Cut Directly from the Original 1969 1/4" Analog Stereo Edit Master by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering!

Hot Rats cemented Frank Zappa as a musical force to be reckoned with. The album, recorded on a prototype 16-track recorder, sounds as fresh and sonically superior on this 180g audiophile edition as it did when first released in 1969. 

This was the first album Zappa recorded as a solo artist since leaving behind the Mothers. Hot Rats is also Zappa's first time focusing on one genre of music - namely jazz rock.

Blending rock and jazz stylings with top call studio musicians, the album opened the door to “Fusion Music” while putting Zappa on the guitar player map. Captain Beefheart makes a special guest appearance. It truly is a “Movie For Your Ears.”

"Hot Rats' genius lies in the way it fuses the compositional sophistication of jazz with rock's down-and-dirty attitude -- there's a real looseness and grit to the three lengthy jams, and a surprising, wry elegance to the three shorter, tightly arranged numbers (particularly the sumptuous 'Peaches en Regalia'). Perhaps the biggest revelation isn't the straightforward presentation, or the intricately shifting instrumental voices in Zappa's arrangements -- it's his own virtuosity on the electric guitar, recorded during extended improvisational workouts for the first time here. His wonderfully scuzzy, distorted tone is an especially good fit on 'Willie the Pimp,' with its greasy blues riffs and guest vocalist Captain Beefheart's Howlin' Wolf theatrics