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90 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hot Mott's, February 14, 2003
This review is from: Hot Rats (Audio CD)
Basically just dropping the name `Mothers of Invention' and releasing this as his first solo album, Mr. Zappa showed, who had been boss all the time, and let the unsuspecting music world cop it in the teeth with this blast of basically instrumental work. Gone were the dropping off into the world of parody or spoken word humour, that had often enlivened, but more often marred `The Mothers' albums. A joke is only funny the first couple of times, but soon becomes annoying, especially after repeated playing in between bits of your favorite music. But here on `Hot Rats' Mr. Zappa surrounds himself with some of the finest musicians in the United States of America, who just happened to also be his best friends, and went from cult figure to International Superstar. In the high brow student world of 1970, if you didn't have the Hot Rats poster in your bed sit, you were considered very square. The album was an absolute `must have'. (Mind you it was also required to wear your hair down to your ankles, platform boots 2 foot tall, huge bell bottom trousers that hid them anyway, say things like "Cosmic" or "Groovy" a lot, and end every sentence with "Man". Eat your heart out Austin Powers, looking back it all seems terribly complicated now.) But that was one thing that Mr. Zappa had mastered, although all of the playing on this album is intricate in the extreme, with great lolloping extended solos and each song has a terribly gripping hum able tune that makes your fingers twitch and your feet tap. The first piece of music presented here for your edification (it would almost be an insult to label them down as just plain old songs) is the wonderfully monickered "Peaches En Regalia", where Mr. Zappa on guitar, and multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood get to flex their musical muscles. These two musicians are the only two to appear on every track. "Peaches En Regalia" is certainly one of Mr. Zappa's most commercial and popular tracks and, almost certainly, one of his best. In an amazing way the album starts, leading us into a treasure trove of sound. Yes, this was what started what is called `Jazz/Rock', but at the time it was just a convenient label for journalists to put it under. Mr. Zappa should not take the responsibility for the driveling of some, who tried to follow in his footsteps. Next up is the infamous "Willie The Pimp" the only vocal track on the album sung by the esteemed Don Van Vliet, better known as `Captain Beefheart', and what lyrics they were too! "I'm a little pimp with my hair gassed back
Pair of khaki pants with my shoe shined black" You can hear the gleam in the great Captain's eye, the guitar solo that follows will take the roof off your head every time you hear it. And remember, Steve Vai was an apprentice of Mr. Zappa's for many years and has never been able to step out of his shadow. After "Son of Mr. Green Genes", and for this album the short "Little Umbrellas", you get the full version of "The Gumbo Variations". This had to be severely edited for the vinyl release due to time constraints, but now with the wonders off compact discs, you get the whole thing remastered from the original tapes, all but seventeen minutes (what's three seconds between friends), where the soloists, Mr. Zappa guitar, Ian Underwood everything, and Sugar Cane Harris on violin, all vie for the spotlight, holding your attention with every nuance of sound. Then finally we get "It Must Be A Camel" (the title of which sounds like something J.K. would say out on the golf course after a bad night), where the legendry Jen Luc Ponty joins the fray to bring it all to a fitting climax. A truly magnificent collection. If it's not in yours, make it so. You may notice the artist referred to as Mr. Zappa through out this review commanded a fair amount of respect, did the Guvnor. Mott the Dog.
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63 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
So, where is Hot Rats?, June 2, 2003
This review is from: Hot Rats (Audio CD)
That's right, I listen to this cd, and think "That's nice, where is Hot Rats?" This is because for ages I listened to the original vinyl version of this album, making cassettes for my car and just enjoying the heck out of it. But, when this album was reissued on cd, Zappa decided to do a substantial remix of the album. There are some huge changes, missing instruments, different solos, all kinds of things that are distracting to people used to the original mix. Not to say that the new mix is bad - it's very good, in fact. Clear, noise-free, and well balanced. It's just not how it used to be. As far as the album itself goes, there are some mind-boggling jazz/rock compositions here, with only one vocal piece in the whole album. We get the fantastic "Peaches and Regalia", the slimy "Willie the Pimp", the satisfying "Son of Mr. Green Genes", and more. There is some astounding violin work here, some great guitar playing, and an very strong album that seems to come from one musical viewpoint, unlike the eclectic approach that Zappa usually takes. Very worthwhile - now, if they would just issue Hot Rats on cd...
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A superb tour de force, April 24, 2002
This review is from: Hot Rats (Audio CD)
'the present day composer refuses to die' was the quotation from Edgar Varese which graced each of the Mothers albums as I remember from the vinyl releases in England. This particular album made such an impression on a group of young people in Sunderland that they renamed their "disco" in the Londonderry Hotel on Saturday evenings after it. Played some pretty neat music there too. This album is in many ways the one which represents the huge body of work that Frank Zappa, composer and musician, created all within the original confines of 45 minutes available on a long playing record. Working in the rock field can often be limiting for the serious musician due to the varying degrees of snobbery which exist between 'real' musicians and rock stars. Zappa was one of the very few who drew respect from all quarters for his work. From the outset on this album one can find traces of all of his work, the catchy Peaches en Regalia leads the field, the warm up for the title track with the redoubtable Don Van Vliet exercising his vocal chords with some of the most immortal lyrics in rock history before letting Zappa present a showcase of his considerable guitar playing talents. As usual the maestro assembled a team of the highest musical talents to assist him on this journey and on Willie the Pimp, Don 'Sugarcane' Harris provides a taster of things to come later on the Gumbo Variations, very reminiscent of his work on 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh'. Acclaimed by many as THE outstanding track on the album, Willie the Pimp' is distinguished by those awesome vocals but musically the performance is equalled if not bettered by the subsequent tracks. 'Son of Mr. Green Genes' is also another showcase for the Zappa guitar talent but here the playing is more restrained and is contained within exquisite performances by Ian Underwood in particular. Where is he today, I wonder? The run towards the end of the composition is excellent and the interplay between Zappa and Underwood displays a great deal of understanding between the two musicians. All of the tracks on this album have, as another reviewer has noted, memorable tunes. What is also noticeable are some of the themes which appear on other albums such as the Grand Wazoo and Waka Jawaka as well as the earlier Mothers albums and the later works such as the Yellow Shark. That Zappa was in tune with the classical world is undeniable but he was clearly interested in serious music of all forms as evidenced by the recurring themes which later became the trademark of Terry Riley as well as Philip Glass. Hot Rats is a veritable goldmine of music which can be listened to again and again and again without being totally depleted. To me this album demonstrates the genius that was Frank Zappa and his untimely death has deprived humanity of a significant musical talent.
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