We're Only In It For The Money

I have to apologise to Frank Zappa but I simply don’t get this one, random non-musical noises and vocals throughout. I listened to this on a flight and there was a kid who shat himself screaming like he was being exorcised and I thought it was part of the album. (I wish this was a lie)

???????? i much prefer zappa when he.... actually tries to play the guitar and make interesting music. like, this music is experimental and satirical, but to no end. maybe i don't get it? i feel like i do get it, but just don't like it. what a boring bit. satire has evolved so much past this point. this is irony-poisoned nonsense. there are moments where i chuckle, but it's not enough to hold up an album that just doesn't hit the mark.

Frank Zappa is really sticking it to big Good Music on this one

I mean for a Zappa album, this is better than many. You know the father of Dwezel and Moon Unit is gonna bring the weird and this one has it in spades. The odd conversational chatter really stood out to me. Overall, it's like art at a museum where you look at it and think Well I wouldn't want it in my house, but I'm glad it exists. Like that.

Aggressively juvenile. I guess once had to be there to get the joke. I wasn't, and I don't

тоже немного психоделичное 60е ее whats the ugliest Party of your body

"We're Only in It for the Money" is the third studio album from The Mothers of Invention. It is a concept album satirizing left and right-wing politics especially the hippie subculture and The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Why not? The original album cover which is now the album cover but on the initial release was not the album cover parodies that Beatles album including the band dressed in drag. At times, this album is hilarious. As with all Frank Zappa albums that I've heard, there is a lot going on. Voices and noises from everywhere, multiple instruments, time signatures, spoken word songs, telephone conversations, etc. The music is classified as experimental, rock and psychedelic. Hard to classify Frank. This album was the first album in a project called No Commercial Project which included the next two Mothers' albums and a solo instrumental Zappa album. It is included in the National Recording Registry for its "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significance" and "a scathing satire on hippiedom and America's reaction to it." "Are You Hung Up" starts things off with various people talking including a stuttering Eric Clapton. This song rolls into "Who Needs the Peace Corps" which is a satire of the hippie culture. Very funny. Sort of pyschedelic Indian-sounding music. "Absolutely Free" begins with a piano and then goes into a waltz with a harpsichord and various sound effects. Another song criticizing hippies and the Summer of Love. Next is "Flower Punk" and it is just great. It parodies garage rock and is a carnival version of Hendrix's "Hey Joe." The distorted vocals are hilarious sounding like the lead singer was huffing helium throughout. On the second side is "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" probably the song I've heard most from this album. Frank sings like a teenager/kid and it's about two kids he grew up with: how they fart, pop pills, go in the army and make alcohol with raisins turning the water black. On "Lonely Little Girl" you finally hear a Zappa electric guitar. The music and vocals kind of go pyschedelic. Definitely 60's sounding. "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny" ends things with a piano and various noises - musique concrète - recorded sounds modified through audio techniques into a song montage. A very Frank way to finish. This is one of those albums that if you like Frank you'll like it and if you don't you won't. The parody started wearing thin on multiple listened but was initially hilarious. There's always enough going on experimentally with Zappa's music to appreciate a lot.

Let me take a minute to tell you my friend…this was a super interesting album that I’ll probably never listen to again. 😂

Sophomoric, anti-hippy sound collage psych.

Just too big brain and quirky for me. Seems like interesting jazzy music, but then it is nerds doing skits and songs they think are funny. It's not that clever.

I’m quite apprehensive about this album. Having heard only one Frank Zappa album before, I go into this with pretty low hopes. I actually went back to look at my last review for Joe’s Garage, and I’m surprised I rated it as highly as I did, because I thought I didn’t like it. I guess I was wrong and I just have a bad memory. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Absolutely Free I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that this album was absolutely awful. There is lots of noise that I wouldn’t really consider music, parts where music is played backwards instead, and generally just comes across as really annoying. The only times where I’d find myself saying, “Well, this song is decent at least,” was only because it came after something that made my ears bleed. Taken in isolation, even the better songs on this album are still pretty bad. Don’t listen to this album. Do something better with your time.

Really enjoyed this one. Having heard some of the best and worst of San Fran psychedelia over the course of doing this, it is refreshing to hear true weirdo music that wants to poke fun at the whole scene. Who Needs The Peace Corps, Let's Make the Water Turn Black and What's The Ugliest Part of Your Body are all highlights. The album is packed too - one of those great albums where nothing sticks around longer than absolutely necessary. Hot Rats did nothing for me, I enjoyed Freak Out, but this is a bone fide classic.

Frank is an acquired taste. This album was a little too odd for my liking

The parts that were actually music were just ok, the rest was insufferable noise. Not at all for me

There are people who are obsessed by Zappa and proclaim him a genius. Whenever I listen to him I feel like I am on the outside of some elaborate joke that is impossible for me to find funny

No

DUH

Yeah, wow.

9/10 always love hearing a Frank Zappa album don’t get me wrong, Sgt. Peppers is one of my favorite albums but it’s so much fun hearing these guys parody it

I'm convinced Zappa's brain must've naturally produced too much DMT or something. He didn't need to use them to get it. For someone who not only didn't use, but despised psychedelic drugs and its entire culture, he truly made some of the greatest psychedelic music this world has ever seen, and this unique work is absolutely no exception. "What's there to live foooorr"

Frank Zappa was a genius and every musician top shelf. Best, the attack on hippie culture is ruthlessly hilarious.

zappa é mor doidão né

Wonderful album.

I don't know what else there is to say about Zappa...

Yes boys and girls this album was done without the use of drugs Frank Zappa was an amazing musician and composer. This album should be listened to multiple times to get all the lyrical inside jokes and the complexity of the music To use a late 60’s phrase, this album was a mind blower

This shit is tight.

First, the label's inversion of the artwork was and always will be bullshit. This is not just the proper cover but the better cover. And a better indication of what you're about to get. Which is absolute madcap genius and blazing satire. This is my absolute favourite Zappa album, easy. Brilliant takedowns of hippies, right-wingers and the LAPD. There is a lot going on throughout and some of the transitions and oddities will likely drive many folks a bit bonkers, but I think it just makes the whole thing all the more brilliant.

Loved it! I enjoy good avant garde rock music and Frank Zappa is the best at it.

Zappa! Experimentation and commentary. Awesome album.

lets make the water turb balck

Iconic.

This was a totally wild, crazy psychedelic trip that had me excited and delighted throughout!

OMG! This was amazing for the moment that I listened. I can’t quite describe it…it elevated my current state to something euphoric and I want to stay here forever..except that I want all my friends and loved ones with me!!!!

Groovy

Pretty great stuff here. 5 stars.

I always enjoy the disorienting nature of Frank Zappa albums and this one is no exception. This album is mostly a send up of late 1960s hippie culture and (rightly) critiques its superficiality and lack of nuance while wrapping the whole thing up in a delightfully experimental package punctuated by vocal effects, spoken word parts, and sound collages. The effect is overwhelming, funny, and remains relevant today.

Sick

Loved it! Super creative.

zappa is an acquired taste and i have acquired that taste. this album is really smart, really funny, really wild, and genuinely a fun, frenetic listen. zappa pushed the limits on what rock and roll music was, and is. i suspect that most people will not get this album or will find it annoying and weird, which, fair enough. i appreciate zappa's zanyness, his avant-garde flair, and the point he was trying to make about how society handles social issues, which i think still stands true to today.

I don't do publicity balling for you anymore The first word in this song is "discorporate, " it means to leave your body Discorporate and come with me Shifting, drifting Cloudless, starless Velvet valleys and a sapphire sea Unbind your mind There is no time to lick your stamps And paste them in Discorporate and we'll begin Flower power sucks Zappa stands alone. This album is very much a response to the time it was created, but it stands up 55 years later. 5/5

Love that album!

Not For Me™️ The steely dan biography was actually written about mothers of invention

I got into Zappa at the perfect time. The summer before college. I wish I could Eternal Sunshine this album out of my mind so I could hear it again for the first time. Wonder what I would think…

The first real conceptual rock album? Biting satire and social commentary? Making fun of hippies (bums - bad karma thing to do)? This album has it all and is an absolute masterpiece. Zappa was a genius

I listened to this album so many times in high school and college that, even after not listening to it for at least 10 years, I was able to hum and sing along to every song. Great album. Satirical lyrics aside, Zappa was an excellent musical craftsman. These are really more like musical vignettes, but there's so much here in terms of melody, harmony, and instrumentation, mixing doo-wop with rock and jazz and everything in between. Excellent blast from the past.

Hi i'm Jimmy Carl Black and I'm the Indian of the group Prefs: Who Needs The Peace Corps?, Concentration Moon, Mom & Dad, Bow Tie Daddy, Harry, You're a Beast, What's The Ugliest Part of Your Body?, Absolutely Free, Flower Punk, Let's Make the Water Turn Black, The Idiot Bastard Son, Lonely Little Girl, Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance, What's The Ugliest Part of Your Body (Reprise), Mother People Moins pref: Nasal Retentive Calliope Music

satire is cool

I'm so confused. The first Mothers of Invention album I got made me so irrationally angry. But then I got "Hot Rats", and I found it one of the greatest things I'd ever heard. I thought I just liked Zappa instrumentally and that was it. But no, actuality, I really enjoyed the Mothers this time around. I feel like the jokes worked a lot better here. An acquired taste?

Frank ❤️

Nach dem offensichtlichen Schrott der letzten Wochen ist dies eine Wohltat. Zappa halt.

This was the shit I was afraid of when we started this project. Listened to this at 11pm at night while outside walking my dog. Went to bed. Nightmares. Great in a weird way. What an experience. Amazing work

Massive trip, a strong contender for the definition of cool conversation/argument

Always strange and fun

Što se mene tiče, može biti i cijela njegova diskografija. Ovo je itekakva satira i sprdnja na glazbu 60-ih, ali ponajviše na Fab Four iliti Bitlse.

Far out, interesting shit

Probably my second favorite of Zappa's next to "Absolutely Free." I like him in this manic kitchen sink mode best. Though it's a real wooden rollercoaster of an album and there are all these bizarre interludes throughout, he's still keeping it relatively tight. If you don't like something, he's shortly onto the next idea. Whereas on something like "Uncle Meat" it just gets too self indulgent and becomes a mess. Always appreciate his bravery in experimentation, total embrace of humor, and willingness to call things as he sees them.

Takes real vision and courage to make an album that sounds like this. It seems a bit cynical, which I'm less interested in, but the freedom with which this album bounces from one motif to another, yet stays cohesive and keeps a thread throughout is remarkable.

One of my favorites of Zappa’s.

Por alguna razón, vino justo cuando necesitaba escuchar algo así 🥴

4.25

Ok this is the second album from these guys here. This one was done way better - mostly because he was taking potshots at the hippies, and that's something I can stand behind completely. It sounded like late 60s bullshit but the lyrics turned it into something far better. I know Zappa is a hipster darling these days but I have to give this a 4/5 for being one of the best pisstakes I've ever heard. Can't give it the full 5 because some of it was just annoying (see: the last "song") but I was tempted.

What a ride this one was. Probably the weirdest album so far but if you ignore the tracks that are just speech or noise, you are actually left with some good psychedelic rock songs with funny/satirical and most importantly entertaining lyrics. This is definitely an album that you either love or completely hate but I'm willing to give this some credit

What a weird, wild, unique and fascinating album. Bizarrely poetic and literate lyrics that takes jabs at EVERYONE and does so with irreverance and biting dark humour. Musically the styles, production and arrangements are all ove the place but mostly interesting and engaging. My favorite Zappa album that I've heard so far and one that I think will remain in my rotation for a little while at least. As I type this is my 3rd listen. 4 stars

Hippies suck, Frank is great. Not my favorite Zappa record but it's still good. It might be his most accessible album as there aren't a lot of long instrumentals that might put off some listeners.

Side one is a brilliant takedown of 1967 and the hippie movement. Zappa the satirist at the peak of his snide powers. It even has some catchy tunes. It gets a little self-indulgent on the second side, but overall this is one of the best records he ever made.

In the first half of the album I thought there wouldn't be anything I'd like. But it got progressively better. Very, veeery experimental, psychedelic rock, so good stuff overall! You also have to admire the dig at Beatles here lol Saved tracks: What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?, Absolutely Free, Let's Make The Water Turn Black, Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance

For a man who had no truck with drugs Frank Zappa sure did produce music that sounds exactly as if it's intended to be listened to while on drugs. I haven't listened to this one much before, and there's a _lot_ going on, so it would probably benefit from more listens. Still, a lot of fun! Fave track - "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" is the one I was most familiar with already. Also really enjoyed "Absolutely Free" running into "Flower Punk"...

This was a good fun ablum with heaps of great tracks like Who Needs The Peace Corps?, What's the Ugliest Part Of Your Body, Flower Punk, Lets' Make The Water Turn Black, and Lonely Little Girl.

I enjoy the playfulness on display quite a bit. Maybe a bit too much in places, but overall a great album.

Wild, unfiltered, and unashamedly blitzing. Sometimes it can be a little too much for me, but nobody does "too much" quite like Zappa.

A little mainstream, straightforward and poppy for my tastes. Usually find Zappa impenetrable, then he does this, what an enigma, eh?

Surprised it’s pretty good, crazy though

Harry, You're A Beast reminds me of the short film Possibly In Michigan. I think this album is the closest I'll get to understanding how it feels to be on whatever drugs they took while making it.

Beautifully weird. Song titles great, as usual. Some interesting use of the stereo balance. Way ahead of the curve on the ASMR trend. Just too disjointed in places to be a 5 - i couldn't listen to it every day!

A parody album shouldn’t be this good, Frank Zappa is a genius, anyone attempting a parody of Stg Pepper would need to be for it to work and this does. Not an accessible album but worth a few listens to get it. A few parts just a bit too odd for my taste to give this full marks.

Sàtira i experiment. Els primers discos de Zappa rebosaven de tots dos conceptes i ho feien amb una inspiració reservada només pels genis. No tot el minutatge té la mateixa qualitat -cap al final de la segona part del disc la cosa afluixa bastant- però continua sent un dels exemples més representatius de la millor innovació artística dels '60

One of Zappa's best shticks

Thus shit is weird in the best possible way

Bizarre and unusual, parody this may be but talent abounds.

I have a feeling this record will be divisive, and all I can really say is, "Well, I like it." Nobody really does "freak out" like Zappa and co., where every song is about as tight as you can get it before bursting, while also seeming very free-wheeling and spur-of-the-moment. Favorite tracks: "Concentration Moon", "Flower Punk", "The Idiot Bastard Son", "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"

Disco conceptual en su máxima expresión, grabado como un continuo sin diferenciación entre las canciones. Experimental y atrevido, pop psicodélico, donde la gracia está sobre todo en el discurso, que se pierde si no controlas el idioma.

this is silly

Highlights: "The Idiot Bastard Son," "Mom and Dad," "Lonely Little Girl," "Mother People" One of the best Zappa albums and the best introduction even when throroughly marred by its tinny mixing and antagonistic jolts of interrupting noise, because its songs are nearly the only attempt the band made at being lyrically serious. The constantly surprising moments of real musical beauty feel hard-fought in a dramatically intentional way, breaking through brutal and caustic bipartisan mockery. Beyond the seemingly sincere left-libertarianism neighboring the hippies in "Take Your Clothes Off," the frustrated vacuum of any hopeful, positive vision for society makes the music the position, and the music shows you it means it. It's incredible that in '67-'68, in an era known for pop genre-bending, experimentation, and free-thinking, this series of albums from the Mothers would still have been like a bolt out of the blue, maybe only surpassed by the decade's world-historic works of jazz.

I should definitely revisit

He’s Frank.

The fact that this was recorded completely sober astounds me. Definitely some bits that lose me throughout, but I can't help but be inspired by just how endlessly strange, off-kilter, and creative this was to listen to! Always been more of a solo Frank Zappa person, but as an introduction to The Mothers of Invention, I can't think of a better way to start! Catch me at the club bumping out to "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny" lmao

This one is really tough. On the one hand it is a scathing and pointed satire of the music, politics, and insincere counterculture of the late 60s. The commentary still holds up today. On the other hand it's a pretty uncomfortable listen. It's sort of genius and brave while also being pretty unpalatable. Normally the innovative and jagged parts of the album would cancel each other out. However, it's meant to be divisive. Giving it a 3 is missing the point and would probably make Frank Zappa more disappointed than a purely negative review. No fence-sitting with this one.

4.2 + Hippies enjoy a generally sunny reputation within the American psyche, so it's refreshing to hear their thorough takedown on this record. Zappa exposes the hypocrisy and half-baked humanism behind the flower power movement on songs like "Who Needs the Peace Corps?" and "Flower Punk." But there's plenty of satire to dish all around and Zappa is sure to throw in some barbs aimed at the older generation on "Mom & Dad" and "Bowtie Daddy." The music teems with psychedelic tropes - distorted guitars, reverb-laden vocals, strange sound collages - both mocking and outshining the "serious" psychedelic musicians of his day.

4+ What's the ugliest part of your body Flower Punk

I can see where Throbbing Gristle came from. They key difference is that this was cool and good, and that was noise. Still a few too many offputting tracks to want to play this through, but some gems I want to show off.

Not my favourite Zappa album, but still interesting enough for a positive rating. The emphasis here seems to be on the satire and playful experimentation, where other albums are more coherent and have moments of profound musical brilliance.

Very weird and pretty funny, in a musically interesting way. Not at all what I expected, from what I knew of Frank Zappa's later work, but maybe it should have been!

So I get that it's a satire of the psychedelic scene, hippies, The Beatles, corporations, etc., etc., etc. And I get that it's an avant garde protest against selling out. But the moments that makes this record actually stick together as a coherent work are exactly the straightforward psychedelic pieces like 'What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?', 'Let's Make the Water Turn Black', and 'Lonely Little Girl', as silly and scathing as the lyrics might be. Now isn't that ironic. Or satirical. Or self-referential. Or... something.

A real interesting album where the (sometimes a little simple) satire takes a front seat over the music, but where you certainly hear some amazing pieces of brilliance shine through.

I spent the better part of a week stuck on this album, trying to discover and organize my thoughts. There is a lot going on here. My initial impression was two stars. The songs are not cohesive, music changing suddenly, constantly. But then I read the Wikipedia page for both the album and Frank Zappa and my mind started to open a bit. FZ had a thought provoking stance on the world around him. This album lambasts hippies, war mongers, and 1960s culture alike. Listening more closely with this background, I appreciated the album more, a solid three. I listened quite a few more times over several days and oscillated between a 3 and a 4. I kept asking myself is FZ a genius or some drugged out, musical schizophrenic? The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny is frankly annoying. There is no way around it. It does the album a disservice by ending with a sour note. So I settled on a 3 a couple days ago and have just been waiting to find time to write this up. In fact I started writing my review and decided to listen one last time. Well, I payed closer attention. This time I listened to the album while reading the lyrics. My stance solidified just now. I can’t believe I’m writing the following: this is a 5 star album right up until the last track (which is a one star deduction). FZ believed people should have the right to do drugs, but didn’t partake himself because he thought they were a waste of time. FZ is a musical savant…maybe. One thing I do know is that I need to spend some time going through the FZ catalogue after this adventure is over.

Hi Boys and Girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black, and I'm the Indian of the group. We the people demand more albums that sound like they were made by insane people locked in a steel shack with dwindling supplies. Song structure, choruses, catchy melodies - all of that is for weak babies. Dip your LP into hydrochloric acid and gargle mayonnaise, pussy. This is the real world.

ironia ei nappaa jos heh se koira älähtää johon kalikka kajahtaa.. Respect for the high art..

The first listen, I just had it on in the background and wasn't paying close attention. I could tell there was some good stuff there, but I didn't come away that impressed. I gave it one more chance and paid more attention to the lyrics, and liked it a lot better the second time.

Is this our first Zappa? Took us long enough. His music became especially indulgent into the 70’s, but there’s already shades of that here as he keeps reminding you why he doesn’t like hippies. But damn if most the rest of the album doesn’t hold up. It’s still funny all over and the musicianship is incredible. I’ll take it over Sgt. Pepper any day. A-

This album is fantastic; has all of the Zappa kookiness and is just dripping with satire, taking shots at hippies, the police, 60's rock culture and 60's consumerism all at once.