Duck Stab was great, but Not Available is, to these ears, the best thing The Residents have put out so far. The music is darker but more beautiful and touching. The record's story is also quite famous. Having been recorded under the theory of obscurity (in 1974) which dictates that a work should be made without the intention of ever releasing it unless forgotten about by it's creators. The Residents had passed their deadline for the release of the upcoming Eskimo album, so they ran away with the masters and the Cryptic Corporation, seeing no other solution, pulled Not Available from the vaults and released it without their permission in 1978. Whether this is true or not is not so important, but it does bring a special aura to the album. The theatricality of Ship's A'Going Down (including a cast of different characters) predates it's use on later albums like Fingerprince.