Frank Zappa - Lather (1996) (3CD Box Set)
Label: Rykodisc / The Zappa Family Trust | 3CD | MP3 320 kbps | 391 MB
Genre: Rock / Experimental Rock

The full saga of Lather (pronounced leather) is tangled enough to give a migraine to all but committed Zappaphiles. Basically, what you need to know is that this project was originally conceived of as a four-record box set. When record company politics prevented its release in that format, much of the material was spread over the albums Live in New York, Sleep Dirt, Studio Tan, and Orchestral Favorites. This three-CD set presents the album as it was originally conceived, with the addition of four bonus tracks at the end. It mixes previously available material, alternate mixes, and edits, and previously unissued stuff, though only the most serious Zappa fans will have a good grip on exactly what has appeared where (the liner notes are surprisingly unexact in this regard). And the music? It's almost like a resume of Zappa's bag of tricks: Uncle Meat-like experimentation, intricate jazz-rock, straight hard rock, orchestral composition, and comedy. Some of those comedy tracks became some of his most notorious routines, like "Punky's Whips" and "Titties 'n Beer," which amounted to avant- rock for drunk frat boys and pot smoking, underachieving junior high school students. The juvenile humor, hamfisted parody of hard rock cliches, and the shaggy-dog opera of the 20-minute "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary" are outshone by the lengthy, more experimental instrumental passages. It's interesting, but exhausting to wade through all at once, and the avant-garde/composerly cuts are not as exceptional as his earlier work in this vein in the late '60s and early '70s. That means that this will appeal far more to the Zappa cultist than the general listener, though the Zappa cult -- which has been craving Lather in its original format for years -- is a pretty wide fan base in and of itself.

Tracklist:
CD1
01. Re-gyptian Strut 4:36
02. Naval Aviation In Art? 1:32
03. A Little Green Rosetta 2:48
04. Duck Duck Goose 3:01
05. Down In De Dew 2:57
06. For The Young Sophisticate 3:14
07. Tryin' To Grow A Chin 3:26
08. Broken Hearts Are For Assholes 4:40
09. The Legend Of The Illinois Enema Bandit 12:43
10. Lemme Take You To The Beach 2:46
11. Revised Music For Guitar & Low Budget Orchestra 7:36
12. RDNZL 8:14

CD2
01. Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me? 4:56
02. The Black Page #1 1:57
03. Big Leg Emma 2:11
04. Punky's Whips 11:06
05. Flambe 2:05
06. The Purple Lagoon 16:22
07. Pedro's Dowry 7:45
08. Lather 3:50
09. Spider Of Destiny 2:40
10. Duke Of Orchestral Prunes 4:21

CD3
01. Filthy Habits 7:12
02. Titties 'n Beer 5:23
03. The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution 8:32
04. The Adventures of Greggery Peccary 21:00
05. Regyptian Strut (1993) 4:42
06. Leather Goods 6:01
07. Revenge Of The Knick Knack People 2:25
08. Time Is Money 3:04