A new Frank Zappa box has arrived just in time for Halloween.

Halloween '73, a four-disc set recorded on Oct. 31 that year, includes two complete shows Zappa and his band performed in Chicago. The box gets into the spirit of the season, too, with a Zappa mask and gloves to help power your own festivities.

You can see the track listing and mask, and listen to one of the album's songs, "The Idiot Bastard Son," below.

Zappa Records / UMe
Zappa Records / UMe
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Zappa typically performed one-of-a-kind Halloween shows starting in the '70s. In 1974, the concerts found a home in New York City, where they remained until 1984, when Zappa staged the last Halloween show. This 1973 date -- one of the few Halloween concerts to be recorded, though the 1977 one was released in 2017 -- featured a new band onstage at Chicago's Auditorium Theater.

The limited-edition box includes previously unreleased performances that total more than four and a half hours, including songs from his most recent album, Over-Nite Sensation, like "Montana," plus cuts from 1974's Apostrophe(‘) ("Cosmik Debris") and older favorites ("Uncle Meat," "The Idiot Bastard Son").

The fourth disc includes rehearsals for the shows. There's also a single-disc version of the set available containing 16 tracks from the box.

Fans can also look forward to another Zappa release before 2019 ends. The Hot Rats Sessions, due on Dec. 20, includes six discs documenting one of Zappa's best and most popular albums.

That box includes unreleased basic tracks from the recording sessions, as well as rare and unedited mixes, work mixes and other songs from Zappa's vault.

Frank Zappa, 'Halloween '73' Track Listing
Disc 1 (Show 1)
1. “Happy Halloween To Each And Every One Of You”
2. Pygmy Twylyte
3. The Idiot Bastard Son
4. Cheepnis
5. “Another Assembly Of Items”
6. The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue
7. Kung Fu
8. Penguin In Bondage
9. T’Mershi Duween
10. The Dog Breath Variations
11. Uncle Meat
12. RDNZL
13. Village Of The Sun
14. Ecidna’s Arf (Of You)
15. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing?
16. Montana

Disc 2 (Show 1 Continued)
1. Dupree’s Paradise
2. “Almost Up To Date”
3. Dickie’s Such An Asshole
(Show 2)
4. “That Greatest Of American Holidays”
5. Cosmik Debris
6. “We’re Hurtin’ For Tunes”
7. Pygmy Twylyte
8. The Idiot Bastard Son
9. Cheepnis
10. I’m The Slime
11. Big Swifty

Disc 3 (Show 2 Continued)
1. The History Of The San Clemente Magnetic Deviation
2. Dickie’s Such An Asshole
3. “Another New Event”
4. Farther O’Blivion – Part 1
5. Father O’Blivion – Part 2
6. “Pervert’s Special Holiday”
7. Penguin In Bondage
8. T’Mershi Duween
9. RDNZL
10. Inca Roads
11. Medley: Son Of Mr. Green Genes/King Kong/Chunga’s Revenge

Disc 4 (Bonus Rehearsals 10-20/21-73)
1. The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue (10-21-73)
2. Penguin In Bondage (10-20-73)
3. T’Mershi Duween (10-20-73)
4. Dog Breath (10-20-73)
5. The Dog Breath Variations (10-20-73)
6. Uncle Meat (10-20-73)
7. RDNZL (10-20-73)
8. Magic Fingers (10-21-73)
9. Inca Roads (10-20-73)
10. Father O’Blivion (10-21-73)
11. Cosmik Debris (10-20-73)
12. Big Swifty (10-21-73)

 

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