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HOT RATS was digitally remixed in 1987. "The Gumbo Variations" has been extended an extra 4 minutes from the original LP version. All of the tracks have been remixed, and in some cases sound quite different.
Having temporarily disbanded the Mothers Of Invention, Frank Zappa recorded this exceptional solo album. His group was renowned for musical satire, but here the artist opted to showcase his prowess on guitar. Aside from "Willie The Pimp," which features a cameo vocal by Zapppa's old friend Captain Beefheart, the set is comprised of instrumentals. The players, including Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Ian Underwood, are uniformly excellent, combining to provide a solid jazz-rock platform for Zappa's compulsive soloing. Here the guitarist relishes a freedom which, while acknowledging past achievements, prepares new territories for exploration. As such, HOT RATS was a pivotal release in Zappa's oft-misunderstood career.
Recorded from August to September 1969.
Composer: Frank Zappa.
Personnel: Frank Zappa (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion); Don "Sugarcane" Harris (vocals, violin); Captain Beefheart (vocals, harmonica, keyboards); Ian Underwood (guitar, flute, clarinet, saxophone, piano, organ); Lowell George, Shuggie Otis (guitar); Jean-Luc Ponty (violin, keyboards); Paul Humphrey (violin, drums); John Guerin, Paul Humphrey & the Cool Aid Chemists , Ron Selico (drums).
Recording information: Sunset sound (08/1969-09/1969); T.T.G (08/1969-09/1969); TTG Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, CA (08/1969-09/1969); Whitney Studios, Los Angeles, CA (08/1969-09/1969).
Arranger: Frank Zappa.
Personnel: Frank Zappa (guitar, bass, percussion); Captain Beefheart (vocals); Jean-Luc Ponty, Sugar Cane Harris (violin); Ian Underwood (clarinet, saxophone, piano, organ); Max Bennett, Shuggie Otis (bass); John Guerin, Paul Humphrey, Ron Selico (drums).
Engineers include: Dick Kunc, Jack Hunt, Cilff Goldstein.
Rolling Stone (3/7/70, p.48) - "...If you're eager for a first taste of Beefheart or interested in the new approaches to instrumental style and improvisational technique being developed these days, this is as good a place to start as any..."
Entertainment Weekly (12/17/93, p.36) - "...This album, Zappa's first without the Mothers, is his attempt to make jazz appealing to non-fans....lush instrumentals still sound up-to-the-minute. RATS also includes Captain Beefheart singing the epic 'Willie The Pimp.'..."
Q (8/95, pp.150-151) - 3 Stars - Good - "Secure and melodious, this captures Zappa's art as it lost the febrile nature of the early Mothers and ossified....into easy-listening jazz-rock. Nice tunes, though."
Option - Highly Recommended
Mojo (Publisher) (p.139) - "[A] cogent exercise in jazz-rock fusion with the added attraction of FZ's serrated edge."
Record Collector (magazine) (p.105) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "HOT RATS saw Zappa, in his first proper album without the Mothers, perfectly melding jazz and rock....Full of power, this down-and-dirty album delicately fuses both genres successfully."
Uncut (magazine) (p.68) - "[T]his rocking, brilliantly ambitious follow-up to an album of 1950s doo-wop pastiches was Zappa's biggest UK hit..."
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats Songs
Hot Rats Music Review
Average Rating: (3.3 out of 5 stars)    List All 7 Reviews Not Rats!
This album was not merely remastered, it was remixed and badly.
Imagine hearing your favorite song with the melody removed!
The original Hot Rats was a masterpiece.
I wish some record company would released it on CD, like they did with the original version of We're Only In It For The Money.
I don't care if Zappa himself preferred the remix of Hot Rats.
In my opinion, this current Hot Rats CD is an abomination.
Submitted by a reviewer (Boynton Beach, Florida)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 2 of 2 found this helpful.
 Not as good as the original vinyl
I agree with another reviewer. This has been remixed and is not so good. Indeed, in The Gumbo Variations, there is extra stuff in the opening and sax solo which in my opinion add absolutely nothing to the original. Do what I've done, digitise the original album and get the CD purely to complete your FZ collection. I know which one I'll be listening to!
Submitted by KevinB (Wimborne, UK)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful.
 A Movie For Your Ears
I've been a fan of Franks's music since about 1987. Hot Rats "jams", it will blow you away with diversity and Frank's guitar solos. Every instrument on this album "speaks" for itself in that all muscians are involved in this "movie for your ears"-see liner notes. If I we're on a desert island I would highly recommend it to my man friday. Give it a try. Register to vote- as Frank would say.
Submitted by a reviewer (Lewisville, Tx,USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful.
PEACHES IN REGALIA
THIS SONG IS PLAYED BY THE BOSTON PHILHARMONIC....THEY ONLY PLAY CLASSICS
IF YOU ONLY BUY THIS ALBUM FOR THIS SONG ALONE...THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST SONGS EVER COMPOSED
Submitted by FOURITISWRITTEN (KANSAS ,CITY ,KS) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Taking it seriously
Frank Zappa had a serious musical side, as 'Weasels ripped my flesh' demonstrated. Before he descended into increasingly self-parodic material in the seventies, Frank's 'Hot Rats' was a serious attempt to take rock into the sphere of serious progressive music and it pretty much succeeds beautifully. Backed as usual by the wonderful Ian Underwood and with a hot rhythm section including John Guerin on drums, Frank rocks out while also making some grand statements. 'Peaches en Regalia', the opening track, reminded this listener of Prokofiev's March of the Three Oranges, for instance. Frank liked his violins and Sugercane Harris and Jean-Luc Ponty feature on a few songs, while his old mate Captain Beefheart does the vocal honours on the down and dirty 'Willie the Pimp'. A treat from start to finish.
Submitted by a reviewer (Sydney, Australia)
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