SHEIK YERBOUTI

It's astonishing to see this album didn't get a 5-star rating yet. I think that, along with several other titles, this is a Zappa disc that showcases all of his tricks in one vigorating brew. It's recorded live with a LOT of overdubbing afterwards, which gives it the intended live-and-studio-feel and I think that's what always works best on Zappa albums. In fact, his next several albums would follow this pattern. It has some of his very best playing along with some of his funniest songs and is highly recommendable for novices.

On a side-note: To get this album on CD you should get hold of the EMI version, which has the complete version of I'm So Cute and sounds waaaaay better than the Rykodisc or Zappa Records versions, which subsequently replaced the EMI discs in Europe. Those were remixed by Zappa and have major audio issues, with a bad-sounding treble, weird edits and volume-swells in the mix etc. The EMI cd has none of these mistakes and is easily obtainable on Ebay if you're paying attention.