Hot Rats [Original recording remastered]

Apologies for the slightly corny review title but it's pinched from Chris Welch's piece from the 1969 issue of Melody Maker which reviewed Frank's wonderful instrumental masterpiece. The impact that Hot Rats made at the time was huge. One of the first ever 16-track recordings, we'd not heard anything like it before. The brilliant melodies, the beautiful interweaving flutes, clarinets, saxophones, keyboards, percussion and guitar, knitted together with FZ's distinctive, creative arrangements, were quite stunning. I'd hesitate to describe it simply as jazz-rock - but if you're new to FZ, it's a helpful enough definition of what you'll get. In reality, its boundaries spread somewhat wider, from the bluesy Willie the Pimp to the almost indefinable It Must Be A Camel, one of my favourite ever FZ compositions, which is kind of jazzy but has hints of the orchestral Zappa yet to come, notwithstanding the few titbits to be found on Lumpy Gravy. With Hot Rats, we get our first real taste of Zappa the incredible guitarist, from the acoustic coupled with a wah-wah pedal on Peaches En Regalia, through the rocking electric of Willie the Pimp and Son of Mr. Green Genes, to the fat, mellow jazz break on the final track. Yes, out of the blue, as if the rest of the album wasn't enough, we have a guitar hero too! Regarding the comments elsewhere about the mix of the CD, I would agree that it is very different from the vinyl. But words such as "disaster" and "beware" are ridiculous. However, if you only have the CD, then the LP is worth tracking down. Frank remixed almost his entire catalogue to CD in the early nineties, knowing he did not have long to live. I would guess that he was trying to bring the best out of the original master tapes and that must have been a tricky task with only 16 tracks to draw upon, given the complexity of the music. Maybe he fell short of his usual meticulous standard but you do hear things on the CD which were pretty well masked - or completely absent - on the original. Perhaps Dweezil will do another remix sometime - or maybe even re-record it. That said, almost forty years on - and still there is no musician in the world who seems able or willing to do stuff like this - Hot Rats captures the essential FZ and wraps it in a package which remains as accessible and enjoyable as ever.

For the first time ever, the 1969 mix of Frank Zappa's 'Hot Rats' has been released on CD. This album was released long before I was born, so my first approach to it was in its 1987 remix encarnation. I considered it a masterpiece back then, and I must say it is not a bad remix, but the original is superior nevertheless. First of all, the sound has more low end, therefore the instruments sound "fatter" (especially bass and drums). This original mix is also drier and clearer compared to the 1987 mix which featured reverb and an overall not very pleasing "tinny" sound quality. However, the remix featured a longer "Gumbo Variations" and some extra flute work on "Little Umbrellas", but some sped-up percussion parts are sorely missed. There are many other differences, some of them much more subtle.
A lot has been said about this album. It is one of FZ's masterpieces. He makes a clever use of the then state-of-the-art 16-track recording system to orchestrate his magnificent compositions always avoiding to sound excessive or overloaded with sonic information. A special mention must be done to Ian Underwood, who plays all winds and keyboards like the extraordinary multi-instrumentist he is.
Conclusion: the original mix (the one recovered for this 2012 reissue) sounds great. The 1987 mix (previous CD editions) has some sound deffects, but featured extra material. If you love this album, try to get both (I'm sure you have at least the old CD version by now if you love it!). If you have to choose, pick the ORIGINAL MIX, mark my word.

I remember first hearing this LP when it came out in 1969, at a music club at school. I'd heard of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart but never heard their music.

I bought the record the following year when I started at university and it was a huge hit with all my friends - especially "Son of Mr Green Genes". This track really is a tour de force. Perhaps for jazz fans the variations and returns to a theme (was this orchestrated or improvised?) will be familiar - to a rock fan like myself there is nothing else quite as good (although the Doors "Light My Fire" runs it close).

While it's probably a bit too slick for hard-line MoI fans (and I think I would probably agree with this criticism of "Peaches En Regalia"), I still listen to this music with the same exhilaration I felt when I first heard it. Buy it.