Freak Out!

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!

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.

I dont know what to make of this album but i liked it very much.

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.

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

I don't know how to feel about liking this. But I do, so there.

True innovation in composition. 55 years later, this still has an edge.

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.

One of the strangest albums of the 60s. S mix of doo-wop, psychedelia and music concrete to make an album like no other.

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.

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.)

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

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

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.

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 will give Frank Zappa credit - he was completely unique and original, and for 1966 this album certainly broke new ground. But just because you're unique and different doesn't mean that listening to your music is going to be an enjoyable experience. Believe me, I've tried, but Zappa just doesn't do it for me. 2 stars.

Urgh. Messy incoherent drugged up self-indulgent noise. Or so it felt. Not all of it was the worst thing I've ever heard, but overall it was poor due to it being very irritating and repetitive at times. Some parts were okay to good, but this was overshadowed by the album being cringe, an hour long and then adding insult to injury with a 12 minute final "song." People like this crap?!

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?!

Well this was a fun time. Its like if pink floyd was a little bit less about acid and more about coke and acid

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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

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”

Different. Mostly in a good way. 3.5

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

1966: Anyway The Wind Blows, Trouble Every Day

No. Never been a Zappa fan. He’s a smart and innovative artist but I just don’t cotton to his ways. Go freak out over there, away from me.

I initially like the sound of the first song but then the singing started and I don't like his voice at all. The lyrics are interesting and though provoking. The singing on the second song was a bit better and easier to listen to. 3rd song sounds like a demented Oompa Loompa song. This is a very weird and experimental album. Not sure if its my thing, so far I am not a fan. The random kazoos? in the songs are interesting. I enjoy the more serious songs but overall this album is not something that I would listen to again.

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!

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.

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.

Wat een kut muziek is dit zeg. Ik wil hier eigenlijk geen woorden aan vuil maken; The Mothers of Invention? Je moeder zou zich moeten schamen. Als dit inventief is, laat dan alles maar zoals het is, de muziek is ontzettend saai, de teksten zijn gewoon kut. Meerdere nummers worden gewoon geëindigd met een schreeuw, er zijn sowieso meerdere punten op dit album waar een random gil of schreeuw in zit. Zit er nou een kazoo op dit album? Maar dan niet op 1 nummer, maar de kazoo is een van de belangrijkste instrumenten van dit album, HOE DAN!? Dit hele album voelt als een parodie op muziek, alsof er alles aan gedaan word om het zo onluisterbaar mogelijk te maken. De stukken die ok klinken moeten verpest worden door raar geschreeuw op de achterkant. Denk je dat deze band geld betaald heeft om op deze lijst gezet te worden? Ik denk dat ik Stockholm syndroom begin te begrijpen, na de 10e kazoo solo kan ik niets anders doen dan lachen. Wat een ontzettend dom album is dit zeg. Dit album is een parodie op muziek, dat is mijn conclusie. Is het goed? Nee, maar misschien hoort dat want het is een parodie. Ben ik blij dat ik dit heb gehoord voor ik doodga? Ja, ik waardeer alle andere muziek opeens een stuk beter. FAVO: Motherly Love(die kazoo solo, hou op met me), Wowie Zowie

This album is so weird and derivative but in the worst blend of actual good music. The vibes were beyond creepy and how they secured any sort of record deal is beyond me.

Low key really dislike this album. Just too out there (and I like weird music)...and the vocal delivery kind of annoys me. 1.5/5

Guys if you are going to make a band... find a good singer... awful

Avant garde? Eclectic? A difficult listen? You think you're doing okay and then "It Can't Happen Here and Return of the Son of Monster Magnet" wrap up the album. It might be smart music, it just doesn't come across that way. A very rough go.

Gave me flashbacks to a really awful trip I had in the 60s. I've never taken acid and I wasn't even alive then.

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.

this is a vibe for sure

Absolutely delightful. Really enjoyed this. So fun and funny.

Man, his lyrics are mostly dumb and some songs go on too long but holy shit this fucks. Giving it a five because I feel that it is very likely that I sit and listen to this in its entirety again. So much fun, the Mothers are awesome.

A monument. So ahead of time. For sure not the most accomplished piece, but what a debut...

It's where it all started: the genius of Frank Zappa. Hard to believe this is one of the first double albums. By today's standards, it's 1 CD being an hour long. But it definitely has some great pieces on it. "Trouble Every Day" is still such a relevant song, and yet I wish it wasn't. The experimental piece of "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet" is probably my least favorite of the pieces, but I still dig it. Help I'm A Rock... Help I'm A Rock... Huge Zappa fan, and I do put this on every so often, even the shorter songs are a little dated, but they're so inventive. Classic album.

ytes

A 1966 album that sounds like a 90s coffee shop art rock project. Very weird, nothing that's necessary to repeat, huge future sounds. Violent femmes, proto-punk, clearly an influential album

Day 48 - October 9th, 2024 Live laugh love Frank Zappa. 5/5

From 1966, something truly impressive. This album builds a bridge between the culture and the counter-culture of its day. It includes plenty of doo-wop sounds and sentiments, but always with satire. The message: the times they have a-changed and if you're still living in the (then, not so distant) past, that's...cute. Other songs on the album are in-your-face cultural and political statements. That includes the opening track, "Hungry Freaks, Daddy," and also my favorite on the album "Trouble Every Day." As another review noted, that latter song is "sadly, always relevant." It truly is. That song may easily have been written yesterday, and yet this was nearly 60 years ago, the Beatles hadn't released Sgt Pepper, and (as another review mentioned) Americans hadn't landed on the moon yet. That bridge from the culture to the counter-culture is one-way, by the way. And it lands you in a swamp of psychedelic and experimental expression as the album wraps up. (You may get impatient.) This album forms, at least in my mind, a trilogy along with Absolutely Free and We're Only In It For the Money. That third album made fun of both the establishment (and decried its dangers) and also the (now trendy) counter-culture. Zappa was the Jon Stewart of the late 60s music scene: observant, talented, even-handed, satirical.

Love Zappa. Rare vent, geweldige muziek.

How was this even legal to release in 1966? It’s absolutely bonkers to look at the albums this predates. I mean, this would be insane in 1976, let alone 10 years earlier. It’s pretty good too so that’s nice

This album is musical gibberish in the best way possible. They include and bend different genres, intertwined with what feels like absolute nonsense. Yet sometimes the things that sound like complete nonsense are actually a meaningful reflection on real issues. I'm of course referring to "It Can't Happen Here" - a song that is the embodiment of a child putting their fingers in their ears yelling "I can't hear you" about societal issues. Of course Help, I'm a Rock and The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet are both great, and an absolute trip to listen to. Most notably though is how relevant Trouble Every Day was both then and now. "Well I'm about to get upset From watchin' my TV Been checkin' out the news Until my eyeballs fail to see"

Rumor has it they were only in it for the money.

Frank Zappa might be the smartest guy to ever make an album.

Lacks the polish of later albums, but shows much more adherence to melodic convention while they build our trust to hit us with the weird in the final act. Well done

5/5. First off, pretty crazy this was released in 1966. Like even the Beatles haven't gotten super psychedelic yet. This album makes fun of rockabilly, the ballad era (Sinatra), cops, white people, and every other band without apology but still making catchy and interesting songs. This album should at least be released in 1971 with the themes and sounds they bring forth. Even today, there are some unique choices not made anywhere else. Sure, bands inspired by the Mothers have made well-produced albums and better use of this aesthetic but even still, this album truly holds up as something you've never heard anything like. Is it perfect? Definitely not, the last act of the album is truly one of the choices of all time. Is it still a good album. Also debatable. Is it an album you must listen to before you die? Absolutely. Best Song: Trouble Every Day, Anyway The Wind Blows, Who Are The Brain Police?

Today I will be naming the members of the band. Chad Zappa. Chad Carl Black Chad Collins Chad Estrada Chad Ingbar

The good thing about having this double album on LP is that you can just ignore Side 4, deny it exists, and think of this as a perfect debut of Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention.

I love this and always will and I understand how much of it is extremely annoying so I will never recommend it to anybody.

5/5

Freaked out by this modern timeless journey.

For the simple fact that my semi feral cat stared at the speakers for a few minutes,and he's quite blasé.

This is 5 Stars just for the Vegetable song.

One I already own, but thought I'd give another spin to blow away the cobwebs. I'm glad I did. My big beef with Zappa is that he seemed to harbour a lot of disgust in his heart, not only for people but even for the music he professed to like. Everything seemed beneath him, and thus pop could only be handled at arms length, as a lampoon - at best. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised that my reacquaintance with Freak Out revealed it to be more surreal than splenetic. Yes, it is absolutely irreverent and quite barbed in places, but there's some great stuff here. Even as Zappa et al send up pop, rock and doo-wop, they do it with flair and wit. 'Motherly Love' had me laughing! Funny, then, that the most straightforward, state-of-the-nation track 'Trouble Every Day', a bluesy rock number, is the best thing here. A rapid fire dissection of race riots, the forces behind them and the prurient way crime is covered in the media, it's smarter than almost anything else being released in 1966. Two of these tracks would also appear on the cracking 'Cruising with Ruben and the Jets'. 'Return of the Son of Monster Magnet' is a gloriously chaotic slice of experimentation. The whole thing is fantastic - shame Zappa became prey to his own, substantial, prejudices, and spent the next fifteen years workin' 'em out on magnetic tape (betwixt and between creating some incredible music). I once met Jimmy Carl Black, who was wonderful. I met Roy Estrada too (different event), who posed for a photo with me and a friend but let's not tall about that.

Man. When I first discovered Frank Zappa, it was around the era of "Baby Snakes" and "Joe's Garage," which are later in his catalog (1979) and while musically challenging, are nowhere near as strange and experimental as his work with the Mothers of Invention. I didn't much like this early stuff at first and wrote these albums off as experimental oddities that were the necessary process of Zappa discovering his "true art." Well, many years and countless listening hours later, I've got an entirely new vantage on Zappa's material, and this early stuff in particular. It is, without question, challenging music. I was going to write that it's challenging by design, but I think Zappa wasn't trying to be difficult so much as he was uncompromising in his musical vision and it's not always easy to connect with his musical genius. And it is genius, despite the loony sounds and goofy lyrics (not so much on this record, but in broad swaths of his catalog). So, I don't want to suggest it's an acquired taste so much as one that might require persistence. For me, it was finding the way in with material that I could relate to, and once I had that baseline, the more experimental music made much more sense. I think it's brilliant, and funny, and insightful, and socially stinging. Let's also call him out for being strangely un-evolved when it comes to his attitude toward women. No one escapes Zappa's scrutiny, but that doesn't make him infallible, and he is consistently shitty to women (despite having the brilliant Ruth Underwood in his band for so many years). It's relatively minor here, his allusion to groupies on "Motherly Love" hints at his stunted insights on the matter. So anyway, this album... it's amazing, dense, and difficult to listen to from front to end. An incredible debut that will never be mainstream and is still inventive 58 years later.

What an album. And the fact that this is a debut is just mind-blowing. Nothing else sounds like this album, even in FZ's own catalog. It's just so different, right down to its DNA. Every song is fantastic. The performances are great. The arrangements are thrilling. There's so much meat on every song that I'm still hearing new details thirty-six years after first hearing this album. And on top of all that, the humor and social commentary is spot-on. On later albums I think Frank often gets unnecessarily mean and petty, but here his satire is perfectly aimed, and his parodies are pitch-perfect. (It helps that he truly loved doo-wop.) There are so many amazing lines on this album... ...Mom I tore a big hole in the convertible... ...I don't even care if your dad's the heat... ...That's why I had to get my khakis pressed... ...I'm not black but there's a whole lot of times when I wish I could say I'm not white. Zappa made a ton of great records, but I honestly don't know that he ever surpassed this one. Truly a remarkable and audacious artistic statement, and one that still sounds fresh and invigorating today.

Wowie zowie what a cool album.

So damn good. 5 stars.

You're probably wondering why I'm here And so am I So am I Just as much as you wonder 'Bout me bein' in this place (yeah) That's just how much I marvel At the lameness on your face You rise each day the same old way And join your friends out on the street Spray your hair and think you're neat I think your life is incomplete But maybe that's not for me to say They only pay me here to play (I wanna hear Caravan with a drum solo!) You're probably wondering why I'm here And so am I So am I Brilliant. 5/5

Revolutionary sound, phantastic songs. A real shout in 1966. Frank - the horrible guy for the brave man and housewifes. RIP Frank Zappa! Really terraforming !!!

Pitch perfect social satire set to great avant garage psych and rnb grooves.

Star ratings suck.

To be frank, I got zapped by its freakishly inventive sound in a good way!

Uberweird lyrics, not a bad band

Personal favorite of mine.

Insanity. Mid 60s punk?

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

Read that this is considered one of the first concept albums. I like concept albums. Also, Frank Zappa is in it? I would not have known without looking that up... I'm not very keen on my 60s rock. It made me look into the freak culture of the west coast in the 60s and it was so fascinating. If you don't know anything about it, look up the Hunter S. Thompson Aspen sheriff campaign. It's fascinating. Also "it doesn't bother me at all that you're only 18 baby, I've got some motherly love for you" is crazy lmaoooo. I love the silly voice they do when they're mocking someone. I'm also loving the weird use of a kazoo (?) in so many songs?? It Can't Happen Here so crazy I added it to my liked songs. I am confused though, because in "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet" there are lyrics on Spotify but I'm not hearing them? Am I just stupid? I think this track is making me go crazy

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

Chaotic good 4.5/5

Weird and very funny

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.

Excellent album. Shows the diversity of Zappa at his best.

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

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.

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.

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!”

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

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.

Hilarious

Great

Love this album. Zappa is a genius

Close to the border between genius and ridiculous, but I think still on the right side.

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.

Silly, daring and ahead of its time! 4.5⭐

A wonderful masterpiece. One of my favorites from master Zappa

Classic. Zappa = genius. Wow !

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?

Frank Zappa is a musical genius, though somehow some of the social commentary seems at odds with the stable middle-class upbringing he had.

Wonderful and chock with irreverence!