Marco LG: Like many others, I became familiar with the music of Frank Zappa in my early twenties, only in my case this means just a couple of years after his untimely death. There is a lot of incredible music intertwined which – coupled with some of the most aggressive between song production/editing he'd done since Uncle Meat and We're Only In It For The Money – makes the album holds together very well as an end-to-end listening experience.' ( Audiophile Review) ' Sheik Yerbouti is not all comic puffery.

Even if it sometimes drifts a bit, fans of Zappa's '70s work will find Sheik Yerbouti on nearly an equal level with Apostrophe and Over-Nite Sensation, both in terms of humour and musical quality.' ( AllMusic) 'The 'dumb entertainment' (as Zappa liked to describe this style) on Sheik Yerbouti was some of his dumbest, for better or worse, and the music was undeniably good – easily some of his best since Apostrophe, and certainly the most accessible. Zappa refrains from pulling too many doo-wop gags or musique concrète tricks, instead conducting his tight, punkish ensemble through hard-rock operettas (e.g., Flakes, City of Tiny Lites) that actually score points over some of his clever concertos of yore.' ( Rolling Stone) 'Instrumentally, Sheik Yerbouti is a refreshingly straightforward record. 'To this day, Frank is still one of my biggest heroes of all-time.' I grew to appreciate that album on a musical level - as well as the rest of the Zappa catalog, which shaped who I am. And that album was the first time I heard Terry Bozzio playing drums. 'At first I was drawn to that album because of the humour, but when I became a more serious musician, I started realising what the hell was going on behind the lyrics. 'I remember being an eleven-year-old kid, and being able to listen to songs like Jewish Princess or Broken Hearts Are for Assholes, all these songs that I felt like I was listening to a 'dirty album'! I was able to learn about sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll through these satirical lyrics of Frank Zappa. 'I was drawn to Frank because of the humour,' drummer extraordinaire Mike Portnoy told us. Nowhere is the great Zappa contradiction more marked.

Most, like the Peter Frampton parody I Have Been In You, are toe-curling, but they are also brilliant songs.

If Zappa’s humour appeals to you, then this is probably going to be your favourite Zappa album, being full of (mostly dirty) jokes about Carter-era America.

List of frank zappa albums on spotify