Freak Out! is the debut studio album by American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on June 27, 1966, by Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, it is a satirical expression of frontman Frank Zappa's perception of American pop culture and the nascent freak scene of Los Angeles. It was also one of the earliest double albums in rock music, as well as the first two-record debut album. In the UK, the album was originally released as an edited single disc. The album was produced by Tom Wilson, who signed the Mothers, formerly a bar band called the Soul Giants. Zappa said many years later that Wilson signed the band to a record deal under the impression that they were a white blues band. The album features Zappa on vocals and guitar, along with lead vocalist/tambourine player Ray Collins, bass player/vocalist Roy Estrada, drummer/vocalist Jimmy Carl Black and guitar player Elliot Ingber (later of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, performing there under the pseudonym "Winged Eel Fingerling").The band's original repertoire consisted of rhythm and blues covers, but after Zappa joined the band, he encouraged them to play his own original material, and their name was changed to the Mothers. The musical content of Freak Out! ranges from rhythm and blues, doo-wop, and standard blues-influenced rock to orchestral arrangements and avant-garde sound collages. Although the album was initially poorly received in the United States, it was a success in Europe. It gained a cult following in America, where it continued to sell in substantial quantities until it was discontinued in the early 1970s. In 1999, the album was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and in 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it among the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2006, The MOFO Project/Object, an audio documentary on the making of the album, was released in honor of its 40th anniversary.
It's unbelievable that this album was released in 1966. So ahead of its time. It's a molotove cocktail between psychedelic rock, concrete music and satirical doo-wop. And all of that is just the tip of the iceberg of Frank Zappa's genius. It's not the kind of album I would listen to every day, but I can't help but give it 5 stars. Damn, this was released in 1966... Impossible!
I dont know what to make of this album but i liked it very much.
True innovation in composition. 55 years later, this still has an edge.
This is good, this is good. It's 1966 and already the suburban and societal tedium of the prior decade and the unrest of the present decade is being picked apart. I love how Freak Out just get more and more unsettled as it goes along. The final track feels a bit wack, but 60 years ago there would have been an explosive feeling to have an album start out fairly pop and end up with people muttering "cream cheese, cream cheese". Best track - "Go Cry on Someone Else's Shoulder" - a dismantling of teen heartbreak. Cheer up, you'll get over it.
Yep, Freak Out! is absolutely appropriate for a title. Absolutely experimental rock, but with so many feels of so many 60's bands you'd know and love. I'm sure you could listen 100 times and take something different from this.
Contrairement à mon compagnon d'écoute l'ignoble elfoutaise, j'avais bel et bien reconnu Frank Zappa sur la pochette de l'album. J'étais donc parfaitement préparé à ce qui allait suivre. Et il m'a semblé que ça valait trois étoiles sur l'échelle de Robert.
I suppose you could generously call this satire, but it's really more "Rage against the normies," with penguin of d00m levels or randomness to prove how aloof and freaky they are. The more they criticize the folks who care about appearances, the more they reveal that they do, too. Best track: Hungry Freaks, Daddy
I don't know how to feel about liking this. But I do, so there.
One of the strangest albums of the 60s. S mix of doo-wop, psychedelia and music concrete to make an album like no other.
It's not going to be long: This is a foundational album. You can love it. You can hate it. And without denigrating anyone's opinion, it just doesn't matter. This Is The most Important Record Ever.
I generally like Zappa, but some of his records don't work for me. This is not one of those. It's weird and wild. It's got some great songs. Trouble Every Day is simply one of my all time favorites. It's sadly always relevant. This won't be for everyone. I'm sure some people might like some other flavor of Zappa and some won't like a note. I think this is a incredible record and it's influence on music that I enjoy can't be overstated.
I was amazed at how normal it sounded. The lyrics were wonderfully satiric, and delivered sardonically, but it wasn't weird or freaky. Then I hit It Can't Happen Here. That is an acid trip come to life! Then we get the sonic palette being fully expanded on that final track. This is a brilliant album, with a special nod going to Don't Put Your Head On My Shoulder. Sorry, that should read Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder. I love where he satirises the love song genre.
Not Zappa’s best, but I enjoyed it. Some really good songs and some songs they made fun of that 60s pop sound very well. Naturally there were some tracks that were... out there, but that’s the fun of a Zappa album. Favorite tracks: “I Ain’t Got No Heart,” “Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder,” and “Motherly Love”
Bien divertissant, l'humour des paroles est très bon, la musique est très originale et unique, surtout en comparaison à ce qui se faisait à la même année. Pas exactement mon genre mais j'apprécie beaucoup le soucis de qualité dont l'album fait preuve. 8/10
Zappa is always weird but this one actually starts off fairly normal and then devolves into madness by the end. Most of the songs are satirical portrayals of 60s pop music and they do a good job. Some songs are even serious like Trouble All The Time. Overall pretty good but definitely can skip some songs.
And, just like that, the world has been introduced to the ever chaotic, completely unorthodox and creatively intelligent world of the one and only Frank Zappa. At once maddening and ingenious, there is no way of knowing where he can go, where he should go and where he may ultimately end up and, on Freak Out!, all the cards are suddenly on deck. While not the greatest representation of what he and the Mothers of Invention had to offer, there is plenty to take away in regards to the material here, which does not shy away at all from satirical and at times farcical depictions of the culture that was at the time with some of the more genuine interpretations of doo-wop and psych rock and the kind of claustrophobic and cluttered sounds that best define the album's title. As far as the gospel of Zappa is concerned, this is perhaps the best place to start but, be warned, there is more where that came from. Favorites: Hungry Freaks, Daddy, I Ain't Got No Heart, Go Cry on Someone Else's Shoulder, How Could I Be Such a Fool, You Didnt Try to Call Me, Anyway the Wind Blows, You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here, Trouble Every Day, Help, I'm a Rock.
"Freak Out!" Is the debut album by American rock band The Mothers of Invention. The Mothers of Invention consisted of Frank Zappa (guitarist/vocalist), Ray Collins (lead vocalist/tambourine), Ray Estrada (bass/vocalist), Jimmy Carl Black (drummer/vocalist) and Elliot Ingber (guitarist). The album's producer signed the band to Verve Records (MGM) for their white-blues sound. He got that and also doo-wop, songs with orchestral arrangements and avant-garde and experimental rock. The album was one of the earliest double albums and one of the first concept albums with Zappa's satirical perception of American pop culture and the growing freak scene in LA. It was not initially a commercial success but later developed a cult following along with Frank's other albums. Hey, it's The Stones! No, it's actually a rhythm and guitar that sounds like "(Can't Get Me No) Satisfaction" in the opener "Hungry Freaks Daddy." A searing guitar solo. An attack on the American school system. A bass drum and eerie work start "Who are the Brain Police" People screaming and pyschedelic guitar. This has a religious theme of sorts with people policing their own brains. Even Frank said this was one of his scariest songs. I'd agree. "Motherly Love" is more pop sounding with some nice 60's sounding harmonization. I think about groupies. An orchestral background is added to "How Could I Be Such a Fool" which satirizes teenage love. "Wowie Zowie" has a piano and is doo-wop. I think it's actually satirizing doo-wop. Did Pavement name their last album after this song? The third side begins with "Trouble Everyday." Here's the dirty bluesy sound the producer was looking for with the guitar and harmonica. Another excellent Frank guitar solo. A song about racial injustice and the Watts' Riots. One of my favorite Zappa songs. From here on out, things get weird and experimental even for Frank. "Help, I'm a Rock" is a three part suite. A repetitive beat and rhythm. A droning background. People making all sorts of random noise including a woman having an orgasm. Hey, this is 1965 for heaven's sake. Tipper Gore was not in the room. This reminded me of Pink Floyd's "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathering" so I'm a fan to a point. The entire fourth side is "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet" where we are introduced to Suzy Cream Cheese and her conscious talking to her. The first half is a pyschdelic jam. The second half involves actual freaky people they brought in from the Hollywood streets to make random noises. The furry animals are back. I don't want to meet Suzy Cream Cheese ever. If you want variety and weirdness, this is it: blues, pyschedelic, garage, doo-wop and experimental. The satirical lyrics are pretty funny and so is the satire of actual music styles which I think they are doing at times. I like this album throughout but for the normal person, sticking to the first half and the singles is probably recommended. But, hey, if you like random sounds and chaos keep the record going.
To completely counter the “peace and love” hippie movement of the 60s, Zappa created a chaotic sound collage to show us the darker underbelly of fame and society.
1966: Anyway The Wind Blows, Trouble Every Day
I described this album as the monster mash song, not as good, too much kazoo. Inspite of all that I did enjoy parts of this album
Initial take after the first song: WTF? Final take after the last song: WTF? I bet you there will be a LOT of 1s thrown at this album. "Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder" is comedy. "I had my car reupholstered, I had my hair reprocessed..." comedy. This whole thing is comedy. There is so much kazoo usage, out of key singing, weird little vocal expressions but it's good somehow? It feels like parody, almost like a Weird Al-esque depiction of 60s music with a little bit of non-parody actual songwriting thrown in there ("Trouble Every Day" for example). These dudes were just having fun. Trying all sorts of wacky wild ideas out. I respect that. Especially given that it's 1966. "It Can't Happen Here" is exhibit A. We didn't even go to the moon yet and here we are riding this album out to "cream cheese" chants. This album reminds me a lot of Negativland's Escape from Noise just in how wacky it is and the balls on the artists for going to absurd levels of bonkers. I feel like there is a reason why this is on here but I didn't do any research as I was interested in approaching this wild album cover completely blindly. This isn't really music that I'm like "hell yeah let's go I want to blast this once a month" but it IS music that made me smile and laugh and wonder. So, hey, on that alone I'll give this a 3/5. (Looked it up right before submitting my review and learned that this is a Zappa album. Wild.)
you can hear how important this album is and it's cool to think form the perspective of the time. that being said most of this album is trolling
Different. Mostly in a good way. 3.5
Tout d'abord, je voudrais démarrer ce review en présentant mes plus plates excuses. Je ne sais pas ce qu'il m'a pris hier, mais dans un élan de gentillesse et de bonté, la fin de ma journée de travail pointant le bout de son nez, j'ai accordé à ce piètre rappeur la note de 3/5, action que je regrette desormais enormément. Après une nuit agitée passée à me remémorer les differentes pistes de son album, j'en conclus que la valeur de son album n'etait en fait qu'un piteux 2/5. Piteux et 2/5, ce sont aussi des adjectifs que nous allons pouvoir utiliser pour l'album du jour. L'incomprehension est totale a la suite de cette écoute. L'album se présentait comme un album de rock banal et sans intérêt, tout a fait dans les standards de Robert. Mais c'etait sans compter sur les dernieres pistes de cet album machiavélique. En effet, c'est en effet un véritable livre audio qui se présente à nous dès la fin de cet album, qui se transforme petit a petit en enregistrement audio du zoo de la Palmyre, notamment de l'espace chimpanzés et volatiles. Une honte artistique, et alors que mes oreilles souffraient le martyre, je me mis a faire quelque recherches sur ce groupe criminel, et quelle ne fut pas ma surprise. Ce groupe etait en fait l'oeuvre de l'ignoble Frank Zappa, qui entache encore un peu plus son image, et rentre dans le top 3 des personnages les plus detestes du generateur, avec Manzarek et Sepultura.
I listened to this totally sober. For me that means I was not nearly high enough to get it. And already too high to enjoy it.
They were sober when they came up with the disharmonies, cacophonies, and looseness and lack of precision that likely guided many a psychedelic experience among listeners for decades afterwards!? My big concern is that there is some old hippie out there somewhere who still thinks he's a rock. He dosed at the start of "Freak Out!" and was getting into a decent groove as the fuzzed out weirdness progressed, and was just on the edge of keeping his s#!t together when "Help, I'm a Rock" came on. Halfway through, he considered the possibility that he was actually a cop, but couldn't find his uniform and thus concluded that he was some kind of conscious aggregation of minerals. Ever since, unable to find his way back to reality, he was wandered the Haight asking confounded passersby for help. Don't let your kids listen to rock music!
This ... this is parody, right? Like, a joke album? No? Are you sure? Huh. Well, it's not very good then, is it? Half-assed crap, really. I mean, kazoos? Really?!
Wow, ok. I don't really know what this is, but I'm pretty sure that I hate it. I made it until the fifth song and then couldn't take anymore.
Time and the ability of human beings to hear have not been kind to The Mothers Of Invention. This sounds like your elderly uncle trying to be deliberately zany. Rating: 1/5 Playlist track: Anyway The Wind Blows Date listened: 08/01/23
Frank Zappa is a musical genius, though somehow some of the social commentary seems at odds with the stable middle-class upbringing he had.
5/5 - Zappa is tough: One the one hand, he's a universe unto himself, but I really can't stand this style of music. Good for him?
Classic. Zappa = genius. Wow !
A wonderful masterpiece. One of my favorites from master Zappa
Silly, daring and ahead of its time! 4.5⭐
A must listen if you're into challenging, experimental albums. I can't even begin to imagine how challenging the recording and mixing process was on this album back in the 60s without the benefit of modern techniques. Truly a concept album before concept albums, with all the Zappa bizareness you would expect.
Close to the border between genius and ridiculous, but I think still on the right side.
Love this album. Zappa is a genius
Great
Hilarious
A wonderful send up of contemporary American values especially repressive '50s social roles, this album uses the language of doo-wop and contemporary sixties music to make its point. Despite the satirical nature of this album, there is an earnestness in its musicality that manages to sound familiar yet manages to introduce musical concepts into the lexicon of popular music. Jazz changes and suite like song structures set this album apart from the rest of the 1966 crop. The last few songs descend into pure experimentalism that is not for everyone, but it certainly challenged what people though music could be.
Absolutely brilliant experimental album. I loved how it became less and less “coherent”, more out there with each song. Saved tracks: I Ain’t Got No Heart, Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder, Motherly Love, You Didn’t Try To Call Me, Anyway The Wind Blows, I’m Not Satisfied
9/10 I like to think of myself as a fairy talented musician, but nothing I make will ever compare to “HELP, I’M A ROCK!”
Frank is an acquired taste. I want to say that at its core this is a pop record, albeit an extremely twisted one, but perhaps a better way to say it is that it's completely disingenuous. He subverts the pop sound of his time, and immediate past, at every turn, with a sarcastic flat tone, bizarre humor, experimental flourishes, kazoos, etc. It's quite difficult to ignore all that and simply enjoy the melodies, but they are there if you want them. It does sort of go out the window with the last few songs on the album, like he just couldn't hold back anymore, and finally had to let his true inner freak out. If you continue to listen to his albums in chronological order, this seems tame by comparison to what comes afterwards, but all his bizarre musical tendencies are present here. There are moments that almost sound like Mr. Bungle, or other groups that came decades later. At once very much of its time and way ahead of it.
Hats off. This is off the wall and I love it so much. They're like a goofy ass version of the Beatles - like, all the magic and shimmer of the Beatles but you're hanging out with them and they're just fucking around. Or are they totally serious? The line isn't clear and it's fantastic.
This is early Frank Zappa (maybe… earliest Frank Zappa??), as well as a crew of what will become the revolving cast, and let me just say that, if you don’t know that context— if you aren’t already down with his antics or know what to expect— this has to be a confusing album. I’m the kind of person who regularly recommends Captain Beefheart to my friends, so yes… I’ve become that guy. For a Beefheart fan, and a fan of the weird 60’s and Zappa, this album is positively delightful in how approachable this album is to this blend of weird. It’s parody, it’s experimental, it’s funny, it’s silly… and a little biting or cynical, in a way that only the silliest of satire can let you get away with. “Go Cry on Somebody Else’s Shoulder” is like, peak Zappa. A 60’s doo wop trend, taken to absurdities. They are clearly having a laugh at the expense of the whole genre, but something about the character that Zappa does is disarmingly funny. Piercing. And his comedic timing is unmatched. It makes you think that maybe all of that other music you heard in the 60s was too stodgy, too self-important, too constrained by seriousness. Let me defend the end of the album too. Even the most avant garde stuff is… never stuffy, never pretentious… what a relief! It’s experimental without the whiff of self importance. This kind of stuff is a breath of fresh air for me, who as a former student in a contemporary music department had to suffer through so many recitals of music whose “message” was so self-important or self-serious as to suffocate your impression of it. I’m talking about “It can’t happen here.” Any conscious human American in 1966 knows exactly what this is about. But man. This is pure id. Comedic, funny, disarming? Silly??? About a serious subject?? It makes you wonder how they’re pulling it off. I’m going hard 5. We can’t reserve all the 5’s in the 60’s for the Simons and Garfunkels. 5/5
Excellent album. Shows the diversity of Zappa at his best.
Where has this been all my life? It's brilliantly weird and wonderful. The satire is great, it seems quite a bit before its time, and the more experimental parts are still quite worth the listening.
Weird and very funny
Chaotic good 4.5/5
It's too bad Frank Zappa never wrote and performed soundtracks for early Thomas Pynchon novels, also celebrating / gently mocking freaks, misfits and their "counter-culture". The Mothers' carnivalesque sound would have been a great match for those novels. Not to mention those gorgeous, gorgeous kazoos, also an obsession of the author of *V*, *The Crying Of Lot 49* and *Gravity's Rainbow* (among many others). A little more seriously, what I like about this record is that some of its pastiche or experimental aspects are subtle enough to go unnoticed on certain tracks--even if they're pretty obvious towards the end of this double album. Pretty sure Tom Wilson had a blast recording them, given that he initially thought the Mothers were just another white blues band after he has only listened to "Trouble Every Day" (a pastiche of Bob Dylan himself mimicking older blues cuts). Of course, they were so much more than that. This initial verstality of Zappa and his band (between spoofing dada impulses and genuine songwriting qualities) is why this mock-"conceptual" record remains easily digestible, even today. Because the music remains pretty catchy a lot of the time. And it's always nice when there are several ways understand or appreciate an LP. As in here or Captain Beefheart's *Safe As Milk*, for instance--another record displaying similar aesthetics. Zappa fans will probably tell you that their idol made far better albums after this famous debut. As of now I find that claim dubious, but I haven't listened to every major LP released by the mustachioed troublemaker, it's true. And I remember giving 4 stars to *Hot Rats*, an album I also like a lot. Let's just say that I find Dimery's "selection" of Zappa's key albums pretty convincing so far... In that spirit I should probably give 4 stars to *Freak Out* as well, then. Even if I now realize I could have gone higher than that for both records. Maybe it's time to reassess them both now... Number of albums left to review: 487 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 243 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 115 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 152
Delightfully wacky interpretation of 60s rock that I find very cool. Saved to my albums for a relisten which by my rules is a FIVE
Insanity. Mid 60s punk?
This album is part of Frank Zappa's continuous critique of society. I've heard the album before but would like to add it to my collection.
Freak out! grande zappa!
4. Great songs but the last 2 were a bit too avant garde
Fun, entertaining, and a little insane. It doesn't at all sound like it was released in 1966.
Pierwszy albumik Zappowy i jego bandy matkowej, znany i lubiany, jedna z najdziewniejszych kreacji lat 60, parodia satyra i innowacyjne wykorzystanie medium jakim jest album muzyczny, tak mozna w skrocie opisac ten krazek, double lp, wiec rowna godzina trwania, co bylo kolejna nowoscia w tamtych czasach, gdzie standardem rokowym byly dwie strony winyla czyli kolo 30 minut, poza swoja trescia z pewnoscia albumik wyrozniaja wykorzystane instruemnty, bo jest tego naprawde sporo, harmonijski, fujarki, dzbany, tamburyno, niezicznone dziwnosci, od strony lirycznej skoro satryra, to wszedzie odniesienia do kultury koonsumersko hamerykansko coomerowskiej i jej wysmiewanie w ironicznych blyskotliwycch balladach, pojawiaja sie takze dziwniejsze formy utworow, cos jak skladanie kolazy z surowych dzwiekow, wokali, albumik najbardziej cierpi od strony technicznej, bo sposob w jaki niektore traki byly nagrywane pozostawia wiele do zyczenia, ale jest to przeciez debiutancki albumik, na plejce juz mialem hungry freaks i wiecej nie dodam, bo takie albumiki koncepcyjne w calosci sie powinno pozerac
First part of the album is a decent 2/5, but the second part was so unexpected and so weirdly good, it would get 5/5. Overall, a weak 4/5
A massive surprise! I had no idea what to expect, and somehow it managed to deliver on everything! Definite influence of (or influenced by) Jesus Christ Superstar. And some 50s/60s fun stuff too. So many genres! I did feel this would have been more enhanced by drugs….
Rating: 8/10 Best songs: I ain't got no heart, How could I be such a fool, Anyway the wind blows, Trouble every day
very fun. would be awesome to smoke dirt weed and listen to
I gotta give it at least a 4 because Trouble Every Day is a straight up jam and the best Zappa song I've ever heard. I like the second disc in general more than the first. The first is more straight up satire that ends up sounding really dated since they reference a lot of pop music tropes that are no longer common. The second disc is straight up experimental and it boggles my mind that they were able to get away with this in '66.
Странная музыка
Cool
Zappa is bold always, crazy this came out when it did
Gang
I realize the innovation doesn’t make up for the polarizing nature of the music. It’s love it or hate it, and I’m more inclined towards the former. Especially with ”Help, I’m A Rock”
A good and very unique sound.
Musically it is nice, but listening to a parody is not much fun. It is too intellectual and not funny. You can't really attach to it. I understand the historical importance, though.
p92. 1966. 4 stars, 1 point deducted for being too clever by half. Bunch of smart arses taking the piss out of 60s American society and the music of the time and doing it really well. Still holds up today, and it's got some great tunes and production. There is a direct line from this to everything early 10cc did. I loved it, but satire and humour are subjective so some people might miss the point. I'm in love with Suzy Creamcheese :)
Really great stuff. I don't listen to Zappa/Mothers as much as I should. I think that's because I find his vast discography a little bit intimidating. I'll get to it eventually.
Zappa is usually hit or miss for me, but I am definitely a fan of this album! Very eclectic, interesting compositions and very psychedelic
Zappa is great,but later albums are much better
Some explosive pop from the 60s I loved it
4.1 + A thorough takedown of American pop culture of the 1960s and an important check against the generally utopian portrayal of hippie culture. Frank Zappa exposes all of America's warts, from the lame to the downright reprehensible. I especially love the whacked out doo wop of "Go Cry..." The last stretch of musical montages are among the whackiest and most avant garde of any rock record.
Zappa legenda. Baš sam imao period gdje me je skroz zanimao, pa sam čak i dokumentarac gledao. On je genije zapravo, i ovaj album je dost dobar, samo da nema zadnje tri stvari. Znam da je cijeli album ta neka satira, sprdnja, al uništi mi to nešta, te zadnje stvari.
Unsurprisingly, Frank's interpretation of sundry extra-musical recordings used here is far less interesting than he thinks it is. But Freak Out! is buoyed because the rest is simply stunning. The most compelling element of my listen-through was the decay of the love song, but the record more than earns its length and contains much more than that. As much as Zappa's sense of humor grates me, there's a joyful orientation toward American music which I share wholeheartedly.
Love how weird Frank Zappa is
Top met al die kazoo's
I really liked this one. Just zany stuff.
Yeah, it was fine.
Utterly bananas and completely unashamed of its radical experimentation. It’s perhaps a bit too long, as many double albums are, but as far as first statements go it’s conclusive one.
can't happen here
I’m about it
I got another Zappa record a few days back and this is now my 2nd. In comparison.. this was an interesting experiment. I kinda dug the experimental nature, but it wore a little thin after a while. I think if the album cut out 15-20 minutes it'd be better since by about the 40 minute mark you kinda get the point and it gets a bit repetitive. Like you can be weird and experimental, but if you are just weird and experimental it loses the weird and experimental nature. It's about finding that line. 3.5/5
Certainly retains ones attention.
Fantastic stuff, both way ahead of its time, and a great tribute to styles of the past. It feels like Zappa was really trying to keep a lid on the furthest-out-weirdness throughout the album, was only moderately successful, and then the weirdness came erupting out at high pressure in the last two tracks! 😆 Fave track - "Trouble Every Day" is one of my fave songs by any artist, and has been for quite a while! On this listen through, "Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder" and "You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here" were stand outs...
What a trip!
So so good
I have always had a bit of a ambivalent relationship with the music of Frank Zappa. I respect him immensely. He's a mad genius with a solid crew of musicians backing him up. Flashes of brilliance abound in his work. But admittedly, I have limited patience for the looser, sillier aspects of his work. This album is a good place to start for someone like me. Challenging in spots but incredibly entertaining. The Mothers frolic in a whole range of styles that would have resonated with listeners at the time - doo wop, psychedelic, baroque pop, blues, garage rock, jazz. They do so with a level of musical creativity that is beyond next level. The songs are wacky, snotty, and somehow familiar, despite being deeply strange. The approach is always, always with tongues firmly planted in cheek. This album will probably never be a regular listen to me, but I kind of loved it. Fave Songs: Help, I'm a Rock; Trouble Every Day; The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet; Any Way the Wind Blows; Motherly Love; Wowie Zowie; Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder
Wow. What a hippy weirdo! Or, was he? Noise before noise was cool. Making fun of mainstream popular music and subverting it? That’s a check. Man was whiling, he and his merry persons. Dude was political and didn’t care, but in a real way not an uninformed Republican way. He is the kinda dude Republicans think they are. Experimental, yet accessible (except for that 12 minute outro track, I guess, if you ask my partner), this album bangs. Defs not for everyone. Sometimes too smug for his own good, I still really likey.
Now that’s the Zappa I love, except it isn’t solo Zappa, it’s his band. So dense and odd and fun and wacky. I wasn’t prepared for it.
It's Zappa.
So weird. It's awesome
It's enjoyable. Never tops the opener, Hungry Freaks, Daddy but all very enjoyable. Daft humour, virtuoso musicianship and unexpected left turns, which could really be a review of any Zappa album, but that's not a criticism - nobody else quite walked the odd line he managed to walk!
Frank Zappa thrusts himself on an unsuspecting world with a killer opening gambit: “Mr America, walk on by your schools that do not teach” kicking off a song called- what else- “Hungry Freaks, Daddy”. Over the next sixty minutes (one of the first double albums in rock) he and the Mothers of Invention heap irony upon irony, skewering both pre-rock and roll pop and the psychedelic movement and blurring all lines between the sublime and the ridiculous. After having been a bit intimidated by Zappa’s jazz fusion output and famously arch sense of humour, the most surprising thing to me as a first-time “Freak Out” listener is that it’s a reasonably accessible pop-rock album. At surface level, there are plenty of conventional, catchy tunes on here. “Motherly Love” (questionable treatment of women aside), “Hungry Freaks, Daddy” and especially “Any Way the Wind Blows” all have the right mixture of sure-footedness and quirky charm to be winners. Zappa’s lead guitar work is in fine form from the opening, and the orchestration- brass section, strings and some cheeky kazoo- gives some lovely flourish. As the album unfolds, we veer between rock and doo-wop parodies, hearing superbly melodramatic teenage angst in “Go Cry on Somebody Else’s Shoulder”, “How Could I Be Such A Fool” and “You Didn’t Try To Call Me”. Some influences are more brazen than others. “Wowie Zowie” directly lifts the Four Seasons’ “Sherry” for its coda, while I like to think of “Help I’m A Rock” as a literalist’s response to Simon and Garfunkel’s song of a similar name: “did you ever think about what being a rock would actually feel like, Paul?” Any negative review here will tell you that Zappa is doing everything coldly, with scorn and a condescending “look-at-me” style of humour as he belittles the source material. Actually though, I think there’s some affection in the parodies. They’re solidly written songs that work on multiple levels: it’s not as though the only way to enjoy them is nodding and winking along with Zappa and co. The humour- sometimes scathing, always zany, often ridiculous- isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste, but to me feels at mostly the right level. Zappa’s repeated self-pitying ad-libs in the ballads, all focused around reupholstering his car to get his girl back, are hilarious. Even in the more obnoxious “It Couldn’t Happen Here”, I can’t make it through the ludicrous stuttering backing vocals without grinning. Things get a little more real with “Trouble Every Day”, an admirably searing protest song in response to police brutality at race riots in California. Then, the “freak-out” proper comes in the record’s final three tracks, which took up the entire second disc in original pressings. Up until this point, I was engrossed, but got a little lost in the indulgent finale. The total commitment to insanity is fun at first, but feels a little forced and has dated more than anything else on the record. Helium-voices chanting “cream cheese” for five minutes works as a one-off surprise factor, but there’s only so much enjoyment one can get out of it on each listen. “Freak Out” is imperfect, particularly as a double album, but it’s a beguiling listen and has made me want to hear more of Zappa’s wider body of work. I’ve already gone back to it multiple times and feel convinced that its songs will continue to do wonders for me: the 1960s would not be complete without it.
Dadaist, experimental, bluesy, and 60s rock goodness. I very much enjoyed this album & I can hear some of favorite bands here. I appreciate Zappa far more than I already did, and stoked to listen to more.
I came into this with preconceived notions, specifically Frank Zappa = weirdo, and while that take isn't exactly wrong, I'd always thought he was a weirdness for weirdness's sake kinda guy. With that in mind, I was a little dismissive of this album at first. In retrospect, there were plenty of clues in the first three tracks, but it wasn't until "Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder" (a pitch-perfect send-up of doo-wop with an admittedly cringey faux-Mexican accent that crops up in another track or two) that I realized "Oh shit, this isn't just weird, it's satire. This is the counterculture letting its freak flag fly." With that little epiphany came a new appreciation for what I was listening to. There's still a bum-ton of weirdness, especially in tracks like "Help, I'm a Rock!" and "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet," but it's (usually) accompanied by pointed commentary on life in America in the '60s (much of it still relevant today, sadly). It's sorta like Spinal Tap (in the non-meta sense), but the Mothers of Invention are in on the joke rather than the butt of it. Kinda brilliant.
Con We're Only In It For The Money non èero stato clemente. Beh, questo aalbum mi ha fatto ricredere sulla band del caro Frank Zappa. Felice di avergli dato una seconda chance.
That was different, and interesting. Frank Zappa has always been an enigma to me. Every time I hear his work I find it interesting but then, a day or two later, I can't remember anything of what I heard. It seems that his workis condemed to be ephemeral for me. This is the start of it all - the first album by The Mothers of Invention - and it clearly shows what was to come. An eclectic collection of music, nearly all a long way from most other music being produced in 1966. Well worth listening to, but I doubt that I'll remember any of it a couple of days hence.