Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa – The Crux Of The Biscuit (2016/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:09:05 minutes | 1,47 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Frank Zappa Catalog

The Crux of the Biscuit is a compilation album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in July 2016, originally intended to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his album Apostrophe (‘). It is the fourth project in a series of 40th Anniversary FZ Audio Documentaries, following MOFO (2006), Lumpy Money (2009) and Greasy Love Songs (2010). The name is based on the same lyric from “Stink-Foot” that Apostrophe (‘) is based on—”the crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe.”

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Frank Zappa – Zappa / Erie (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 06:57:17 minutes | 9,17 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Frank Zappa Catalog

Three complete shows from the Vault based on appearances made in and around the Vaultmeister’s home town of Erie, PA: Edinboro College and Gannon University ’74 and Erie County Fieldhouse ’76. Also includes bonus tracks from the same tours. Three separate band line-ups, newly mixed from the original 4-Track tapes by Craig Parker Adams and mastered by John Polito at Audio Mechanics. Historical essays by Dan Schell & Joe Travers.

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Frank Zappa – Zoot Allures (1967/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 42:29 minutes | 2,1 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Zappa Records

Zoot Allures is the 22nd album by the American rock musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1976 and his only release on the Warner Bros. Records label. Due to a lawsuit with his former manager, Herb Cohen, Zappa’s recording contract was temporarily reassigned from DiscReet Records to Warner Bros.

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Frank Zappa – Zappa In New York (40th Anniversary/Deluxe Edition) (1977/2019/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 05:02:01 minutes | 6,09 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Frank Zappa Catalog

Five CD set. 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 cover and includes a replica ticket from one of the shows, consists of the main album in it’s original mix, newly remastered by Bob Ludwig in 2018 and available for the first time since it’s debut. The four additional discs are loaded with relevant Vault nuggets and more than three hours of unreleased live performances from the NYC Palladium concerts, representing every composition played during the concerts and the best alternate performances of every tune Zappa picked for the original album, all newly mixed in 2018. To achieve the highest-level sound quality, the audio team went back to the original two-inch 24-track multi-track master tapes and transferred every reel at 96kHz 24-bit wavs. The set also comes with a 60-page book featuring previously unseen live photos by Gail Zappa alongside extensive liner notes by band members Ruth Underwood and Ray White (who were part of Zappa’s band for these shows) as well as an insightful essay by Joe Travers with Australian writer Jen Jewel Brown. Underwood also contributes a solo piano version of “The Black Page” that has been newly recorded for this special edition.

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Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention – Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 39:49 minutes | 1,67 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Zappa Records

Weasels Ripped My Flesh is the seventh studio album by the American rock group the Mothers of Invention, and the tenth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. It is the second album released after the Mothers disbanded in 1969, preceded by Burnt Weeny Sandwich. In contrast to its predecessor, which almost entirely focused on studio recordings of arranged compositions, Weasels Ripped My Flesh consists of a combination of live and studio recordings and features more improvisation.

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Frank Zappa – The Mothers 1970 (2020/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 04:28:40 minutes | 5,56 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Frank Zappa Catalog

Los Angeles – May 8, 2020 – To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s celebrated but short-lived 1970 Mothers Of Invention lineup, “Portuguese Fenders,” the first track to be released from the new collection, The Mothers 1970 is available to stream today. The newly-discovered gem is one of 70 unreleased live and studio recordings featured on The Mothers 1970, available digitally and as a 4CD box set June 26 via Zappa Records/UMe. Recorded live by Zappa on his own tape recorder on tour in 1970, “Portuguese Fenders” is a rollicking live recording featuring an exhilarating guitar solo by the iconoclastic composer and virtuosic guitarist backed by the revered ensemble. 

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Frank Zappa – Studio Tan (1978/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 39:26 minutes | 1,58 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Zappa Records

Studio Tan is the 24th album by American musician Frank Zappa, first released in September 1978 on his own DiscReet Records label. It reached #147 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States.

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Frank Zappa – Over-Nite Sensation (1973/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:31 minutes | 1,77 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Frank Zappa Catalog

Over-Nite Sensation is a studio album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, released in September 1973. It was followed by Zappa’s solo album Apostrophe (‘) (1974), which was recorded during the same sessions.

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Frank Zappa – Orchestral Favorites (40th Anniversary) (1979/2019/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:30131 minutes | 3,06 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Zappa Records

Orchestral Favorites is an album by Frank Zappa first released in May 1979 on his own DiscReet Records label. The album is entirely instrumental and features music performed by the 37-piece Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra. It reached #168 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States.

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Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention – One Size Fits All (1975/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 42:55 minutes | 2,13 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Zappa Records

Frank Zappa had a long career and while the early records were singled out early for their innovative mastery, many of his mid-70s works get lost in the shuffle. One Size Fits All, however, should be in every Zappa collector’s possession. Much is often made of Zappa’s social/ sexual commentary, but it is his instrumental prowess that deserves to be treasured above all. The charging hard rock of “San Ber’dino” sounds like the “Life In the Fast Lane” Eagles with stronger, blazing chops. “Inca Roads” takes a frantic bass line from James “Bird Legs” Youman and brings Zappa’s guitar chops into focus with one of his most sublime solos. “Can’t Afford No Shoes” plays like demented pop-rock with a cruising ’70s-styled flair. Johnny “Guitar” Watson overdubbed some vocal tracks. Captain Beefheart, credited as ‘Bloodshot Rollin’ Red,’ adds harmonica, with Chester Thompson, George Duke and Ruth Underwood filling out the super-tight backing ensemble.

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Frank Zappa – Chunga’s Revenge (1970/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 40:27 minutes | 2 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Zappa Records

Chunga’s Revenge is the third solo album by Frank Zappa, released on October 23, 1970. Zappa’s first effort of the 1970s marks the first appearance of former Turtles members Flo & Eddie on a Zappa record, and signals the dawn of a controversial epoch in Zappa’s history. Chunga’s Revenge represents a shift from both the satirical political commentary of his 1960s work with The Mothers of Invention, and the jazz fusion of Hot Rats.

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Frank Zappa – Chicago ’78 (2016/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:59:36 minutes | 2,51 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Frank Zappa Catalog

Chicago ’78 is a two-disc live album by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Frank Zappa, released in November 2016, consisting of the recording of the entire second concert held on September 29, 1978 at the Uptown Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

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Frank Zappa – Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1970/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:18 minutes | 1,78 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Frank Zappa Catalog

Burnt Weeny Sandwich is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, and the ninth overall by Frank Zappa, released in 1970. It consists of both studio recordings and live elements. In contrast to the next album Weasels Ripped My Flesh, which is predominantly live and song-oriented, most of Burnt Weeny Sandwich focuses on studio recordings and tightly arranged compositions.

The LP included a large triple-folded black and white poster (“The Mothers of Invention Sincerely Regret to Inform You”) which has never been reproduced in any of the CD reissues.

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Frank Zappa – Bongo Fury (1975/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:06 minutes | 1,99 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Frank Zappa Catalog

Bongo Fury is a collaborative album by American artists Frank Zappa and the Mothers, with Captain Beefheart, released in October 1975. The live portions were recorded on May 20 and 21, 1975, at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. Tracks 5, 6 and 9 (intro only) are studio tracks recorded in January 1975 during the sessions which produced One Size Fits All (1975) and much of Studio Tan (1978).

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Frank Zappa – Apostrophe(‘) (1974/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/192 kHz | Time – 31:55 minutes | 1,28 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Universal Music Enterprises

Apostrophe (‘) is the eighteenth album by Frank Zappa, released in March 1974 in both stereo and quadraphonic formats. An edited version of its lead-off track, “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow”, was the first of Zappa’s three Billboard Top 100 hits, ultimately peaking at number 86.

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