Hot Rats – FRANK ZAPPA***

Peaches En Regalia/Willie The Pimp/Son Of Mr Green Genes/Little Umbrellas/The Gumbo Variations/It Must Be A Camel

On the jazz-rock album Hot Rats Frank Zappa presented a more serious, less self indulgent aspect to his music than hitherto. This was rewarded by the highest chart placing of any of his albums. (US:173 UK:9)

“Some pretty great jazz rock tainted by some noodling. Peaches En Regalia is gorgeously catchy. Willie The Pimp starts off as a good blues song. It then proceeds to be a vehicle for a long Zappa guitar solo, which sounds good but goes on a bit too long. The quirky and often catchy instrumentals are usually very good. The Gumbo Variations is the least interesting thing here, and unfortunately the longest. I'd definitely recommend this to people curious about Zappa.”

“This is a pretty crazy jazz fusion record, and contrary to Trout Mask this one is actually listenable. It has wild sax and crazy rhythm and you can never predict where they are going next. Well actually you can, you know they going to keep with the crazy stuff. Despite all of its innovation and interesting moments, which are a whole lot, the album does in fact little for me.”

“Its not all bad to my ears, there are some great instrumental moments here, but after the first time listening I just lost interest in the second spin.”

“Some incredible playing on Hot Rats. Peaches En Regalia must rank among his catchiest, most infectious songs ever. Zappa gets down to guitar business after a bunch of eccentric cabaret/comedy records.”

“While it may seem stupid, I wish all of Zappa's albums sounded like this one. But then, being eclectic is Mr. Zappa's trademark and we wouldn't want to take that away.”

“Frank Zappa thought of himself as witty. Most of the time he wasn't. He had a very pimply sense of humour. Very juvenile. You can forget about all his other albums. This is the only one worth while having. It's jazz-rock of the highest standard.”

“Hot Rats stands out as an excellent early example of melding rock and jazz. Though primarily instrumental, the album contains some fine melodic textures.”