Hot Rats

Ahead of its time. Very influential and unique listen.

8/10 [KEEP]

Actually enjoyable Frank Zappa! All the smirking, pointless showboating I usually associate with Zappa is dialled down a lot, though not fully. Pretty groovy rhythm section and a about half the tunes are enjoyable. Would've been better with almost all the guitar removed.

Zappa’s long meandering jams were never my thing really. Respect to to musicianship though. This grew on me toward the end when I paid less attention and had it on in the background doing chores. I don’t thank Zappa respects his audience.

While never an all-time favorite of mine, this is a go-to party album for me. I love the ride and take it whenever I can.

If this is Frank Zappa, what does Evasive Zappa sound like, am I right!?!

But really, I have a lot of respect for Frank Zappa and his general philosophy on life and music, even if “jam band” music isn’t my thing. I’ve watched a lot of interviews of Frank over the years and he’s always struck me as the kinda guy who is very intelligent but got mediocre grades as a kid because he was chronically under stimulated and didn’t apply himself (and also just hates authority). Jam Band music like Frank’s is a great place to go for lessons on improvisation and how to craft a solo… but for the life of me I can’t understand why people listen to it purely for fun, especially without drugs; do y’all read textbooks before bed too?

This album is very guitar-centric, but I do want to highlight some fun instrument spotlights that stood out to me, like the clarinet parts on “Peaches En Regalia” or the glockenspiel (maybe it’s just a keyboard that sounds like a glockenspiel?) on “It Must Be A Camel”. Both feel like underutilized solo instruments and I enjoy the change of pace. This was a fun listen and a wild way to start a Tuesday. I should have played it at 4am to see what kind of dreams it would have evoked. Maybe another day.

“Peaches En Regalia”
“Little Umbrellas”
“It Must Be A Camel”

Hot Rats! Riotous funk-jazz weirdness; the only Frank Zappa record I still listen to regularly. "Peaches en Regalia" started running through my head the minute I saw this cover this morning. I love that the only vocals on this record are by Captain Beefheart.

Best track: The Gumbo Variations, which should have been twice as long

If I heard this in a coffee shop I'd stick around to hear the whole thing unless I'd just played it myself recently; there's a limited amount of Zappa that I can do these days.

Five stars

There is a real driving force on this record, a rush of energy. Its a jazzy, jammy rock record that is scatty but completely structured in its erratic nature. There's a nice mix of smoother moments with wilder brasher moments - Zappa is not afraid to blow your head off.

Interestingly, over 50 years later it strikes me the influence Hot Rats has had over the very best of video game music. Its got that wistful exploration that makes you want to drive your character to the next level.

An outstanding jazz fusion album. Peaches En Regalia into Willie the Pimp are such a hype way to start the album. The second half if the record never comes close to the highs of the beginning, but the whole album feels like a technically played warm hug. 4.5/5 - 5/5

Alright listen.

First Frank Zappa! And potentially the last one here... But a legendary entry, nontheless. Probably an easy 5 stars for this great and unique work of art.

I think, to a lot of people, Frank Zappa himself may be the most difficult part of Zappa's music. Which is my theory as to why the largely instrumental Hot Rats is often considered his most accessible, and even his best by some. As far as I can tell, the trick to Zappa's music is usually that he composes some mind-bendingly intricate, jazzy, and enjoyable, experimental rock music: then he records vocals over top of it where he sings about piss jokes and fucking kitchen appliances. I suspect that this may be a turn-off for some people. So, without any vocals by Zappa, Hot Rats puts nothing in between you and the compositional ability, raw instrumental talent, and remarkable nuance that defines Zappa's best songs at their heart. The only track with vocals is Willie The Pimp, featuring the infamous Captain Beefheart, and that song is just sick as hell. Everything else here is just raw Zappa instrumental songwriting. And it really is something worth celebrating. The level of consistent songwriting, and compelling interplay between performers is incredible. Even at its jammiest moments, Hot Rats is focused and compelling. For being so intricate, it's shockingly emotive too. I'll simply say, this is an *easy* 4, but much like with most of Zappa's catalogue, I need to spend a little more time and dig a little deeper. I get the sense that this is the sort of album that just gets more rewarding on repeat listens.

Brilliant and difficult to listen to in same measure. Maybe that's the point but I don't want to listen to the whole album again.

Peaches En Regalia is great though.

Learning what Beefheart vocals sound like on "Willie the Pimp" gives me anticipation for his albums. With that out of the way, this is very clearly instrumental jazz-rock jams with little formal structure. They clearly show technical prowess, but I don't know how much I enjoy them. "The Gumbo Variations" is a bit of a slog to get through, but most other tracks are fun enough.

I’ve only heard of Frank Zappa from The Mothers of Invention album on here that I absolutely hated so I was dreading this going in. Fortunately this was brilliant for the most part. The only song that didn’t hit for me was The Gumbo Variations, it went on a bit too long for my liking.

Top Track - Son Of Mr Green Greens

I've been waiting for this album. I can finally give it a 5 star rating it deserves. I love Zappa, and this is one of his finest.

love him or hate him, zappa is original as fuck

Zappa sure knew how to keep things interesting, and with such high quality musicianship to boot.

Bon, on va remettre les pendules à l'heure. Il y a des disques qui sont comme ces films d'auteur chiants à mourir que tout le monde prétend adorer pour avoir l'air intelligent en société. Vous savez, le genre de film en noir et blanc, sous-titré en ouzbek, où un type regarde un pot de fleurs pendant trois heures. "Hot Rats" de Frank Zappa, c'est un peu le "pot de fleurs" du rock. Un disque totem pour intellos de la musique, un truc qu'il faut "comprendre" pour être digne. Et si tu n'aimes pas, c'est que t'es un con, un plouc qui n'a rien pigé au "Génie".

Eh bien soit, je suis un con et je vous emmerde.

Mais reprenons depuis le début, Frank Zappa, le grand manitou moustachu, venait de dissoudre son groupe, les Mothers of Invention. Il en avait marre des boulets, il voulait faire sa musique, la vraie, la pure, sans compromis. Résultat ? Un album quasiment instrumental, une démonstration de force technique qui laisse l'auditeur moyen sur le bord de la route, en train de faire de l'auto-stop en espérant qu'un camionneur fan de Motörhead le sorte de ce cauchemar.

L'album s'ouvre sur "Peaches en Regalia", et ça commence presque bien. Une petite mélodie entraînante, un truc qui pourrait presque passer pour de la pop si elle n'était pas déconstruite, triturée, et violée toutes les huit mesures par un changement de rythme improbable. C'est comme essayer de baiser un robot qui changerait de position toutes les deux secondes sans te prévenir. C'est virtuose, mais c'est épuisant et, au final, tu n'as pris aucun plaisir.

Et puis, le miracle, la lumière au bout du tunnel de la prétention : "Willie the Pimp". D'un coup, Zappa se souvient qu'il a des couilles et qu'il sait jouer du rock'n'roll. Il invite son pote Captain Beefheart à pousser une gueulante. C'est sale, c'est lourd, et surtout, Zappa nous balance un solo de guitare qui dure une éternité, mais une bonne éternité. Le genre de solo qui te fait pousser les cheveux, qui te donne envie de voler une bagnole et de rouler à fond la caisse. C'est la seule fois sur tout le disque où la musique semble venir des tripes plutôt que du cerveau. Un point pour ça, et c'est bien payé.

Après cette bouffée d'air frais, on replonge la tête la première dans la fosse septique du jazz-fusion. "Son of Mr. Green Genes", "Little Umbrellas"... Je n'ai rien à en dire, parce que mon cerveau a activé son mode veille pour se protéger. C'est une succession de notes, une architecture sonore impressionnante, mais c'est aussi vide d'émotion qu'un discours de politicien. C'est de la musique pour lire des bouquins de philo, pas pour boire des bières entre potes. C'est de la musique qui se regarde le nombril en se trouvant formidable.

Heureusement, il y a la face B et "The Gumbo Variations" et ses dix-sept minutes de jam. DIX-SEPT. Normalement, c'est le genre de truc qui me fait fuir, sauf que là, ça fonctionne. Pourquoi ? Parce que ça pue l'improvisation, la vraie. Ça sent la sueur, les musiciens qui se cherchent, qui se répondent, qui se poussent dans leurs retranchements. Le violoniste est en transe, le saxophoniste semble vouloir accoucher d'un alien par son instrument. C'est le bordel, mais c'est un bordel vivant, c'est un dialogue de sauvages, pas une récitation de poésie. Un deuxième point, va.

Et peut être un troisième point... Pour le doigt d'honneur, pour le courage d'avoir sorti un disque pareil, un album exigeant, complexe, anti-commercial au possible. Zappa n'a jamais cherché à plaire, il faisait sa musique, et si ça te plaisait tant mieux, sinon, va te faire foutre. Cette attitude, je la respecte profondément mais ça ne m'oblige pas pour autant à trouver ça génial.

En conclusion, "Hot Rats" est un album crucial pour l'histoire de la musique. Il a prouvé qu'on pouvait mélanger les genres, repousser les limites techniques et formelles. C'est une leçon, mais parfois, les leçons c'est chiant, et moi, la musique, je ne l'écoute pas pour apprendre, mais pour ressentir. Avec ce disque, j'ai surtout ressenti l'envie pressante de passer à autre chose. À un bon vieux disque de The Cure, par exemple. Un truc simple, direct, qui parle au cœur plutôt qu'au cortex cérébral. Allez, sans rancune, Frank. Mais ton disque, il va prendre la poussière sur l'étagère.

Verdict : 3 sur 5 et c'est cher payé.

43 minutes is a long time to listen to a bunch guys masturbate. I got through the whole thing, but I found no joy.

ovo je izvrsno jebote