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Review: It's not easy to pick out obvious hits from Frank Zappa's frankly intimidating musical legacy, but 1969's Hot Rats must surely be one of his most widely adored albums. As such, this special archival project is the stuff of dreams for his devotees, of which there are more than a few. Much has been said about the reams of unreleased material hidden away in his vaults, but now an attentive team have pored over sessions recorded in 1970, not long after Hot Rats was released, and they've pieced together a whole new album of songs never previously heard by anyone bar those who were in the studio at the time.

Review: Weirdo guitar visionary Frank Zappa released his acclaimed fourth LP 'Waka/Jawaka' in 1972, after the phrase appeared to him miraculously on an ouija board. A pinnacle of jazz fusion, near-classical orchestral influences and prog rock, it serves as a lesser-known sequel-ish to the generally agreed classic Hot Rats. It's also a shining example of time signature-core, with the moustached axe mage modulating all manner of tempos like it's nobody's business, also setting a high bar for what would eventually become post-rock in the process.

Review: Originally released in 1972, The Grand Wazoo is the eighth album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers. It was the second album Zappa had to record in a wheelchair following an on-stage assault in 1971, and it found the psychedelic jazz rock fusionist expanding his musical stamp with a bigger band dynamic. The music on the album is largely instrumental, following on from Hot Rats, Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Waka/Jawaka as another bold, bonkers excursion into the furrows of Zappa's highly creative mind. It's been some time since this gem was in print, and it's now comfortably resting into the chunky grooves of an 180 gm pressing, no less.

Review: Frank Zappa left a lot of complex musical mysteries for the intrepid explorer to discover, but there's unanimous appreciation for Hot Rats which makes it a great entry point into the maverick's career after his initial rock outfit The Mothers Of Invention disbanded. Released in 1969, it was a more jazz-oriented affair with mostly instrumental pieces that sometimes rocked, sometimes wigged out and sometimes did both in a manner akin to the free jazz pioneers of the era. Sonically, it's out of this world too and now it's repressed on heavyweight wax with a bonus insert to take you into the story behind one of the finest albums in the Zappa canon.