Album of the Day

Läther, by Frank Zappa (1996): If someone were to say to me, "JDB, I always wrote off Zappa as a potty-mouthed provocateur, but you've convinced me that he was an amazing composer, arranger, and performer - what would be a good place to start to get a feel for his work?", I'd probably point them towards Läther. Originally conceived as an 8-sided album, it didn't see the light of day as planned until after Zappa's death, after having its constituent parts spread out across several other albums. Collected onto three discs, there's a sampling of just about everything Zappa did - comic rockers, long jazz-influenced workouts, modern orchestral pieces, and fiendishly difficult instrumentals. And all that's before the 23-minute "cartoon for the ears" that is "The Adventures of Greggery Peccery." If you don't find something in there that appeals to you, Zappa appreciation just isn't in the cards.

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, the 2008 edition of the A-to-Z review of my CD collection is complete. This year it covered 741 albums spread over 830 CDs. It took a total of 31 days, 11 hours, 34 minutes, and 16 seconds, or an average of 54 minutes, 57 seconds per disc. I hope you enjoyed it - it shall return in 2009!