Hot Rats is the second solo album by
Frank Zappa. It was released in October 1969. Five of the six songs are instrumental (the song "
Willie the Pimp" features a short vocal by
Captain Beefheart). It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original
Mothers of Invention. In his original sleeve notes Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears."
Because Hot Rats focuses on instrumental jazz-like compositions with extensive soloing, the music sounds very different from earlier Zappa albums, which featured satirical vocal performances with extensive use of
musique concrète and editing. Multi-instrumentalist
Ian Underwood is the only member of the Mothers to appear on the album and was the primary musical collaborator. Other featured musicians were
Max Bennett and
Shuggie Otis on bass, drummers
Aynsley Dunbar and
John Guerin and electric violinists
Don "Sugarcane" Harris and
Jean-Luc Ponty.
This was the first Frank Zappa album recorded on
16-track equipment and one of the first of such recordings released. Machines with 16 individual tracks allow for much more flexibility in multi-tracking and
overdubbing than the professional 4- and 8-track
reel-to-reel tape recorders that were standard in 1969. While Zappa was recording
Hot Rats The Beatles were working on their
Abbey Road album, but were limited to
8-track technology.
The album was dedicated to Zappa's new-born son,
Dweezil Zappa. (from
Wikipedia)
On the Way (
En Chemin) forges ahead into the French "
zeuhl" music. Based largely on pioneers such as
Magma and
Univers Zero, Xaal's music has the rhythmic proficiency of both the aforementioned bands, and even some horn guest spots from former
Magma-ites. But rather than re-live old glories, Xaal takes the sound into new directions. Their melodies are based around a heavy, riffing guitar and occasional keyboard backdrops. Occasionally they remind me of Voivod! Led by busy drumming and an active bass, the music contains the weirdness, inconsistencies, and drive that early
Magma had, without the repetition that turns many people off that band. The creative level here is something right out of the seventies and hopefully this will inspire other nineties prog bands to become more self-indulgent. This was, IMHO, one of the strongest new releases in 1992. Highly recommended. (from
New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock)
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