HOT RATS

Zappa's masterpiece Hot Rats is on the top of the super necessary Avant Prog section again. Anyway, the music contained on this album is truly a delight to hear, especially for musicians. Peaches en Regalia is simply one of the greatest instrumentals of all time and contains memorable melody after memorable melody with layer after layer of instruments that just make it such an interesing track. The instrumentation and composition of the track contain a comination of jazz, rock, and surprisingly classical elements that was very new for the time and dare I say even progressive (not that that matters) and not many have done it better since. Willie the Pimp is a rocking mostly intstrumental track with some great Beefheart vocals in the beginning. This is one of my all-time favorite tracks from Zappa and it contains what I believe is some of the finest rock improvisation ever recoreded (sure owns the hell outta the Grateful Dead). Son of Mr. Green Genes is a very lush jazzy instrumental with a nice melody. Little Umbrellas and It Must Be a Camel are a couple of strange little pieces, the former being especially nice on the ears. The Gumbo Variations is a track that many say is too long but I happen to like the incessant groove. It's like Can if they had a better sense of catchiness. Overall, this is probably my favorite Zappa album and I would recommend it to anyone with musical tastes beyond the ordinary.