Originally available in early 2009 as a special limited edition only from the Zappa website, this 3CD box set Lumpy Money Project/Object finally gets a widespread release through Universal, shining a vast arc light into the dark recesses of the gargantuan Zappa tape vault which contains all the sessions for this remarkable pair of albums, We're Only In It For The Money and Lumpy Gravy, originally released by Verve in March and May 1968. By any stretch of the imagination Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were way ahead of the curve in the mid to late 1960s, constructing a volatile, barrier-pushing mix of rock, jazz, contemporary orchestration, musique concrete, satire and sound collage unlike anything else at the time, or indeed since. Though released three months after We're Only In It For The Money, Lumpy Gravy was originally recorded for Capitol Records several months earlier as a contemporary large ensemble work laced with jazz and rock, written and conducted by Zappa and influenced by Edgard Varèse and Charles Ives. His contract with Verve blocked the Capitol LP and he re-edited the sessions adding whispered voices and weird dialogue for its release on Verve. For the first time the original pure instrumental Capitol version is included here: a fascinating sound tapestry with intricate composition, melodic themes that would later become ‘King Kong’ and ‘Oh No’, and interludes that would appear again on We Are Only In It For The Money. Also on Disc One is the extremely rare 1968 mono mix of We Are Only In It For The Money, easily one of Zappa's greatest works and a dense musical concept attacking hypocrisy and paranoia and ridiculing hippies and straights through sharp pop and jazz melodies, tight ensemble playing, sound montage and a brilliant send-up of the Sgt Pepper album cover. Disc Two contains an unreleased remix of the Verve version of Lumpy Gravy from 1984 that replaces the original bass and drum parts with then band members Arthur Barrow and Chad Wackerman, and a similar remix job of We Are Only In It For The Money which adds words censored from the original but, like the Lumpy remix, is generally regarded as a detraction of the original Verve releases. Disc Three, to use a Zappa-ism, is the ‘Hot Poop’, a treasure trove of Lumpy Gravy session outtakes and edits, instrumental versions of We're Only In It For The Money tracks, studio dialogue and ‘How Did That Get In Here’, a 25-minute continuous ensemble performance from the Lumpy Gravy sessions that moves from familiar themes through soundtrack-style arrangements to free improv. Zappa always considered his music a work in progress, one piece leading to another, and revisited in different forms in later recordings. In Lumpy Money Project/Object the building blocks of Zappa's pioneering vision, composition and process are laid bare for all to see.

Also just released are the first three 2CD sets in the Road Tapes Series of live sets from the vaults. Venue 1: Kerrisdale Arena, Vancouver BC 25 August 1968 is a scorching Mothers of Invention show with Money and Gravy material reconstructed in a blazing jazz-rock onslaught with Bunk Gardner and Ian Underwood on sax and woodwind, Don Preston on keyboards and Zappa letting fly with high-wire guitar improvisation, biting commentary and a rare interpretation of Varèse's ‘Octandre’. Venue 2: Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, 23-24 August 1973 features one of the great Zappa line-ups, with violinist Jean Luc Ponty, Ruth Underwood on vibes and marimba, George Duke on keys and trombonist Bruce Fowler, as the band give Weather Report a run for their money, but with humour, while Venue 3: Tyrone Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis 5 July 1970 features the 1970 Mothers band with Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan on vocals alongside Duke and Underwood. Notable for being one of the few live tapes of this particular band, the ‘quirky’ vocals however devalue the tricky arrangements and fiery improvisation.