Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
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Free Music Notes for Hot Rats
Free Music Review: One of his greatest
Hit: 5 Stars
Frank Zappa already made his mark with his biting social commentary (particularly about hippies), eccentric sound collages and his quirky sense of lyricism on such albums as Freak Out and We're Only In It For the Money. Hot Rats, released in 1969, was Zappa's chance to devote an album entirely to brilliant instrumentals and jams, mostly jazz-rock and fusion influenced. There is only one track (out of six) that contains vocals (by Zappa's friend Captain Beefheart), "Willie the Pimp," which tells the story about a pimp who exploits women and gets rich while doing it. The lyrics subliminally denounce the art of being a pimp, but Zappa does it with his humorous style. After the lyrics, it goes off into a hard-rock/jazz frenzy for about 9 minutes. Other songs include "Peaches en Regalia," one of his most enduring and classic songs, "Son of Mr. Green Genes," and "Little Umbrellas." If you enjoy great instrumentals and even better musicianship, but really are not into Zappa's silly lyrics, Hot Rats is the Frank Zappa album you must listen to.
Free Music Review: Desert Island disc #1
Hit: 5 Stars
Hot Rats is my all-time, all-around, all-purpose recording. It is neither jazz, nor rock, nor pop, and was first wave of the Fusion revolution, setting a standard for Fusion groups for years to follow.
What it's NOT, is one of those silly, audio-theatric Flo and Eddie compositions stuffed to the gills with silly sophmoric lyrics.
I'm not gonna get into the jazzy musicology stuff that you might see in a review of that kind, but I can rwecommend a few things:
Hot Rats is "To be listened to under almost any circumstance", especially
for: typing-your-school-paper, listening while at work without losing concentration, playing it for your kids without feeling like a foolish old fogey from the Sixties.
One last thing. I don't know where I heard this, but that is NOT Frank, Captain Beefheart, or a "guy crawling out of a coffin" on the front cover. That is Andy Warhol superstar Viva cavorting in a drained-out Southern California swimming pool.
Free Music Review: Mothers Said There's Be Daze Like This
Hit: 5 Stars
A gem. This is Zappa that can be enjoyed by people who don't "get" Zappa. It's musical, it kicks, it's fun, at times it's even beautiful (Little Umbrellas, Son Of Mr. Green Genes).
Zappa, a true genius by any yardstick, was famous for his bizarre musical theatre which mixed orchestral, rock, and jazz with "anti-music", sound effects, and assorted snippets of irreverence. He is justifiably criticized for being a shameless misogynist with a sophomoric sense of humor.
But his musical vision was always fearlessly original and even at its worst, interesting. This was the first album where he forgot about being clever, plugged in the axe, and wore it out. Fantastic supporting cast as well, with the exception of Captain Beefheart whose additions are always unwelcome.
Zappa did re-jigger the masters (an annoying habit of his) but fortunately no major damage was done. Arguably Zappa's best effort, with the possible exception of Only In It For The Money.
Free Music Review: What Can I Say About This Elixir?
Hit: 5 Stars
Here we have FZ, with the cream of late 1960s session players, playing sophisticated and enjoyable melodies in some of the more intense performances under Zappa's name. In whatever format or edition, the gentlereader must own a copy.
What else can be said about HOT RATS? This involved, spirited, joyous music is the queen of all (mostly) instrumental electric albums. The melodies and harmonization are always interesting and downright fun. And there is so much to find in every mix and format that its production and performance is the perfect subject for internet chat rooms. There is so much depth to this music that everyone will have a strong opinion about every one of its aspects. My hope is that the Zappa estate will, al la the recent Miles Davis boxed sets, put out a HOT RATS SESSIONS edition (of two, three, or four cds?) filled with various mixes, alternative versions, jams, etc. FZ's work is easily strong enough to withstand years of repeated listening.
Free Music Review: Jazz Fusion Masterpiece!
Hit: 5 Stars
Unfortunately, amazon.com has chosen to categorize this incredible album as "progressive rock" (dont get me wrong, i love prog rock) "Hot Rats" is clearly a Fusion album, and a spectacular one at that. Frank Zappa's complex compostitions on this album rival only those of John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu and Chick Corea's work with Return to Forever, while still keeping a rock sound. The music on the cd is more on the jazz side, which i have always liked much more than his goofy lyrical songs that are absent from this album such as "Don't eat the yellow snow" and "valley girl". In my opinion, this is our generation's equivalent of Beethoven or Bach. This album truly is a work of pure genius. Frank Zappa fuses the sounds of rock and jazz better than any one else, and definetely shows off his pure talent and gift in performing and composing. "Hot Rats" is one of the best jazz fusion albums ever.