruben and the Jets (the original mix, for displaying Zappa's true love of singalong pop)
Just Another Band From LA (for Flo and Eddie-eee-ooo-eee-aah!)
Uncle Meat (for collage and percussive genius)
Weasels Ripped my Flesh (again for the range, and the Orange County Lumber Truck, a song I never tire of hearing)
It's also worth noting that, as of "Roxy By Proxy" Zappa has officially released 99 albums, and most of these have interesting and pioneering music on them. An achievement worth celebrating.

1. Joes Garage 1,2,3
2. Hot Rats
3. One Size Fits All
4. Freak Out!
5. The Best Of The Band You've Never Heard Of In our Life
6. Apostrophe (')
7. We're Only In It For The Money
8. Man From Utopia
9. Thing-Fish
10. Just Another Band From L.A

No mention of Lumpy Gravy? Well, I'll mention it. My favorite Zappa album.

Couldn't possibly pick a top 10 cuz I like different ones depending on the day. To add to the above tho',, the other CD's from the Broadway THW tour - The Best Band (etc) and Make A Jazz Noise Here - are excellent. A travesty that they've removed Bolero and Stravinsky from the former though. One advantage of being old is that I bought original vinyls when they came out. Not that I'm anti-CD,,, just anti CDs with terrible mixes and versions. Maybe Ruben n Jets couldn't be helped,,, but the CD version of Man From Utopia has a TERRIBLE Cocaine Decisions on it. CD of Thingfish has worse versions of Wistful and Evil Prince. Enough about the beep As well as16d0 the Helsinki concert, the entire YCDTOSA series has some real gems in it. I LOVE the '82 bands Black Page,, incorporating Them Or Us and the Ya Hozna rhythm guitar.

1. You Are What You Is
2. Fillmore East: June 1971
3. Joe's Garage (counting tb68he whole thing as one album)
4. Sheik Yerbouti
5. We're Only In It For the Money
6. Zoot Allures
7. Over-Nite Sensation
8. Apostrophe (')
9. Bongo Fury (not sure if that one counts as a solely-Zappa album, but whatever)
10. Zappa in New York

I tend to like these concept kind of things where theres some sort of ongoing story from song to song like in You Are What You Is, too.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

Joe's Garage is a great listening experience. I can see why you place it highly.
Probably the best introduction album to Zappa.
I have to admit I do love Thing-Fish.

1. Joes Garage 1,2,3
2. Broadway The Hard Way
3. You Are What You Is
4. Roxy & Elsewhere
5. Sheik Yerbouti
6. One Size Fits All
7. You Cant Do That On Stage Anymore 3a
8. Absolutely Free
   This is where it gets a little too complicated.
   "facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

I don't have a top album as such and a top ten would be impossible.
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 - The Helsinki Concert is one of the ones I most enjoy, probably because it was the first Zappa album I owned.

Good list, but that's hard to answer, because as Zappa said, "All of my music is just one continuous score", or something like that. Nonetheless, I would also put Chunga's Revenge and Burnt Weeny Sandwich in that list.