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Frank Zappa - Hot Rats CD (album) cover

HOT RATS

Frank Zappa

 

RIO/Avant-Prog

4.36 | 1828 ratings

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Devnoy
4 stars This album is indeed HOT! It an album packed with guitar extravaganzas. One could look at it as a guitar guide to becoming good a impro soloing. Zappa is simply on fire guitar wise on this album. The album opens with one of Zappa's best composed song and to me one of the best composed song in all prog history: Peaches En Regalia is simply a perfect song. It has haunting and beautiful melodies combined with goofy passages and it simply works. Willie The Pimp features a great violin and guitar riff. A great vocal performance by Captain Beefheart and a tremendous guitar solo by Zappa. The solo is so adventures and inspiring. Son of Mr. Green Genes is another favorite of mine on Hot Rats. To begin with a nice theme is presented, but the real gem of this track is another amazing guitar solo. In this solo the backing band is really rocking and you can hear the solo following that lead. This is one of the best solos Zappa ever did imo and it's a prime example of how a great solo can be made. Little Umbrellas to me works as a kinda interlude. It's not bad, but it's not anything special either... next! The Gumbo Variations is a monster. A monster of soloing. Here we have various instrument getting their own solo spot. The track generally rocks. So if you're into a lot of great playing and soloing this is a trip for you. Great song. It Must Be A Camel ends this album. It has an experimental and jazzy feel. It's a good song, but not a great as most of the before mentioned.

In general I tend to dig side one more than side two. Perhaps it's because side one seems more well-balanced to me. I would also like to mention the production which is really great. Zappa did a great job with this one making it so sharp and dry. It really compliments the various musical styles presented on this album.

So overall this is a fantastic album. Especially if you're a guitar player you should have this in your collection.

Devnoy | 4/5 |

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