History Music / Lather

* RepurposedPopSong: Many tracks are from previous Zappa albums, some under a different title. "Revenge of the Knick Knack People" appeared as background music in ''Film/BabySnakes'' (1979).

* LongTitle: "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary", "Revised Music for Guitar & Low-Budget Orchestra", "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution", "The Revenge of the Knick Knack People", "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?", "The Legend of the Illinois Enema Bandit".

* {{Corpsing}}:
** After "For the Young Sophisticate" ends Zappa is heard chuckling: "Sick..."
** When Zappa asks Bozzio about his pickle in "Titties 'n Beer" Bozzio cracks up.
** Ray White stumbles over his words near the end of "The Legend of the Illinois Enema Bandit"
--> ''Ain't talking about beheaded-tated Bobby... haha... try again... Potato Headed Bobby''.

* EverythingsBetterWithCows: The cow on the cover.

''Läther'' (pronounced "leather") is a 1996 posthumous triple album by Music/FrankZappa. It was a project he wanted to make for nearly 20 years, but his idea was halted in 1977 due to legal troubles with his record label Warner Brothers and his former manager Herb Cohen. At the time, Zappa was contractually obligated to make four albums for them; Zappa, having quickly grown to detest his contract with Warner and hoping to get out of it as quickly as possible, came to the big suits with the idea of a quadruple-album. The folks at Warner, however, weren't keen on selling something that ludicrously long, and instead released the material as four separate albums: ''Music/ZappaInNewYork'' (1977), ''Music/StudioTan'' (1978), ''Music/SleepDirt'' (1979) and ''Music/OrchestralFavorites'' (1979). Only the first one was produced according to his vision, but still ExecutiveMeddling caused Warners to censor much of the material and change the tracklist as a result. Zappa sued, and the three other albums were released without his permission during the ensuing legal battle.

In 1993, Zappa died of pancreatic cancer, but three years later ''Läther'' was finally released by Creator/{{Rykodisc}} according to his original vision, the Zappa estate having finally gotten the rights to the album and recovered the original master tapes by that point. Released across 3 [=CDs=], the album may come off as fairly redundant for longtime fans, given that most of the tracks also appear on ''Music/ZappaInNewYork'', ''Music/StudioTan'', ''Music/SleepDirt'', ''Music/OrchestralFavorites'', ''Music/SheikYerbouti'', ''Music/JoesGarage'', and ''Music/TinseltownRebellion'', though some appear there in different arrangements, longer, edited, or with lyrics. For those people already owning the bootleg LP and/or any of the four albums Warner Bros. cobbled it into, bonus tracks were added: "Duck Duck Goose", "Down in de Dew", a remix of "Regyptian Strut", "Leather Goods", "Revenge of the Knick Knack People" and "Time Is Money".

Most of these tracks were previously unreleased, save for "Time is Money" (first included on ''Sleep Dirt''); "Regyptian Strut (1993)" is ''technically'' a previously unreleased track in the sense that the remix was created specifically for the 1996 release of ''Läther'', but the original track (which opens ''Läther'') was, like "Time is Money", first released on ''Sleep Dirt''. In 2012, the album was reissued as part of the Zappa Family Trust's massive remastering campaign, this time without the last four bonus tracks and with a new set of artwork based more closely on Zappa's intended cover art (the artwork Zappa planned did get completed, but was ultimately used for ''Music/JoesGarage'' in 1979). Like the 1996 release, the 2012 reissue is spread across 3 discs, though some have suggested that it would fit on two [=CDs=] just fine.

''Läther'' still remains an SugarWiki/{{awesome|Music}} album for Zappa fans, and arguably sums up his many musical strengths better than any other release in his catalogue. As such, despite its length, it may be a good point of introduction for neophytes.

** The 1996 album cover is a noticeable riff on that for Music/PinkFloyd's 1970 album ''Music/AtomHeartMother''.

* StudioChatter[=/=]ThrowItIn: In almost every song.

--> ''Eat a candy!''
--> ''You are dandy!''
--> '''Can I kiss you?''
--> ''Maybe I'll just hold your hand-eeee!''

* {{Werewolf}}: One gets mentioned in "Titties 'n Beer".
--> ''There was a werewolf honkin' 'long the side of me''.

* SpeechBubbles: The cow on the album cover speaks in speech balloon.
* StepUpToTheMicrophone: The part of the Devil in "Titties 'n Beer" is played by drummer - and future Missing Persons founder - Terry Bozzio, who speaks his lines in a kind of whacked out Creator/PeterLorre accent. Bozzio also delivers most of the vocals on "Punky's Whips".

* AndThatMakesMeFeelAngry: Done in "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?"
-->''"This is a petulant! Frenzy! I'm petulant! And I'm having a frenzy!"''

* AndThatMakesMeAngry: Done by the protagonist of "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?"

''Läther'' (pronounced "leather") is a 1996 posthumous triple album by Music/FrankZappa. It was a project he wanted to make for 18 years, but his idea was halted in 1978 due to legal troubles with his record label Warner Brothers and his former manager Herb Cohen. At the time Zappa was contractually obligated to make four albums for them, but he envisioned it as an eight-sided album. Warners weren't keen to sell a quadruple album and released the material as four separate albums, ''Music/ZappaInNewYork'' (1977), ''Music/StudioTan'' (1978), ''Music/SleepDirt'' (1979) and ''Music/OrchestralFavorites'' (1979). Only the first one was produced according to his vision, but still ExecutiveMeddling caused Warners to censor much of the material and change the tracklist as a result. Zappa sued, and the three other albums were released without his permission during the ensuing legal battle.

Zappa tried to find another label willing to release his full four LP album, but Warners prevented this, claiming to own the rights. Legally unable to release new albums and forced to make a living by touring Zappa did something audacious. He went to a radio station in Pasadena, California and allowed them to broadcast "Läther" and listeners to tape it from the radio, well aware that he did bootleggers a favor.

In 1993 Zappa died of pancreatic cancer, but three years later ''Läther'' was finally released by Creator/{{Rykodisc}} according to his original vision, the Zappa estate having finally gotten the rights to the album by that point. Released across 3 [=CDs=], most of the tracks also appear on ''Music/ZappaInNewYork'', ''Music/StudioTan'', ''Music/SleepDirt'', ''Music/OrchestralFavorites'', ''Music/SheikYerbouti'', ''Music/JoesGarage'', ''Music/TinseltownRebellion'', but some in different arrangements, longer, edited or with lyrics. For those people already owning the bootleg LP and the four albums Warner Bros. cobbled it into, bonus tracks were added: "Duck Duck Goose", "Down in de Dew", a remix of "Regyptian Strut", "Leather Goods", "Revenge of the Knick Knack People" and "Time Is Money".

# "Regyptian Strut" (1993 version) (4:42)*
# "Leather Goods" (6:01)*
# "Revenge of the Knick Knack People" (2:25)*
# "Time Is Money" (3:05)*

[-*Omitted from the 2012 relesase-]

[-The planned 4 LP edition would have had disc 1, tracks 1-6 on side A; disc 1, tracks 7-9 on side B; disc 1, tracks 10-12 on side C; disc 2, tracks 1-4 on side D; disc 2, tracks 5-6 on side E; disc 2, tracks 7-10 on side F; disc 3, tracks 1-3 on side G; and disc 3, track 4 on side H. The 2012 reissue is still on three [=CDs=] despite the fact that, without the bonus tracks, the album would have been possible to release on two [=CDs=], with sides A-D on the first CD and sides E-H on the second. However, despite the CDDA standard allowing for nearly 80 minutes worth of audio on a disc, many manufacturers will only guarantee up to 79, so this may be the reason the album was still pressed on three discs; disc two in a hypothetical 2-CD edition would run to 79:13.-]

[[caption-width-right:350: ''"Father, I'm so glad you're hear, I want you to hear this; I have a confession to make." "Well, spit it out, son!"'' ]]

In 1993 Zappa died of pancreatic cancer, but three years later ''Läther'' was finally released by Creator/{{Rykodisc}} according to his original vision, the Zappa estate having finally gotten the rights to the album by that point. Released across 3 [=CDs=], most of the tracks also appear on ''Music/ZappaInNewYork'', ''Music/StudioTan'', ''Music/SleepDirt'', ''Music/OrchestralFavorites'', ''Music/SheikYerbouti'', ''Music/JoesGarage'', ''Music/TinseltownRebellion'', but some in different arrangements, longer, edited or with lyrics. For those people already owning the bootleg LP and the four albums Warner Bros. cobbled it into, bonus tracks were added: "Duck Duck Goose", "Down in de Dew", a remix of "Regyptian Strut", "Leather Goods", "Revenge of the Knick Knack People" and "Time Is Money". Most of these tracks were previously unreleased, save for "Time is Money" (first included on ''Sleep Dirt''); "Regyptian Strut (1993)" is ''technically'' a previously unreleased track in the sense that the remix was created specifically for the 1996 release of ''Läther'', but the original track (which opens ''Läther'') was, like "Time is Money", first released on ''Sleep Dirt''. In 2012, the album was reissued as part of the Zappa Family Trust's massive remastering campaign, this time without the last four bonus tracks and with a new set of artwork based more closely on Zappa's intended cover art (the artwork Zappa planned did get completed, but was ultimately used for ''Music/JoesGarage'' in 1979). Like the 1996 release, the 2012 reissue is spread across 3 discs, though some have suggested that it would fit on two [=CDs=] just fine.

[-The planned 4 LP edition would have had disc 1, tracks 1-6 on side A; disc 1, tracks 7-9 on side B; disc 1, tracks 10-12 on side C; disc 2, tracks 1-4 on side D; disc 2, tracks 5-6 on side E; disc 2, tracks 7-10 on side F; disc 3, tracks 1-3 on side G; and disc 3, track 4 on side H. The 2012 reissue is still on three [=CDs=] despite the fact that, without the bonus tracks, the album would have been possible to release on two [=CDs=], with sides A-D on the first CD and sides E-H on the second. (However, despite the CDDA standard allowing for nearly seventy-nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds' worth of audio on a disc, many manufacturers will only guarantee seventy-nine minutes of audio, so this may be the reason the album was still pressed on three discs; disc two in a 2-CD edition would have run to 79:13).-]

* AlbumFiller: As magnificent the album is in its scope a lot of tracks already appeared mostly unchanged on earlier Zappa albums, the most notable being ''Music/StudioTan'' that one can almost completely skip to buy as all four tracks appear here in full. The only difference is that "Greggery Peccary" was 20:40 on "Studio Tan", while on "Läther" it's 21 minutes long.

* GreatestHitsAlbum: A lot of material is from ''Music/ZappaInNewYork'' ("Punky's Whips", "Titties 'n Beer", "The Legend of the Illinois Enema Bandit", "Big Leg Emma", "I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth" (named "Läther" here), "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?", "The Black Page" and "The Purple Lagoon"), ''Music/SleepDirt'' ("Flambé", "Filthy Habits", "Re-gyptian Strut", "The Ocean Is the Ultimate Solution", and instrumental versions of "Time Is Money" and "Spider of Destiny", which appeared in longer versions on that album), ''Music/OrchestralFavorites'' ("Pedro's Dowry", "Naval Aviation in Art?", "Duke of Orchestral Prunes"), ''Music/StudioTan'' (All four tracks), ''Music/ShutUpNPlayYerGuitar'' (mostly the spoken interludes in between), but sometimes a bit longer or unedited. There are also early and differently arranged versions of "Tryin' to Grow Me a Chin", "Broken Hearts Are for Assholes" (which appeared on ''Music/SheikYerbouti''), "A Little Green Rosetta" (''Music/JoesGarage'') and "For the Young Sophisticate" (''Music/TinseltownRebellion''). This is a strange example of this trope because Zappa initially intended to release the songs in this form, but they were only released this way nineteen years later and three years after his death.

* WalkLikeAnEgyptian: "Regyptian Strut". Zappa explained it re-imagined the typical Egyptian strut.
* {{Werewolf}}: "Titties 'n Beer"