I first discovered Frank Zappa back in the 1990's when a college tutor gave me a tape of Hot Rats. Ever since then I've been ever so slightly obsessed with him.
I love the way he crosses so many musical genre, from 60's pop to art-rock, funk & classical. He recorded everything when he was alive and released around 80 records in his lifetime, with his family releasing loads more since his death.
I've probably got around 20 Zappa albums, but this one remains a favourite (with Freak Out coming a close second). There's a few versions of this album available, some of them sounding quite digital, but this one remains true to the original sound, you can hear the room it was recorded in, it makes you feel like your in the space. Here's the opening track, Peaches En Regalia...
Captain Beefheart, an old friend of Zappa features on this two, providing his gruff vocals to Willie The Pimp...
Here's some photos of my version of the album...
If you want to know more, there was recently a great documentary film of Zappa released, check out the trailer here...
