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)

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

It thinks of itself as satire, but it’s just a cynical asshole calling everyone else dumb because it thinks that no one else is as enlightened as them. Squares: dumb. Hippies: dumb. People who enjoy listening to music: dumb.

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

???????? 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.

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

Maybe when this came out it was earth shattering and cool and trippy. Now it just sucks.

The fuck is this shit? It's not making any kind of statement, so it doesn't even feel like an art piece. It's just a bunch of stupid unfunny skits and noises that they've released and called an album. It's like the secret track you find at the end of a normal album where they're just messing about with a personal in-joke or two, only, you know, doing that for the whole thing. This is utterly embarrassing and they should all be ashamed of themselves.

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.

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

No

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.

This album has way too much of what I don't like about Frank Zappa. On paper, he's on the money - brassy, irreverent, stylistically eclectic, freewheelingly creative, larger than life but weirdly relatable. In reality, this may be intended as sharp satire, but it's mostly a hodgepodge of ideas that are hard on the ears. The album lacks any musicality to temper its sharp edges, and the jokes don't land 50+ years later. This just isn't fun to listen to. It doesn't even sound like it was all that fun to make, although knowing what I know about Zappa, I'm sure he was endlessly entertained at least. On behalf of weird kids everywhere though, God bless Frank Zappa. The man was one of a kind. Fave Songs: Nasal Retentive Calliope Music, Mom & Dad, Are You Hung Up?, What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?

Sophomoric, anti-hippy sound collage psych.

"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.

The lowest attention span of anything I've ever heard. Mostly sounded like British campfire songs mixed with noises they made with any random objects they could find around the studio

Just found this all a bit silly and irritating. Too jaunty!

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.

We’re Only In It For The Money I looked back on what I wrote for Freak Out! And I think I feel largely the same about this, even if my patience for Frank Zappa has maybe worn a little thinner since then. I get the feeling he resented the hippies becoming a part of mainstream culture, not out of ideology, but because he wanted to be the popular outsider, so he just took the piss instead. On the one hand I like that idea of satirising hippies and ’straights’ pretensions and phoniness equally, but on the other his relentless cynicism is can be a bit tiring, particularly on the first side of this, where that joke is rather one note. That’s not to say it’s not funny in parts though, Who Needs The Peace Corps and Flower Punk are probably the most successful plays on the concept and there are some other great lines and amusing punchlines and images scattered throughout, and his dryly sardonic descriptions of violence I guess were kind of prescient for what happened in the rest of 1968 in the US. I also like the multiple ‘I’m Jimmy Carl Black, the Indian of the Group’ Musically I think it's a bit more interesting than what I can remember of Freak Out, although musical excellence isn’t the point obviously, particularly on the more skit like tracks. There are passable, deliberate approximations of Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Vaudeville and Acid Rock/Blues bands, and there are some nice musical passages and playing elsewhere; Concentration Moon’s bass and organ are pretty good, and Mom & Dad’s fuggish atmosphere is nicely delivered by the bass, organ and drums, The Idiot Bastard’s Son’s Doors-esque organ is very good and the riff on Lonely Little Girl is great. I suppose the question is what criteria to use to rate this. Of course on a pure musical level there isn’t a great deal of interest, so I guess it comes down to the tolerance/appeal of the surrealism, cynicism, contrariness and iconoclasm, and the ambition and intent to do something different and poke at things. Rather like Freak Out I do like that intention and that someone is out there doing this kind of stuff, and I think that appreciation just about outweighs some of the tiresome aspects. I gave Freak Out a 3 and I’ll give this the same. 🫰🫰🫰 Playlist submission: Who Needs the Peace Corps

i find frank zappa's musical vision compelling enough that i regularly get re-obsessed with his music and check out a few new live records i havent heard yet, the mothers were one of his best bands (not his best tho...ull have to hit up the roxy/one size fits all era for that), and this represents a lot of his best and most memorable material in his Filtering 50s And 60s Pop Melodies Thru His Avant-Garde Stravinsky-Obsessed Hyper-Ironic lens. but its so, so hard to tolerate man...frank here shows a complete and utter unwillingness to do any material analysis of why hippies existed (multiple references and a full song about how their parents failed them, but nothing about vietnam???), and his most cogent criticism is reduced to a sexual assault joke with cartoon voices. the parody angle is frequently musically amusing, because any type of art that asks for a certain amount of buy-in can be easily detached from and made to look silly, and that is just not a style of pastiche that interests me at all anymore (unless you, say, genuinely like 70s art rock as much as ween does on the mollusk). this creates the impression that frank's problem with hippies is just that he finds them annoying and silly, which is fine as an opinion ig but rly weak for supposedly genius satire. a real criticism of hippies might be, for example, that they idolized the abstract ideal of freedom but were still mostly imperial white people whos idea of freedom was often self-centered rather then having any understanding of the shape of global power...but if zappa criticized that, the hypocrisy might be a bit too obvious!

I can appreciate what they were trying to do, but I don't think it works. It's too juvenile to be satirical.

I get that this album is supposed to be modern satire, but honestly it sounds like a couple of kids from the 60s recording fart noises into an old tape machine.

Erm, I feel like I lack the cultural context to understand the importance of this album. Nothing in here particularly stuck with me such that I would listen to it again. 2/5

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

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

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

Wait, are we mad at the Peace Corp because they aren't real hippies??? And why do we have to poke fun at fat people, women and sad people over and over? I get it, its satire on the music and people of the time. But typically satire is making fun of a group to support the counter argument, but then he made fun of the other side leaving us with no side to believe in. For me this is truly one of the most frustrating kinds of points, people that are feel superior then you, believe they are so smart, deep and beyond anyone else so they mock them all but offer no real effort to make the world a better place. Then what the hell was the last song! There is some musicality here and the satire concept isn't bad or necessarily badly done. It is also kind of an sketch comedy type concept to an album which is sort of cool and different. I just really hate the actual lyrics and persona it is embodying. The hate for the lyrics and the overall smug meanness are too overwhelming to look past.

Apology for missing the point, that this is satirical and experimental. But it’s just the run out groove turned into a whole album. I Get from reading the background that this is a supposed satire on what was happening at the time. But it just sounds aloof, that they think they are clever, as no one else is as aware and informed as them, but was the joke to take the piss out of anything resembling musical talent by showing none? (They may be talented but to my simple ears I can’t tell from this). Probably would have worked as a sketch on a comedy programme better, because for me as an album it’s awful and just plain shit. Can they actually write songs? Humorous?? lyrics and sound collage to the most basic of song structure that seems to have been knocked up on the spot, damn this is straining the idea of must hear music for me, I want the time back… next.

Een soort satirisch album. Satire werkt een stuk beter als het actueel is. Dit is uit 1968. Afgeven op hippies is al meer dan een halve eeuw niet meer relevant. Wat blijft er dan over? Niet zo heel veel. Schijtlollig puberaal geëmmer over platjes met afwisselend flarden van muziek en een soort anti-muziek. Heliumstemmetjes, willekeurige overgangen, gekraak en gepiep. Hihi hoho kijk naar mij ik ben zo lekker random. Eén van onze liedjes heet 'Hot Poop' hihi hoho. Dan ga ik grappig lullen over de producer terwijl ik stiekem zelf de producer ben hihi hoho raap me op. Er is een kans dat dit stiekem geniaal is, als je er een soort studie bij pakt inclusief bronvermeldingen en referenties, maar daar hebben we nu even geen tijd voor. Ik ben hier echt veel te zuur voor. Tussen de 1 en 2 sterren. Hou het maar op 1.

Don’t imagine they got much money for this.

Man Zappa sure showed those hippies! Unlistenable and unpleasant boomer shite masquerading as lame satire that was apparently cutting-edge and biting 50 years ago.

erm what the sigma

The Mothers of Invention’s We're Only In It For The Money is such a wack show. Its like the JPEGMAFIA of the 60’s, except Peggy makes good music. This is just so unbelievably cluttered. If thats what they were going for, kudos I guess, but it was a horrible listening experience, as I didn’t get anything out of it, and the every other 30 second interlude was just stupid. All in all, We're Only In It For The Money is a horrible. Best Song: Flower Punk Worst Song: Nasal Retentive Calliope Music

Juvenile crap

Uhm, if this is a joke, I don't get it. If it's music, I don't get it either.

Okay this was just actual noise.

So what if my asshole brother revered Frank Zappa, holding his every creation as the pinnacle of music deemed to be good and worthwhile? So what? I fucking hate this shit and I'm way cooler than you, bro.

“I'm completely stoned / I'm hippy and I'm trippy / I'm a gypsy on my own / I'll stay a week and get the crabs and Take a bus back home.” That’s all I can say. It’s like Zappa was attempting to take the most drug fueled parts of the Beatles and wash it down with a speed ball and a bottle of French Absinthe. Van Gogh wasn’t making an artistic statement when chopped of his own ear, he was listening to this album. Pass…

Albums like these are why people hate shit like this or why people give up.

What on God's green earth am I listening to? This is horrible and nonsensical and artistically worthless in my view. It's like a bunch of strung-out ferrets invaded a recording studio and proceeded to muck around with unknown gadgets to make random noise. (Apologies to ferrets, as this is not intended to offend you.) What a waste of my time. Why is this drivel a part of a list like this?

Even as a joke album, We're Only In It For The Money is a pile of hot, steaming garbage. Meandering and obnoxious, the music of the album seems to require the listener to be actively tripping on LSD or Shrooms to understand a single thing that's going on, and I simply have not fried enough of my brain cells to consider these toilet sounds 'music'

Brilliantly bonkers

Not my very favorite by Zappa, but it’s still quite a monument in the scope of pop music’s culture and rock history. In essence, he took pop culture of the time and flipped it on its face. We’re Only On It For The Money is a bit of a grower of a record, but it’s genuinely funny, witty, and scathing in spots. I think that of the majority of Frank’s early material, but this album and Freak Out! should be considered essential listening and absolute musts to understand how experimental music gets where it does.

Hi boys and girls I’m Jimmy Carl Black

A remarkable, poignant work

So, hey, this is fun. Just like with my review of FREAK OUT!, I was having a pretty hard time trying to think of what I even wanted to say about this album. I had the thoughts, the opinions... Everything. I just, y'know, didn't have the words, that's all. Truly, this is phase two of that review. Like, already I'm suspecting that this is gonna be a trend with Zappa albums — I mean, if my group gets HOT RATS and this happens again... Goodness. However, I was having trouble for different reasons than I did with FREAK OUT!. Kind of the exact opposite reasons, actually. See, with that album, I hadn't listened to it too much, and there was just a lot of ground to cover, both in terms of material and what it was satirizing. A whole hour of taking the piss out of American culture and popular music, all for the freaks of Laurel Canyon in the 1960's. I'm a bit out of my depth there. Meanwhile, with WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY, I'm actually **very** familiar with it. As far as I can tell, this was, like, maybe my second Zappa album ever? I remember buying it off of iTunes around the same time I also purchased THE BEST BAND YOU NEVER HEARD IN YOUR LIFE, long before I went out and got APOSTROPHE (') or YOU CAN'T DO THAT ON STAGE ANYMORE, VOL. 2 on CD. This album has been in my life for over a decade at this point, so I end up running into the same initial "I don't know how to verbalize my feelings for it" problem I've had with stuff like WISH YOU WERE HERE and MY AIM IS TRUE. Honestly, at this point in time, I can't even exactly recall **why** I got this album as early into my Zappa fandom as I did. I mean, well, I do have one guess... While, length-wise, this album has less material than FREAK OUT!, clocking in at under forty minutes, the subject matter... On the one hand, there's really not as much ground to cover? For the most part it boils down to "Not only are hippies stupid, but so are the cops who beat hippies." It's a real SOUTH PARK "both sides suck" kind of mentality. If it wasn't for how I swear I can hear some empathy for hippies behind all the satire (or at least the freaks and the more opened-minded among them) on songs like "Mom & Dad" and "Concentration Moon", it'd bother me just as much as SOUTH PARK can and has. "Hippies are stupid, and absolutely should be called out for their stupidity, but the system is even worse" or something. That, and that this album is such a time capsule of 1968... It's kind of hard to be too bothered by it in 2025, y'know? But that's not the part of it that's given me trouble writing. It's... Well, you've seen the album cover. You've seen the title. It's The Beatles and SGT. PEPPER'S. This album, famously or infamously, is in part Zappa's response to SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND. It's an accusation that the group is insincere: extremely plastic and flat-out commercial. "Even if the album and music are OK, they're clearly just riding the psych rock and hippie train to make a buck." A lot of the intros I thought up for this review placed them and SGT. PEPPER'S at the forefront, describing either its release and the culture around it, or even just briefly relaying my relation to it, before transitioning over into this album. After all, I'm pretty certain that's largely the reason why I bought this album as early as I did: I love The Beatles and I accept the old guard's line about SGT. PEPPER'S, so why not dig into Zappa's little satire of both? Here's the thing, though: it's not. Beyond the packaging and its title, I don't really see this as a parody of The Beatles or SGT. PEPPER'S. At most, they're just a symbol for hippie culture and psychedelic rock. I mean, if anyone's the true target here, it's the people who become hippies mostly for ass and acid — the aesthetic more than anything else, as demonstrated on "Who Needs The Peace Corps?" and "Flower Punk". Being 100, I kind of had to excise The Beatles from my mind entirely while trying to review this album. I even removed a prelude line I originally had at the top ("This album is not about The Beatles") because it still fronted them too much. Besides, it was more a reminder for me than anything else. And I don't think excluding them made writing this review **that** easy, but... I mean, I was able to get even this far. That's not nothing. But let's get back on track. After some 800 words of preamble, what can I say I actually like about this album? Well, I think it's very sharp lyrically. Not a whole lot of what's actually said applies to me in 2025 (or maybe it doesn more than I'd like to think), but I still find them either pretty witty, or some very nice character sketches, or both. Like, for real, "Who Are The Peace Corps?" and "Flower Punk" do a really good job of describing fake-ass fake hippies. To that same effect, "Let's Make The Water Turn Black" is a vivid description of some real life people Zappa actually knew. Meanwhile, I find songs like "Mom & Dad" and "Lonely Little Girl" honestly kind of heartbreaking. That "They killed her, too" can be a real gut punch. Then you got the lighter material — I think "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" is just fun, and "Mother People" was my favorite song on the album for a long time for how catchy the lyrics in the chorus/refrain are. Although, speaking of that chorus, I think I should take some time here to address the censorship. Truthfully, they don't matter too much to me: there was a spoken word line about the Velvet Underground that was snipped, the original first chorus of "Mother People" was dropped, and its inclusion played backwards in "Hot Poop" still had a "fucking" removed... There's nothing I'm losing sleep over, and besides the original chorus of "Mother People" was included on the compilation of MOTHERMANIA, so whatever. I know for a fact it could have been worse. But if there's one instance of censorship where I think it does matter — and Zappa would no doubt hate me for this, 'coz I think it improves the song — it's "Harry, You're A Beast". There's a part that references a Lenny Bruce bit ("Don't come in, in me"), and the way random parts of it have been chopped up and reversed... Goodness, it adds this whole disorienting effect to the section, and I love it. The one time censorship made something better, go figure. Finally, let's get onto the one thing I usually care about when it comes to music: the music. Y'know, the melodies. And if there's anything that's kept me coming back to this album... Ironically — and this could just be nostalgia bias talking, but I think this album has some of my favorite psychedelic rock songs. "Concentration Moon", "Mom & Dad", "Absolutely Free", "Lonely Little Girl", "Mother People"... These are all fantastic songs. Particularly "Lonely Little Girl"; I really do wish the main part of it could have gone on longer, 'coz that's some sick-ass guitar. And, well, hey, "Let's Make The Water Turn Black" has such a nice patter melody to it that Zappa kept it around in live shows as an instrumental piece alongside "Harry, You're A Beast". Not even the experimental noise tracks bother me too much. You'd think they would; they **are** largely just noise for noise's sake, but... I'unno. I guess they're just not as long, nor as obnoxious in spots, as something like "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet" was. (And I won't lie — understanding all of this in the context of "nightmare SGT. PEPPER'S" doesn't hurt.) Now, despite all of that, I still wouldn't call it my favorite Zappa album, or even my favorite the 60's. After all, CRUISING WITH RUBEN & THE JETS and HOT RATS still exist. It's not terribly often these days I'm in the mood for this 1968 skewering of 1968 for the people of 1968. It's not its fault stuff like APOSTROPHE (') aligns better with my tastes. But still, I've come back to it more often than FREAK OUT!, and generally speaking I'd still call it the strongest of Zappa's 60's satire. Y'know what, I'll give this album a 5. It nails what it's going for, it's satirical without feeling **too** far up its own ass, and, I'unno, the music is just good. This could be nostalgia bias again, but nah, it's legit. Way more legit than any "flower punk" was, at least. In conclusion... Well, to answer Eric Clapton's question at the top of the album: yeah, I guess I am hung up. Or, uh, not, if being one is a bad thing. I mean, is it? What does it mean to be "hung up," anyway? I— I'unno. Is the review over yet?

This album is intentionally hilarious, and I'm here for it. Literally made me laugh out loud. Also hugely influential in the Rock In Opposition movement Henry Cow started a few years later, and you can even hear that influence in more modern bands like System of a Down.

Everyone needs to listen to this!

I don’t get it but I like it!

Brilliant. Psychedelic whilst also being a damming critique of psychedelia. Musically so creative, lyrically brilliant. One of the best albums I’ve heard since starting this. Individual tracks are good but it’s the play through the whole thing that makes it great.

One of Zappa's best albums and the greatest of the early mothers.

Sorry, I love this.

9/10

If you don't love this you don't know music.

Whoa…. I listened to this album on a treadmill while doing an entire expert sudoku perfectly, taking pride in my concentration. And I imagined Zappa saying I wasn’t listening at all. I’m going to need some time with this.

Certainly a masterpiece from Zappa and the Mothers. Brilliantly satirical, complex, innovative musical experimentation, and of course: controversy and censorship. Not everyone was ready for Zappa's scathing rebuke of both the mainstream and the counterculture of the time.

Fun and Funky

Sehr speziell. Das ist so schräg, dass es schon wieder toll ist. Ein ganzes Album wie „A Day In The Life“.

Fantastic early Frank Zappa album. It's making fun of everything that was going on at the time. Great songs with ironic lyrics commenting on the social and political situation at the time. I really like the album cover (with Jimi Hendrix)

bem trippy e experimental pra epoca, gosteimas pode ter sido a maconha 5 estralas

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.

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 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…

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

Oh, this one is perfect in every tiny psychedelic detail. Great!

Love that album!

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

Loved it! Super creative.

Sick

This is what happens when people take experimental music and apply some of the actual good musical theory to it. It's great!

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.

Pretty great stuff here. 5 stars.

Groovy

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!!!!

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

Iconic.

lets make the water turb balck

Zappa! Experimentation and commentary. Awesome album.

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

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.

This shit is tight.

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

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

Wonderful album.

zappa é mor doidão né

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

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"

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

Yeah, wow.

DUH

I'm curious to know if this is generally accepted or simply my own opinion: This might be the earliest punk album and it's great.

Love Frank

I'll admit it's a mixed bag but I do love Zappa and Co's satirical take on society and it's a whole lot of fun when I'm in the right mood. Shame there's no Fugs on this list

I know it's not for everyone but I do enjoy Frank Zappa's absurd genius

what the hell. Loved it as a sound installation, not as individual pieces of music.

so called weird sounds and experimental lovers sure run fast the other way when they come into the presence of true weirdo i mean of course i know this one is a total hit or total miss for majority of the listeners but you know at least it evokes emotions and makes you question what you just listened to Also the lyrics slaps, i mean come on; "There will come a time when every evil That we know will be an evil That we can rise above" wish i was stoned af when listening to this...

You either get it or you don't. This shits weird, but so am I, so it's right in my wheel house.

the mothers are such an interesting band because basically every song has a couple seconds of the coolest music ever immediately followed by the most unlistenable shit. zappa reigns supreme though so 4 stars

Not my favorite Zappa to listen to, but one of his most interesting.