LÄTHER

Whether Zappa actually intended this originally as a four-LP set or it was merely a gambit in his late-1970s legal wranglings with Warner Brothers is something fans have debated for years, but for my money I actually think in its compiled form Lather is better than most of its constituent albums. Admittedly, the idea that you can just split this into four and get Zappa In New York, Orchestral Favorites, Sleep Dirt, and Studio Tan was always a bit simplistic; of those four albums only Studio Tan is really rendered redundant by Lather, especially if you consider the expanded later editions of Zappa In New York or Orchestral Favorites, since the material here is often in different edits or mixes, and there's songs on here which didn't make it onto any of those four albums to boot.

Either way, bringing it all together turns into an epic journey through all the dimensions of Zappa's works, encompassing a broader sonic universe than any of the shorter releases can offer, making this truly greater than the sum of its parts.