After Frank was thrown from the stage in London and broke his leg very badly, he was stuck in a wheelchair and couldn't tour for about 9 months. As Frank was always working, he decided to indulge himself in two larger-scale projects that wouldn't be practical to tour with, but were personally interesting to him.
Waka/Jawaka was the first of the two, and for it he assembled a 'small big-band' and did something along the lines of 'big band Mothers'. It's a pretty great album overall, and it's fun to...

On December 10, 1971, Frank was attacked while performing and pushed off the stage and fell all the way into the concrete orchestra pit of the theatre. He was very badly injured and was confined to a wheelchair for much of 1972 while he recuperated. But although he was immobilized, he did what he always did; he wrote copiously!

“During this time, he managed, among other things, to assemble an ensemble that quenched his thirst and desire to work with a large “Electric Orchestra.” Ultimately, a 20...

Originally a double lp, here it all is complete on 1 CD.

"Actually, I don't like You Are What You Is in its entirety, but the parts of it that I like are so good that I thought I couldn't give the album less than full five stars. To me, You Are What You Is is a strange album. To me, it would have been a LOT better if it contained just two sides - second and fourth. Two suites ("Society Pages" to "Conehead" and "Heavenly Bank Account" to the end) are THE BEST the mighty Frank have done in the...

Frank on tour and hot and sweaty with a relatively small band – and in the case of him at the Mudd – in a very small club.
LOTS of ripping solos by FZ.

Zappa '80: Mudd Club/Munich combines 2 historical performances from the 1980 spring/summer tour. The first is a set at FZ's favorite NYC nightclub, the famous Mudd Club, presented from a hi-res transfer of the original master tape.
The second, from Olympiahalle in Munich, is the first-ever direct-to-digital live stereo recording of Zappa

“In 1976, Frank Zappa played four historic sold-out concerts at The Palladium in New York City the week between Christmas and New Year's.
In celebration of it's eventual release in 1978, Zappa In New York is being released as expanded anniversary editions to commemorate the album's recent 40th anniversary. Overseen by the Zappa Family Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Vaultmeister Joe Travers. The collection, which will be housed in a limited-edition metal tin shaped like a NYC street manhole...

This has one disc of the 1981/82 band:
Ray White – guitar, vocals
Steve Vai – guitar
Tommy Mars – keyboards, vocals
Scott Thunes – bass guitar
Chad Wackerman – drums
Ed Mann – percussion
Bobby Martin – saxophone, vocals, keyboards
the last track on this CD ends with Zappa's anger at some audience members tossing cigarettes on stage; after a warning to stop was not obeyed, the disc ends with Zappa stating, "Houselights! Concert's over!"
and one disc of the origin

The very last of the old Mothers' albums to be reissued on CD, I waited and waited, and finally! This is a really good one, and was the next to last by the Mothers Of Invention.
This includes some of his finest compositions (Holiday In Berlin, Aybe Sea) some fun goofing around (WPLF, Valarie) and the lengthy and impressive The Little House I Used To Live In, which combines some impressive and *hard* written sections with large 'blowing' sections, featuring some especially good work from Sugarcane...

Frank Zappa / Ray Collins / Roy Estrada / Don Preston / Ian Underwood / Bunk Gardner / Motorhead Sherwood / Jimmy Carl Black / Billy Mundi
Recorded live at Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden on 9/30/67, this excellent radio recording from the Mothers' first European tour, first surfaced on a bootleg entitled 'Tis The Season To Be Jelly. This bootleg was later made part of the official 'Beat The Boots" series.
Out of print in any form for over a decade, it comes back now just as nice as it ever was...

Why was I not surprised to see this placed prominently on the box: "This film is not authorized by the estate or family of Frank Zappa"? Anyway, as a huge fan of the Mothers of Invention this was interesting for me to see and you get lots of...

"2011 transfer of a digital master. Track times identical to the Ryko edition. The booklet has been folded differently to restore the Sgt Pepper parody as the front cover."

The Mothers' 3rd album, recorded in 1967, and unbelievably assured and...

“Geographies was one of Hector Zazou's first ventures into an odd genre he would linger in for much of the next two decades: the soundtrack for an imaginary film. Mixing in influences from all across the stylistic spectrum, Zazou leavens the ingredients with an overriding sense of calm and even languor, his moody scores possessing a warm, humid quality. The pieces here are performed by what is essentially a chamber orchestra augmented by singers.
Listeners familiar with his forays into Afro-funk...

The 1st by the duo of Hector Zazou & Joseph Racaille plus guests. Primitive electronics, reeds, electric & acoustic pianos, noise, songs, & the hovering spirit of Satie. Not as divine as Traite De Mechanique, but still an excellent and essential releas...

“This legendary band, whose reputation continues to grow as time passes, were gone before anyone knew they were there. They played a handful of concerts, reformed very briefly to make a second LP, then immediately disbanded again. But the records attracted a cult following, especially in Japan.
Their existence became tenuous, flickering, mythological. How come there's an original Beefheart drawing on the inside cover of their first LP? Why were they invited onto France Culture to debate...

"First ever CD reissue of one of the most extreme Krautrock-era albums ever made. Originally released by Philips Germany in 1970, the triple LP edition came in an elaborate 'mirror' sleeve and has been near-impossible to find for 35+ years; there have...