Reviews (page 7 of 8)
This won’t take long, the most basic form of satire, not even thought provoking. Must have been aimed at the american market. Utter shite
1 star but it's really cool. Could never be something I listened to again except for as a joke but happy to have heard this weird music once
Hot garbage. Hot dog water. A festering pile of dog shit.
Ah idk about this one. Felt like kids making music.
dumbest shit I ever heard
This did not remind me of Sergeant Peppers. It reminded me of the White Album, but if the White Album was 90% “Revolution 9” and 10% the other bad songs from the White Album but not a whole song at once, but a bad song for ten seconds at a time every five minutes, often playing at the same time as “Revolution 9”. All that to say, this sucked.
Įkyrus. Per trumpi ir dažnai keičiasi, balsai meh.
I haven't listened to the Mothers in decades. They were one of those fringe bands for me during my college years, their schtick, just didn't wear that well with me on most occasions. This trip back then into memory lane has demonstrated the Mother's music hasn't improved with me, with age.
Just no, what the hell are we even doing here? Why do these 60s and 70s concept albums tend to suck so hard. This was grating on the ears, annoying AF in so many ways, and I gave up on it.
bad.
This sucks.
Cosmic Junk
This is the album that killed me. I only made it to 603 albums before I died.
artsy fartsy
what is going on?
Jag har förstått att Zappa liksom Prince var omåttligt musikaliskt begåvad, för bra för sitt eget bästa. Men det är onekligen skillnad på hur man väljer att använda sin begåvning.
Skämtmusik.
Det ska väl vara någon slags revolt samtidigt mot vuxenvärlden som mot hippiekulturen. Det enda jag tänker på är dock Carl Lidbom. ”Det ät trams”. Håller möjligtvis för en lokal nyårsrevy. Att albumet finns i boken är ett tydligt bevis för rockkritikersläktets bristande omdöme.
Det här är inget musikalbum. Det är en skojskiva. Och den är inte särskilt rolig. Hippies är långhåriga och knarkar är tydligen ett fantastiskt roligt skämt 1968. Musiken är ungefär lika rolig. Precis som med Sparks är dokumentären bättre än musiken.
Frank Zappa is one of those artists where you can love his albums and hate other ones at the same time. Hot Rats and Freak Out are the greats of his 60's period, this one the stinker. I like when Frank Zappa combines his experimental approach with his excellent playing and songcraft, not when the album is composed of sped up and looped throwaway tapes with the occasional bit of enjoyable music in them. There was half of a fun song on Flower Punk, but the listening experience bounces between background noise and 7 layers of irony deep Chipmunks chatter and noodling. The Mothers can do so much better.
Fuck off
Really fucking bad.
I think I didn’t get it.
In fairness I have had an absolutely awful stressful day. This is one of the worst pieces of media I have ever consumed in my life. I would genuinely rather listen to nails scraping on a chalkboard or audio of unanaesthetised amputations than listen to this again. Who in their right mind puts the effort in to make the music, produce it, take all the photos to collage to make this album cover, to then print the albums and sell them, with such shit music. Feels like a prank honestly. Think I can safely say that if you could see the two paths that my life takes, one with me listening to this before I die and the other one being me dying without having to listen to this, the latter would be more enjoyable. Specific rating - 0.1 Fav song- none of them Least fav- the chrome plated megaphone of destiny
Bad music, mediocre satire
Ik was GEEN fan van Freak Out!, deels ook omdat het een dubbelalbum was en ik gewoon echt het gevoel had dat het me gewoon belachelijk aan het maken was met zn uur runtime en kazoo solos. Sindsdien heb ik ontzettend veel saaie rock en britpop geluisterd, tot het punt dat ik misschien toch wel een beetje benieuwd ben naar dit album. De cover is natuurlijk memes, Beatles maar dan net wat vreemder en absurdistischer. Ik sta echt veel meer open voor vreemde muziek dan ten tijde van het vorige album van hun. Maar Frank jij ouwe klootzak, beetje boeren in mn oor, dat is niet vreemd, maar gewoon niet echt chill. Ja nee, ik probeer echt open hiervoor te staan, maar het is niet echt muziek. Het is een soort aaneenschakeling van memes en rare shit met af en toe stukjes muziek. Ik geloof meteen dat dit een bijzonder album was in de tijd, dat is het namelijk nog steeds, maar als iemand mij in de toekomst verteld dat hij fan is van Mothers of Invention dan weet ik in elk geval dat die persoon emotioneel in de kindertijd is blijven hangen. Dit album voelt als iemand die heel erg zn best doet om weird en quirky te zijn en daardoor voornamelijk heel erg irritant is. FAVO:
Sometimes I think I'm being too milquetoast with my reviews: opting to sit the fence and center most around 3's with a few moving the needle to 2s and 4s. Albums like this remind me of why I use the scale I do. An absolute 1 if there ever were a 1. Production isn't just weird, it's noise, not music. Annoying and insufferable to listen to. Satire comes off as smug, mean‑spirited, and juvenile. Maybe it was cutting edge in 1968, but it sounds more like an art project than a “sit back and enjoy” album. I guess to throw it a bone, it serves is a glimpse into another perspective to the 60s? After I listened to it (and hated it), I saw that Frank Zappa was involved and it all made sense. I didn't enjoy the other album I got from him either.
39 minutes, and every one a punishment. This was brutal. A joke that’s not funny. You know the person that tells everyone how smart they are, but are actually just a total dick? This is the musical version of that.
It’s been 987 albums (my biggest gap between albums by an artist with only two albums on the list) since I reviewed Freak Out!, and at long last is the other Mothers of Invention album on this list. I thought Freak Out! was good, and I really enjoyed the lyrics on it. It seems like I might be in for of the same on this album, and if so, I think I might wind up enjoying this. Well, WOiIftM (I’m not typing out that whole album name) was certainly an experience. The lyrics on this album were funny at times, but for the most part, Zappa and his crew came across as bitter assholes who just hated everyone. To me, this album wasn’t satirical, because satire is fun and lighthearted, and this album just lambasted everyone in a way that felt like it came from a place of moral superiority. I’ll admit that “Who Needs the Peace Corps?” was hilarious, but after that, this album’s lyrical themes felt pretty tired and played out. Musically, I wasn’t into this album at all. I enjoyed the music on Freak Out!, but here, I felt like everything was just annoying noise. I can understand why this album is on the list, but it certainly didn’t line up with my personal tastes at all.
Nope. Not music.
Only someone as dumb and shitty as Frank Zappa could conclude that The Beatles, the band that constantly innovated and knowingly alienated their audience in order to pursue their artistic vision, are “only in it for the money”. There are 1000 bands you could correctly attribute that to, but The Beatles are not one of them. Also, the music on this album is terrible.
I'm sure this is EXACTLY someone's jam, but it is DEFINITELY NOT MINE. DNF. -2 stars.
Built on frantic, collage-like bursts of warped guitars, rubbery bass lines, cheap-sounding keyboards, abrupt tape edits, and nasal, theatrically sneering vocals, this experimental rock album spins like a funhouse mirror maze. It's so jagged, jumpy, and willfully chaotic that mostly I am irritated and annoyed.
Terrible album. It's not even music.
I'm used to more interesting stuff from Frank Zappa. This ain't it. I didn't like it. I like the artwork though. I imagine he wrote this as some kind of diss to The Beatles? At least the artwork. But that doesn't justify the fact that it's a bad record.
It was a bit pointless
A classic 1960's weird album. Weird voices, weird lyrics, weird sounds and some weird music too. There were some similarities to tracks from Pink Floyd's Ummagumma album from around the same time, e.g. "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict". Unlike Ummagumma there don't seem to be any redeeming tracks on this album. It's all weird and one that I'll characterise as "just because you can make music like this doesn't mean to say you should do"
Terrrible!
This album was complete crap. I don't even know how this is categorized; as music. If I could give is 0 stars I would.
hell naw man
1/10
Nein. Absoluter Fiebertraum, leider nicht im positiven Sinn. Einziger Lichtblick als bei "Concentration Moon" kurz das Gefühl aufkommt, jetzt beginnt "Happy".
Ist nicht mein erster Versuch mit diesem Album, aber ich verstehe es einfach nicht. Kein Song, der mich überzeugt, kein Text, den ich unterhaltsam oder interessant finde (zugegebenermaßen etwas schwierig, darauf zu achten, wenn im Hintergrund ein Baby schreit) und falls irgendwo mal eine gute musikalische Idee vorhanden war, dann war der Song so schnell vorbei, dass es im Endeffekt auch wieder egal war. Spätere Zappa-Sachen sind da etwas zugänglicher.
1.4 Stop kidding yourself. It's shite. Frank Zappa is one of the medium-sized gang that this list has led me to realise they're shite
DNF
Bollocks...and just to clarify - that isn't good
I don't give this rating lightly. This is genuinely bad and I don't think I enjoyed any of these songs. It's just garbage hippie anti-music.
vaguely musical youtube poop. if you like it, you've correctly identified the transgression of true musical genius. if you don't like it, you're a mainstream sheep with unevolved tastes. if you don't really know and you're just confused, you've fallen into frank zappa's trap and you're exactly where he wants you. checkmate athiests. if he saw me give this 5 stars he would scrunch up his nose in disgust. if he saw me give 3 stars he would spit in my face. if he saw me give 1 star, he would finally nod his head in respect. "that's the point man, or something" frank zappa would say to me. favorite song is Mother People
Hard to come up with things I like about this album, which is surely part of the bit in this satirical take on music in the 60s. Counterpoint: pitched up voices aren't funny 1.5/10
Hmmm. "Haha funny album", sure, but how does this end up as one of the 1001 essential albums? I'm starting to think the real joke is the 1001 albums we listen to along the way. 0 garden goblins out of 10 wait was it agains
Perhaps it's a verry important album - but not for me.
Sounds like it's trying too hard to be non-conformists, but ends up just sounding terrible
Man I just don't like Frank Zappa's music. This still isn't an exception.
Utter tripe
That was quite the experience. I contemplated giving it two stars for that, but ultimately I think it's just Frank Zappa showing off his performative cynicism, rather than music.
Näe
Too weird for me
This could be good, but it's too concerned with being 'funny'. It is not funny. As soon as something starts cooking a sound effect or a stupid lyric stops everything in its tracks. I've always struggled with Frank Zappa. I don't he's clever or subversive or funny. He's not even weird, he tries too hard for that. Weirdness comes naturally, this is forced and I can smell a rat.
This shit sucks
Nope. Understand it’s satire, but I’m not listening to this entire thing.
Well. I got through it. I'm sure there is some meaning in these songs somewhere, but it sounds like Muppets singing carnival horror songs. No Sir, I didn't like it.
Yuck
Some albums really don't deserve a listen, this is one
I didn’t enjoy this album in the slightest. I understand that this is experimental and whatnot, but that “experiment” unfortunately flopped. There were a few songs that were boring at best and the rest were very hard to listen to.
this is the worst thing i have ever listened to -50 stars
really not good
It ought to be possible to select a 0 rating for this utter garbage.
I don’t really know what Frank Zappa was trying to achieve with this. It’s not enjoyable to listen to, it’s not funny and I don’t know what the message is beyond “everyone is stupid except Frank Zappa.”
Feels like typical 'hippie rock' from the 60s. Not good, experimental sounds. 2/10
Absolutely terrible. Late 60s Frank Zappa style LSD music
In the plight to make fun of everyone, I think the music fell a little flat. I wished the music was a little more interesting: instead of hard-hitting, it just came across as obnoxious. The random noises and squirrel voices were annoying. This could have been so good, but unfortunately, it came across as jealous. Some tracks sounded like the haunted house at Disney world, which bordered on Art Rock, but I don't think it was fully realized. 1 out of 5.
Could barely make it past the first 3 tracks!
I can’t believe this band has any, let alone two, albums on this list. This is the second time I am giving them one star. Although I will say this album is better than the other one. I probably would give the other one zero if possible.
1,5/5 I'm insanely confused. I enjoyed the instrumentals mostly. That's prob about it. I didn't know what certain lyrics were about. Some I did and I kinda could follow their point but yeah. i don't know wheter to be intrigued or weirded out. But I guess that was their goal and they achieved it.
Genuinely, why do people go on and on about Frank Zappa...? This is the second one of his albums/projects I've gotten on this list and they've both been painful listens. The first song on this album is just creepy, enraging noise. What is this garbage?
the mothers of inventing dogshit
umm….
LMAO
Feels like the obnoxious, annoying kid constantly saying "Hey, watch this. Hey, Hey did you see what I did?" thinking they're being funny and clever. You smile & nod to be polite while thinking "What the f*** is he going on about?"
Unable to like this, felt like a wasted 34 minutes or whatever.
This shit supposed to be funny? All I hear is a cynical little bitch thats bad at satire and acts just so cool and above it all. Zappa's just soo different and quirky, hes not like the other freaks. Maybe the time we're living through taints my view on this one, but relentlessly mocking people for caring about stuff or standing for something, even if they are stinky hippies, is pretty lame and depressing. In mocking others for taking themselves too seriously, he takes himself way too seriously. Some hot poop for sure, had to be there I guess.
This wasn't what I was expecting. It's definitely different but none of the faves. I could never see myself putting this on a record player and listening to it, but I guess you had to be there
This album smelled like unwashed underwear and marijuana
Zappa projekt.
Drek
I don't know, man, maybe this was really revolutionary in 1968 or whatever, but at this point the satire is unfocused and weak, the polemics are just as preachy as the stuff I think Zappa is making fun of, and the dirty stories are just dirty for dirty's sake. He has nothing to say and he says it in the most annoying way possible. Even the little bit of genuine artistry here - the collage on "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" he has to ruin with a fart joke. It is a mark of my commitment to this project that I listened to this all the way through.
This was really hard to sit through
Sounds a bit like switching between stations on a broken radio, and all of the stations are playing the duck song
Did make me laugh a couple times but so much of it was so unlistenable and made me physically uncomfortable
This is the worst album we’ve gotten
The 60s, I know, but wtf.
Nonsense stitched together with sound effects.
Probably not as bad as I think but unfortunately reminds me too much of my ex. 👎🏻
Sitä samaa saatanan Zappa-paskaa. Orkestraalista komedia musikaalia tämä on, ei toimi levynä ei
The Weird All of his day
This was just a weird bunch of noise.
Shite this. 40 mins of recorded telephone calls and noise. Occasionally a tune threatens to come through but is then suppressed in favour of more noise and childish lyrics. Unbelievably this isn’t the worst album I’ve been served up on this list but it’s close
No
# Album Name: We're Only In It For The Money # Artist: The mothers of invention # Rating:1/5 # Comments: Absolute dog shit. Turns out you dont need talent to be an "artist" Wow. # Top Tunes: None # Would I listen to it again? No
Not really the kind of satire albums I like but I can respect the vision. This feels like a hannah-barberra joint
Genuinely unlistenable dogshit. I have nothing positive to say about this. How is it categorised with prog rock and art rock. Lmfao
Absolutely criminal No words to describe how bad it is
Fav: What’s The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? Least Fav: The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny A song on this album is called Hot Poop, tells you all you need to know about this mistake of an album. Omg the final song is 6 minutes long???????
music for stoner freaks? weird freaks? it's nice sounding. lyrics are the most exciting part. cynical. maybe a bit too arrogant. few songs in, i DNF'd. was bored. it got tired. but i can see how this ??? maybe influenced parody music??? it was stupid. just jokes i wasn't around to get.
Kind of funny.... What's your ugliest body part? Your mind. Too trippy, too abstract for me.
wthelly 😭
My life will be better if I never listen to this again. Painful from start to finish.
OK...I'm trying to have an open mind, but the found sounds to start the album are not a good sign. This is terrible. No one calls it Frisco. This is one of the worst albums on the list. The combination of found sound, psychedelic music and audio effects combines for a truly terrible listening experience. It ends the way it began...with a bunch of random noises.
Day 8 Not for me at all this one, incredibly frustrating as there they’ll be 30 seconds of what could be a lovely song followed by a minute of noise. The vast majority of it just doesn’t connect with me in anyway, there’s nothing here I’d particularly want to listen to again. 2/10 Highlights Lonely little girl Take your clothes off when you dance
For today's 1001 albums to hear before I die, I got a Frank Zappa album!!! The Mothers of Invention's We're Only in It for the Money is the first album I have ever heard from this weird side project of Zappa and I honestly have no idea what to expect. Immediately this album throws you into some very on the nose political satire of the current state of the world back in 1969 with very clear jabs at police brutality and politics at the time. What I don't appreciate is how annoying and weird for the sake of being weird this project is, there are maybe 2 or 3 coherent songs and the rest are just the ramblings of a madman put into audio form. The randomness is not charming, fun, or even all the interesting and instead it feels like it too is played for satire rather than any actual meaning. We're Only in It for the Money is a very fitting title as this entire album feels like one giant cash-grab and swindle hosted by The Mothers of Invention. I know they probably have better albums but this leaves quite a sour taste in my mouth for anything else they have to offer.
I have a hard time with Frank Zappa on his regular music but this is just bizarre. Who let them make this album.... at some point someone should have told them it wasn't a good idea. There is a song called "hot poop", really this should have been the name of this album.
Activement désagréable. C'est cool parodier les Beatles mais il faudrait faire de la bonne musique en même temps idéalement.
Repetitive narrative. Musically uninteresting. This album could have been a song. Zappa was trying too hard, swing and a miss.
This kind of sounds like they tried to replicate the Beatles but made it as bad as possible on purpose. It's a very solid 1.
What in the feverdream is this album?
Noise
This feels like one of those albums that just straight sucks (somewhat intentionally), but if you don't like it people are gonna act like you just aren't smart enough to "get it".
Woof. Some things just aren't your cup of tea, and the vocal style of this band is one of them. God bless you if it's yours.
Hot, hot , hot GARBAGE. Dear lord I wish zero stars was an option.
I HAVENT EVEN FINISHED THIS ONE BUT I FUCKING HATE IT SO MUCH STOP PUTTING ASMR IN MY EARS REEEEEEEE STFU -1
Wanky!
Site!
Is there a more overrated artist than Frank Zappa?
We're Only in It for the Money is a sad example of an album, that should have been a stand up show. There are lots of very thick satire, noise and talking, and not nearly enough good music in it. As soon as I start liking a song, it gets ruined by the band's wish to be annoying. I take this album being included in the list as its authors' personal statement. Leave my psychedelic dungeons alone, Frank Zappa.
horrendous
Self-indulgent twaddle
Not a Zappa fan. 1/5
Didn't like this one Frank, kind of just music for jerks
too experimental couldn't finish
“Mom can I have the beetles?” “No son, we have the “beetles” at home.”
Definitely not a background album to listen to! May need to try listening to each song individually but had a hard time with this one! First Zappa album I've heard. Off the top could definitely tell it's a satire of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
???????????????????????? man what is this I feel like Im hearing a string of random thoughts (its very funny with WNTPC? heeey I think my hair grew out) genuine cinema im afraid Favorite: Who needs the peace corps?
Tg sex pistols, the velvet underground, And the mother's of invention. Are all the most overrated untalented waste of time bands out there. This album is nothing but nonsense and noise.
Terrible
The music equivalent of the millennial burger joint meme
Too weird, too experimental and just lacks any overall cohesion to deserve consideration as an album. It's a collection of nonsense.
Proof LSD doesn't always improve music.
This really feels like a level of parody and criticism that may have hit harder at the time. It comes off as someone telling everyone how they're stupid and how this is highlighting that. It's not incompetently done but it doesn't do anything. I have no idea how this is mandatory listening. Maybe I'm an idiot they're talking about.
The most basic version of frustrated youth. Not so subtlety complaining and throwing a bit of a tantrum as an album. No one needs to hear this. I would not recommend it to anyone.
This album is awful and truly difficult to listen through. I like some Zappa and I’m not above enjoying good satire but this sounds as insufferable as a 26 year old undergraduate student ripping a bong and bemoaning the current state of affairs.
The weird uncles of America owe the rest of us an apology for making this guy into a thing. It took me until this album to realize that American culture is too materialistic and that there are flaws in our political process. It's too bad I'm dead now that Frank Zappa bludgeoned me to death with the message for 35 minutes.
I get that the point was to annoy you but if i wanted to laugh, I'd follow him into the bathroom
Man, I've been fed a string of really bad albums from this list lately. I don't even know where to begin describing how bad this album was so I'll just give it one start and move on.
Music sucked. Only redeeming qualities was that a lot of lyrical themes are still relevant today and they shit on the Beatles a lot.
Cue a Liz Lemon eyeroll
Profoundly irritating
uh it's like jethro tull except not fun to listen to. I understand that it's experimental and lyrically smart, and has some actual good musical elements but it was shitty to listen to. I didn't like listening to it at all and I tried to listen to it some more but I really didn't care for this
This could be incredible as satire of 1960s American culture - I don't know enough about the era to judge that adequately but I'm happy to take the experts' word on it. But music it ain't.
It's definitely different, a unique experience. Not in a good way though. I feel like Frank's vocal delivery is really sing-songy and kind of lame. There is a pattern to the delivery that makes me cringe. It's hard for me to imagine how he got so famous. This music is a one and done for me, I don't feel like I ever need to listen to this again. Maybe the message in the vocals is nice but it's not something that I would care to spend any time on.
Not for me
Is this satire? I don't get it.
Probably trippy for it’s time but pretty terrible by todays standards
Judging by the cover I was expecting some sort of parody version of Sgt Pepper’s by the Beatles, but what I actually got was almost aggressively bad. Unfunny skits, unlistenable experimental interludes and lyrics that were written by someone who hated both hippies and ‘the man’, trying to show how ‘CRAAAAYZEEE’ they were but sounding like a budget Dr Demento.
Some of the lyrics made me laugh but this was overall an unpleasant experience. My ceiling for late 60s silly psychedelic fuckaroundery is about at the level of The Beatles' White Album and this was just too much. That said, I might have liked, say, watching a live version of this without all the studio noodling. But this is my first 1-star for a reason.
Just, why? You know they are all capable of something so much better than this. It’s a joke record that nobody was prepared to put a stop to when they should have.
Far more insufferable and smug than any of the music it's supposed to satirize. Head's so far up its own ass, it's practically an ouroboros
I don't care for this much at all. I feel like it's just trying to be goofy for the sake of being goofy and nothing here is memorable enough to really warrant it's existence. Some of the production is kind of interesting, but that's about all I've got. 1 star.
Good lord this stinks. Think I need to be high to tolerate. Totally disjointed, barely music. Sure some of the production effects may have been interesting/creepy at the time but I can’t believe anyone would give these guys money.
A boneless Trout Mask Replica.
What the hell is this shit
Strange music. What do you expect with Zappa.
You can't say it's not inventive You also can't say that it's in any way listenable
wow. this really sucks
STRANGE. A never-ending and not fun trip. Gives major ick.
I was already annoyed by the first song and that annoyance was refreshed with each song that followed. This was nothing more than self-absorbed noise masturbation. I believe the album title. They certainly weren't in it for the music.
"This is some weird shit" doesn't even come close to summarising this album. Overall: 2/10
I’d be surprised if We’re Only In It For The Money made any money. Not a bad start, but breaks down quickly. Bout half way through Concentration Moon the music and lyrics get really silly and continue through to the end. Flower Punk is listenable, then a tough finish. Never listened to the entire album until now, but it might have been targeted to the 16 year old male that read Mad Magazine. Either way, it’s not good and doesn’t hold up at all. Frankly, it comes in at (1.4*s)
What's The Ugliest Part of this album? The whole thing... It was like a bad Wonka dream. I will say this is a testament to how weird Zappa can really get, there's no one quite like him. However, most of this album is really annoying and I wouldn't classify it as music. The jokes aren't landing anymore so it's not even a fun listen. It's such an eclectic mash up of things and they think they're all being so clever the whole time. It's really juvenile and off putting. 1.05 for minstrel Smurfs.
Frank Zappa has a reputation for being weird for the sake of weird. This basically describes We're Only In It For The Money. It's hard to even call it an album as its mostly a bunch of joke-songs that don't really work beyond a surface level listen, and even less so if you take them at an individual level. I assume this album made a splash at the time due to the album artwork and direct attack/satire of pop culture in its moment. I imagine the shock value is the reason for its inclusion in the list which I guess is reason enough considering some of the other entries. I didn't enjoy the listen but i guess I appreciate my exposure to a piece of dated pop culture and getting another snapshot of Zappa's inscrutable legacy. Nearly 60 years removed in the current internet age this is a skippable relic with little to no relevance. I'll file this away as a weird novelty that I'm glad I heard even if I didn't like it. 1.12 stars
Yeah this was pretty weird, not really sure what was going on here and skipped the last song anyways. The line 'hi boys and girls, my name is Jimmy Carl Black and I’m the Indian of the Group.' is kinda legendary though
01) Are You Hung Up - / 02) Who Needs the Peace Corps? - 6,0 03) Concentration Moon - 4,0 04) Mom & Dad - 6,5 05) Telephone Conversation - / 06) Bow Tie Daddy - 4,0 07) Harry, You're a Beast - 4,5 08) What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? - 4,0 09) Absolutely Free - 5,0 10) Flower Punk - 4,0 11) Hot Poop - / 12) Nasal Retentive Calliope Music - 1,0 13) Let's Make the Water Turn Black - 5,0 14) The Idiot Bastard Son - 4,0 15) Lonely Little Girl - 5,0 16) Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance - 4,0 17) What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (Reprise) - 1,0 18) Mother People - 5,0 19) The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny - 1,0 TOTAL: 3,37 (34/100)
Wild to think that this barrage of noise, tape loops and non-songs exists on a list with Mariah Carey's "Butterfly" (spoilers?). Now, I like me some Zappa, but this album's (if you can still call it that) inclusion on this list makes no sense to me. This one is a hard 1/5 for me just because there's nothing enjoyable about it.
An incredibly creative album in spite of it being a leering, boring, profoundly uncomfortable listen. Songs are too short, chomped up, groped, too cutesy and self-aware, a relic that likely sounded like a revolution in 1968 to the too cool to be cool counterculture strays but in 2025 to my ears anyways sounds like Frank Zappa jerking off for shock value & to let everyone know how different & wacky he is. Mourning wood. Get it? Idiot lyrics, cartoony vocals, silly inside jokes, loony sounds that scream OMG what a character Zappa is (!) so dada (!) type of poop. This isn't the sound of a generation (in decline or otherwise) at best it's a collection of sound bites that collectively play like what one would hear in the waiting room of some fever dream purgatory as the rug is pulled out from under you as your name is called in speaking tongues. "Mr. Shithole the DR will see you now." No doubt this was a great album at one time before Zappa decided to goof on his own work for street cred or whatever. Burnt Weeny Sandwiches for all the lord has risen! There are traces of absolute brilliance on WOIIFTM which is a testament to Zappa's restless untamed genius for better or worse.
Awful album. No redeeming features whatsoever
Not Zappa again! Too much! All I'll say... If this was my meal at a restaurant, I'd get drunk, start a food fight, then dine and dash. And crush them on Yelp.
Ended up being more cringe than a parody.
Random music pieces. Until track 9 just o.k. but beginning with "Flower Punk" too much annoying noice. fun: "What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?" 1,5
Like a depraved episode of Scooby Doo. We are the other people, we are the other people, we hate the Beatle people, we are the Scooby Doo. (Apologies to scoob and the gang. Hippy hating Zap wouldn’t dare be associated anyway.) Me, I’d rather listen to real music Mr. Christgau, like say, Sgt. Pepper’s, other than this horse shit. Sure, the Beatles recorded Pepper’s in large part to make money, but hey, that’s capitalism, and the result would not have been what it was if the Beatles didn’t actually care about their product or their legacy. Zappa is a jealous zealot, talented in a less soul-striking way, and uses the accusation that others (like the Beatles) are only in it for the money to, well, try ‘n make some money… One album (Peppers) stands the test of time and will probably be cherished for centuries. The other has a track called Hot Poop. Which is more worthy of my heart-investment? Fuck Frank Zappa.
I mean...whaaaaaaaaaa????
While this album has its place in time and may have been cutting edge at some point, it is lost on me.
I probably needed to be on a ton of drugs to find enjoyment in this... This solidified that I'm just not a Zappa fan. He's probably actually a talented musician, but every album adjacent to him that comes up on here is some stupid, garbage music that's meant to critique other music or whatever. Like this is supposed to be criticizing the Beatles for selling out I guess? It's difficult to take that seriously in hindsight with how impactful the Beatles have been, and also just how much I didn't enjoy thus album.
I have been told Frank Zappa is really good. I have not found that to be the case so far. Maybe the next one will be.
# 452 : 07/04/2025 : Can't Listen to it, it's all over the place and I don't think it is very good. Sometimes this list feels like things are included just because they were popular at the time, or they're by a big name artist, but does anyone actually still listen to this album?
Well, that was…something. I’m too much of square for this kind of psychedelic/avant-garde music. 1 star
This is for someone and I hope they find it but it sure ain’t me
A lot of the things I dislike about Sgt Pepper's without any of the things I like
I wish there was a rating less than 1. Good lord.
One really long disjointed song. Flower punk doesn't completely suck.
I really don't like anything to do with Frank Zappa. His career crosses the threshold from aesthetically unrelatable to just genuinely dishonorable. The scat jokes, the attention seeking imagery without really saying anything at all, the juvenile demeanor while essentially just collecting signifiers that want so badly to be seen as musically clever. I've listened through Zappa's discography more times than anyone reasonably should outside the confines of a CIA black site because guys that resonate with this function a lot like dead heads and make it a core aspect of their identity, so whoever isn't initiated should be evangelized too. I've actually sat through a lot of stuff that absolutely honks because of a guy -- entire episodes of Joe Rogan and Lex Fridman podcast, Cum Town, National Lampoon, Megadeth, David Goggins, Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Dune and Mad Max movies, Slipknot, Star Wars, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Burzum, Tool, Dungeons and Dragons, anything to do with bitcoin or sports betting, Starship Troopers, Death Before Dishonor. Some of it eventually resonated with me after getting older and growing more jaded and fucked in the ass by life -- power electronics, Houllebecq novels, hardcore. Zappa is probably at dead bottom of the list of stuff that still honks because I can't even bring myself to find it endearing for being out of my wheel house in some uncomfortably sincere or Tarzan-like way, it is just unrelentingly hollow and fucking annoying.
À la poubelle
Woof…. Some of these you can’t help but wonder how they got on here
Absolutely shit
This is the 68th album I’m rating. I’ve heard Frank Zappa is great but I’ve never listened to anything he made, I think. Adding to my Playlist - Nothing. Not Adding to my Playlist - Are You Hung Up?, 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, Hot Poop, Nasal Retentive Calliope Music, Let’s Make the Water Turn Black, The Idiot Bastard Son, It’s His Voice on the Radio, Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance, What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body? (Reprise), Mother People, and The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny. All in all I liked 0/18 songs. This was awful but I kinda like it for what it is. It does what it does perfectly but I hate what it does. It makes fun of mainstream music well but it sounds awful.
Well, that was…something. I’m too much of square for this kind of psychedelic/avant-garde music. 1 stars
I can't imagine there was much money to be made from this album.
I wonder if they were on drugs when they made this? 🤔 Got on my tits very quickly
Love me some zappa but this was not good
A sage once said that necessity is “the mother of invention,” but there is nothing necessary about this shit. People insist that Zappa was some sort of genius, but he seems incapable of putting together a tune that’s more than a couple bars long. Another sage said “don’t mistake lack of talent for genius…” I suspect he was thinking of this album.
Wow this is bad, but they were probably too stoned to realize that in 1968. 1 star or F+.
Almost unlistenable. There's not been many on the list that I've just given up on completely before the end, but this one made that particular list.
Talentless.
Nope
shit
An all time low for this list. Absolutely garbage.
What was probably seen as groundbreaking at the time can only be seen with my modern eyes as childishly inept. I could only compare this to modern immature cringeworthy artists like Wheatus and the like. If you want bad taste art rock then check out the Butthole Surfers.
This is ridiculously all over the place. Frank Zappa’s satirical take on the hippie culture of the time doesn’t hold up, but it does shine a light on a phenomenon that happens during any zeitgeist moment…lots of people act like they are a part of a movement just for the attention, when they don’t actually believe in the actual movement…as much as Frank Zappa does, I guess. In other words, SELLOUTS!! He hates them. Musically it’s just a unlistenable mess. It sounds like he simply picked a random 39 minutes of his life, picked up whatever instrument was next to him and hit the record button. He’s sniggering all the way to the bank by making money off of the people he’s laughing at. If he’s trying to get his point across by sounding like shit, he’s missing the real point. You don’t change peoples opinions on societal issues by mocking their intelligence towards an art that he perceives as being sellout, because that art has value to some people regardless of what he thinks or feels. If that “sellout” art changes even one persons mind for the better and the world brightens a little because of it, then it matters…including HIS art. But here it is coming from such a pessimistic point of view. I love the late 60’s psychedelic movement. It was a time of extreme innovation in music in general that has held up more than well, and all he’s doing is saying nobody else could ever be as “real” as he is. Piss on that. Now that I’ve listened through this album for this project, I am grateful that I never have to sit through it again.
Zappa certainly had some great music. This sure in the hell isn’t it.
Can only ask the question "why is this one on the list???" so many times.
Pretty cringe.
Album che migliora progressivamente più abbasso il volume
Well here officially does my fav run of about 7 great albums going back to the bayou … I get that this album is supposed to be satirical but I guess most jokes are lost on me in the bad music.. there’s really only small parts of this I find listenable , although the ugly song was funny
Rating: 0/10 One of the worst albums of all time. This album mocks other bands from this era but is not funny or interesting whatsoever. There was not a single moment of this I enjoyed, a truly heinous piece of shit.
Kids... don't do drugs...
no thanks
Awful
Very experimental, very satirical, very annoying. The most obnoxious part is that right when actual music would start to seep through the nonsense, the nonsense would take over full force and whiplash you back into the fever dream this album was. I can get being annoyed by popular music/culture to the point of making fun of it but this is done so poorly and with no sense of taste that it comes across extremely childish and aggravating. 2/10
This wasn't enjoyable at all.
If you like this album, you are so cool and edgy!! This is maybe the worst album I've come across in the year and a half I've been taking part in listening to these albums. It's so bad and uninteresting. If it was experimental at the time, that's amazing for them, doesn't mean I should have to listen to this unadulterated rubbish If I ever have to listen to this again, something bad has happened. Awful 0/5
I want to like it but I don't. It has some promise but not fully formed.
Wish I could get that 39 minutes and 20 seconds of my life back
Campy and awful. Did not age well.
I'm sorry. I know this is Zappa, and it was meant to be a concept album, but I'm totally lost on the concept. This seems to be a work of monkeys rummaging through a sound archive and gluing the tapes together.
Track 11s name should of been the name of the album.
i cant listen to it LOL.
'Music' shouldn't be this hard work. Just because you *can* play it, doesn't mean that you *should*. Schoolboy humour with endless solos was never going to tick many of my boxes for what makes a great album, and in that way, this didn't disappoint. But in every other way I just found this underwhelming, overrated and over-thought. You're trying too hard, Frank. Maybe finally take a chill pill (or something) and relax a bit. Never trust a hippy. Especially if they try to persuade you that they aren't a hippy.
Nah, man. Not good.
No. Just... no.
Frank Zappa is terrible
Hellish. Literal Hell. Only people in asylums probably listen to this. I wish I could give zero stars.
Evidence for the prosecution in the case of “allowing mankind the ability to record sound was a mistake.”
Too focused on parody and too little on the music. I'm sure they had a blast though. 2/10
Tedious. Intended as a satire of hippiedom, the actual music on We’re Only In It For The Money is of the worst sort of the flower power plinky-plonky bullshit. The random noise is reminiscent of Throbbing Gristle’s exploration with noise and conversation when pioneering Industrial, but it’s done with much less purpose and as such is infinitely less compelling. Worst of all, it’s all done with such smugness. Satire at it’s best reveals our own follies and failings with a necessary humanity. It isn’t an excuse to tell everyone how clever you are, and it certainly shouldn’t be rubbing in how much more clever you are than everybody else. If you can’t recognise the material human reasons for why something needs satirising, you aren’t in a position to properly satirise it. If I’d been in the studio when they were recording it, I’d have had to stop myself physically attacking him for pulling the ‘The first word of this song is discorporate, it means to leave your body’ crap. I’ve seen people do that at open mic poetry nights, and they were always the ones who wrote the most overwrought, pretentious, vapid crap while thinking they were the smartest people in the room. I’m not going to accuse Zappa of not having talent or ideas, he was clearly a gifted guitarist and had lots of ideas. But I don’t think he was a great artist in the same way that I don’t think a lot of the Prog Rock era was great art, a lack of understanding of humanity and a lack of empathy for their subjects. If you compare Zappa to your great experimental novels, The Brothers Karamzov or Ulysses sure, they’re dense and complex but they’re also human. Or heck, compare We’re Only In It For The Money to White Light/White Heat; it’s just as noisy and experimental but Lou Reef had, under all of the posturing, an underlying sense of the humanity of his characters. Zappa feels like he’s satirising humanity as a whole because he doesn’t understand it
So fucking obnoxious.
I'd give this a zero if I could. Unlistenable.
Nope.
With so much good Zappa to choose from it's a shame that this mediocre satire album gets recognition. Hippies certainly deserved the mockery but this is Zappa at hist most annoying, taking on the worst tendencies of the flower power psych pop he's parodying and combining it with his own worst tendencies for fussy over-writing and irritating instrumentation. Apostrophe, Joe's Garage, Roxy & Elsewhere, Zoot Allures, Jazz From Hell, Sheik Yerbouti...these are all far more deserving than this one, who's main value is as a reminder that even their contemporaries thought hippies sucked.
So, has anyone seen those images online where it says something like “Damn Homie! You Got The Whole Squad Laughing!” and it’s just people staring at you stonefaced? That’s my experience with this album. It’s bad satire that constantly thinks it’s making some kind of statement. Like yeah Frank, you showed them. I don’t know who the fuck “them” is (hippies I guess) or why half this album is animal noises and playing with your voice pitch until you sound like the missing fourth member of Alvin and the Chipmunks, but… you really stuck it to them. Also, “Nasal Retentive Calliope Music” and “The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny” are the most painful songs I ever heard. Literally cringeworthy. Like I actually physically cringed during both songs. And I mean that with no irony. Favorite track: lol no nothing here this time
I know a lot of people love Zappa's music. I can't. I appreciate the man and all he stood for and the freedom he exuded and inspired. But I can't find any emotional connection to the sounds.
Eén grote amuzikale gimmick. Dacht dat dit een muzieklijstje was.
Bij het zien van de albumhoes weten we eigenlijk al voldoende: de maffe mothers of invention willen weer schijtlollig doen en een soort parodie maken op bestaande albums. Ze gebruiken hiervoor hun eigen psychedelische rare muziek. Naar teksten luister ik zoals gewoonlijk niet, dus wellicht dat daar allerlei leuke spitsvondigheden in zitten, maar die gaan aan mijn oor verloren. Ik vind het dan soms meer op een soort van Muppet Show lijken, dan dat ik dit serieus moet nemen. Ik heb gewoon geen zin in dit soort schijtlolligheid en heb niet de behoefte om hier open voor te staan. Enorme energievreter is die Zappa, zwaar overschat, dodelijk vermoeiend.
Satire has come a long way since 1968.
That was... something?
Would give a zero if possible. No one likes Frank Zappa.
I get why people hate on hippies now
Nah
This may have been important satire in 1968, but it's essentially "unlistenable" in 2024.
Album started off weird but tolerable, became progressively more annoying, but the insufferable final track ultimately dropped it down to 1-star level
Listened Before? Y I've heard this a few times. Didn't like it before, don't like it now. Edgelord comedy "rock" filled with shock attempts and fart jokes. Lame. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Who Needs The Peace Corps? (only because it's close to being an actual song).
Self-indulgent, but at the time, they had a point.
Ich hab's zweimal versucht und für mindestens dreimal zu wenig geraucht
I don’t like to generalize, I feel most musical projects are subjective and nuanced, but this “album” really just boils down to “weird for the sake of weird”. It feels like the rantings of a sarcastic 14 year old edgelord who thinks they are far more intelligent than anyone else in the world, I guess this is a time when someone who just insults everyone is considered to be groundbreaking? Dunno. But we certainly get it, this guy hates hippies. There’s a lot of jokes in here that continue that 14 year old line of thinking. Occasionally there’s some really interesting psychedelic music, but it’s certainly not densely packed. Parts of this album actually made me consider selling all my hifi equipment and cancelling my Apple Music subscription, it was so unenjoyable. This is not for me. 1 star.
like many others have said, I think you had to be there.
Unpleasant to listen to. Songs aren't coherent enough to actually sound like music, just annoying noise.
Just a bit out there for me
Super weird shit
Awful.
We're Only In It For The Money is crap. It's stupid, it's an awful listen, it's not cohesive or structured, it's random and gives me nothing I want from music. Frank Zappa can fuck off, 1.
Zappa has a strange sense of humor. This is like a Dr. Demento show with nothing to laugh at or enjoy. Zappa was a genius in so many ways. But this is painful to listen to. Every time it starts to sound like music, he goes out of his way to ruin it. I’m sorry I gave this second chance. 1/5
Meh
On one hand I admire someone who makes music that is uniquely them. This album sounds like it was trying to take the piss out of the Beatles, but it was just too weird for me.
Tolerated this while playing Isofarian Guard. Why are you trying my patience? There was one or two moments that I "enjoyed"...but I'm learning that Frank Zappa and his children are just not my favorites.
Geez, I already said Freak Out kinda sounded like a child of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (which this current album is parodying) But it was still a shock to see that they had pretty much recreated it's album art for We're Only In It For The Money. As for the album itself, I hate it. While Freak Out! had some good moments at the start, this one had no good moments at all. Every weird or unique thing it tries to do always comes across as jarring, annoying or both. And of course, you can't have a Mothers Of Invention album without the obligatory track of just nothing but laughing and random noises and this album has it. I like some weird albums but this one just proves the point i made in my Freak Out! review, Just because it's satire, doesn't mean it gets an excuse for being bad. Best Song: Lovely Little Girl Worst Song: The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny
Absolute shit. How can an album have 19 songs and still be under 40 mins? Let's just take a second to thank god it's only 40 minutes eh.
What was that? If you like random noise and songs that you had to be there for, then this album is for you.
Hot Poop would have made a great title track. We get it dude, you hate hippies.
Nah this is dumb.
Probably this has some cultural significance but I thought it was frigging stupid
What the heck was that?
Seriously, kill me now. Can I vote 0?
Yeah, I'm not going to pretend I get anything that was at least prtially created by Frank Zappa. Most likely he was breaking genres that were gone years before I was even born. It's like trying to read Voltaire without knowing the context of his book. Just to much research involved trying to appreciate one guy. I'll politely refuse to do that.
Cosa experimental horrible. Tomaron el Sgt. Pepper e hicieron una parodia psicodélica de él. Poco valor en este disco.
A bit too silly for me.
Ridiculous.
Awful
The Mothers of Inventions huh? Never heard if these guys. 1968 I see Frank Zappa there and heard his name quite a bit in that first track. I don't really like zappa. There are some funny lyrics in here though. I rarely give 1 stars but I just can't with this. I'll listen to What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? cause that has almost 4 million plays then I'm out. 1 star.
Wouldn't surprise me if this was here only for the cover's bait and switch. The only notable thing about this album is that it made me appreciate kollaps by einstürzende neubauten more, at least they manage to make an interesting experimental noise album
Just a bit shite wasn't it
Just weird for the sake of being weird, really not my thing.
Not my kind of “music” at all.
So odd
1. hung up - 0 2. corpz - 0 3. moon - 0 4. dad - 0 5. phone - 0 6. daddy - 0 7. beazt - 0 8. body - 0 9. free - 1 10. punk - 1 11. poop - 0 12. nazal - 0 13. black - 0 14. zon - 0 15. girl - 0 16. dance - 0 17. body 2 - 0 18. people - 0 19. deztiny - 0
Weird
I don't understand, appreciate, nor care for Frank Zappa's psychedelic rock. This was a strange trip and a complete waste of my time. I want my 40 minutes back.
5/7/24. Just wasn't a fan of this one. I typically appreciate weirdness and potentially controversial or political lyrics, but this one didn't strike a chord with me. It was a bit unique in its defense.
Ennen kun levy lähti soimaan, huomasin, että 60-luvun lopulta… tuumasin, että ettei vaan olis taas hippihörhöilyä ja niinhän se oli. Voihan hezuz sentään…
Sick of this experimental shit
It’s unfortunate there isn’t a negative rating, because I would give a negative rating to this FZ album.
Parodie auf das Album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band der Beatles. Gelungen? Geschmackssache, schade, Frank Zappa machte später bessere Musik
I love Zappa but that guy must've been off a perc 24/7
I’m really disappointed this album is on here. It sucks. It’s disrespectful to real musicians. It’s not even fun.
Несмешная шутка. Недоразумение.
Worst of the list. ALL TIME
Weiiird
Waus
Theres Sgt peppers. Then there’s The Rolling Stones version that tries to be like it. And then there’s whatever the hell this is. Not really sure what to call it. Guttural noises, nonsensical talking, music that tries to be unique or cool but comes off like hot garbage. This is one of the worst albums in English I’ve had. 1.7/10
Don't like it.
Blech
I like Zappa, but even this was too out there for me.
This is worse than Trout Mask Replica.
What a load of nonsense. Sounds like some talented people just decided to mess about and make stupid things that occasionally almost sound like they could be good.