Please read the other reviews here for insights as to the compositional content and convoluted history of this, certainly among Frank Zappa's top 5 albums. This review is for the new remastering of the late (Dec.) 2012 re-release. The new remastering is astounding. Full, clear, with lots of punch but no distracting sizzle. Great separation. I have over 15 Zappa pieces from various eras (including the final two of his life, The Yellow Shark and Civilzation Phase 3) and this new version of Lather is the finest sounding of them all. If you have a prior release of Lather, get this one as it is really superior. And as a side note of my own re. the content: this 3-cd album (originally 4-LP) is approximately 1/3 the "juvenile humor" stuff but 2/3 fantastic jazz fusion/modern classical (not the atonal stuff of his final two, but the stuff that sounds like manic-Bernstein, such as some of the instrumental passages of Uncle Meat, Burnt Weeny Sandwich or Hot Rats). A must for Zappa fans.