Freak Out!

Yea… no

Empezó bien a secas, pero poco a poco fue empeorando hasta llegar a las últimas dos canciones, en específico la última parecía que estaba escuchando a Alvin y las ardillas. Leí en la reseña que ponen y la que escribieron las personas en que es una parodia/sátira, pero la verdad es que yo más bien lo sentí un robo.

Honestly, I'm all for experimental music and making a statement, but Freak Out felt underbaked and messy. The songs were not ultra memorable, and the lyrics were pretty blatant in their meanings with less finesse than I've come to expect of a FZ project.
"We're Only in it for the Money" has more interesting songs and the social commentary is more refined. "Hot Rats" leans into experimental jazz fusion which is really fun. "Trout Mask Replica" (which was produced by FZ) have weird little ear worms that stay with you ("Fast and bulbous!") and leaves you with a feeling of accomplishment at the end. "Sheik Yerbouti" and "Apostrophe" both lean into catchy, memorable, and absurdist humor, with the latter also reflecting Frank's expansion in the realm of "concept albums" (Along with his album "Joe's Garage").
Again, while I appreciate that this was the point of inception for many of the diverging pieces of work I enjoy above, I can't say Freak Out was a particularly enjoyable listen. 2.4/5 -> 2/5

The joke isn’t funny. Not sure what else to say…the troll album is just that a troll album but I’m sure Zappa felt self righteous.

Teens all suck but the smug teen is the worst of them all. Why is Zappa a 26 yr old still angry he didn’t get the girl in HS?

Scattered thoughts:

- "Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder" had me laughing several times. Very funny parody of doo-wop.
- The whole thing is actually pretty standard psych rock, produced well, sung well, and played well, with little bits of weirdness creeping in. Zappa always did just enough to show you he really could have been commercially successful, but just chose not to/avoided it intentionally. This album really exemplifies that.
- "How Could I Be Such a Fool?" is great. Could totally see Teddy Pendergrass or somebody singing it.
- The last three tracks are where things get really weird. "Help I'm a Rock" has this nervous free-form jazz energy. Still pretty funny, though, and same with the following a capella track (lol) especially "GONNA GET A TV DINNER AND COOK IT UP." "Monster Magnet," however, is so strange that it's somewhat scary, which I imagine was the intent.

Overall, very enjoyable experimental rock record. Ween would not exist without stuff like this.

I accidentally got this to play on shuffle mode when I asked Siri to play it on my phone. I'm not sure it would have made any more sense in the correct order. The Mothers are way out, maaaaaaan.
Plenty of weird shit for sake of weird shit here, but there is some gems amongst the detritus. The latter songs become gradually more unhinged, to the point where 'The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet' fades out with the chant of 'Cream Cheese!! Cream Cheese!!!'. OK, Frank, whatever you think, buddy.........

A very funny album. It was certainly important in its day. It’s also entertaining when viewed in its historical context. Does the humor still work today? Do I want to listen to it again? I don’t think so. Still, I’m glad I listened to the album. 4/5

On est en 1966, et Frank Zappa débarque avec ce qui est, techniquement, le deuxième double album de l’histoire du rock soit juste après le Blonde On Blonde de Dylan.

Je vais être honnête, je ne sais vraiment pas sur quel pied danser avec ce truc. Car Freak Out! c'est le genre de disque qui me donne envie de hurler au génie pur, tout en ayant une envie furieuse de balancer ma platine par la fenêtre en criant "Mais c'est quoi ce bordel ?". Un pur sentiment de WTF, comme disent les gamins de l'an 2000.

Déjà, l'anecdote sur le nom du groupe me fait marrer. Ils s'appelaient juste "The Mothers", mais MGM, la maison de disques, a commencé à flipper grave. Ils avaient peur que les DJ pensent que c'était une insulte aux mères de famille américaines. Ils ont donc forcé l'ajout du "Of Invention". Zappa, avec son ironie habituelle, a dû bien rigoler en voyant que le label pensait que le nom était le problème, alors que la musique allait traumatiser toute une génération de ménagères.

Freak Out! est un concept satirique total où d'un côté, on a des morceaux qui ressemblent presque à de la pop gentillette, comme "Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder" et de l'autre, on a on des morceaux comme "Who Are The Brain Police ?", un truc glauque, antiautoritaire, qui te donne l'impression que ton cerveau est en train de fondre sur le tapis.

Et c'est là que le génie pointe le bout de son nez car il est incroyablement complexe derrière l’apparente folie. "How Could I Be Such A Fool ?" est une chanson d’amour, certes, mais arrangée de façon tellement sophistiquée qu'on sent déjà le futur compositeur de jazz-fusion pointer le bout de sa moustache.

Mais tout n'est pas rose car il y a aussi l'autre côté de la médaille. Le côté "Expérience" qui vire au calvaire. Quand on arrive sur la face quatre du vinyle original, on tombe sur "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet". Douze minutes d’expérimentations sonores et de bruitages et c'est là que le WTF l’emporte. C’est audacieux, c’est historique, c’est tout ce que vous voulez, mais au bout d’un moment, j’ai juste envie que ça s’arrête.

Zappa affirmait à l'époque : "Je ne prenais pas de drogues". Franchement, Frank, à d'autres. Même si c’est vrai – et on sait qu’il était un maniaque du contrôle sobre – ça rend le truc encore plus effrayant. Être capable de produire un truc aussi déglingué sans aide chimique, ça demande une dose de folie naturelle assez inquiétante.

L'album essaie de capturer l'essence de la culture "freak" de la Côte Ouest. C’est radical, provocateur, et ça n’a absolument aucune limite. Des titres comme "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" ou "Trouble Every Day" montrent que Zappa n’était pas juste là pour faire du bruit, il avait des choses à dire sur la société américaine, sur la police et sur l'hypocrisie ambiante.

Mais malgré toute l'importance historique du bidule, je reste sur ma faim. C’est un album qu'il faut avoir entendu, c'est indéniable. C’est un monument de l’underground qui a ouvert des portes que personne n’osait même regarder. C’est la naissance d’un compositeur hors norme qui allait passer sa vie à casser les codes.

Pourtant, l'écoute intégrale reste une épreuve. C'est fascinant cinq minutes, épuisant les dix suivantes, brillant par éclairs, puis profondément irritant. C'est l'album qui invente le rock expérimental tout en se foutant de la gueule du rock.

Au final, je lui colle un 3 sur 5. C’est la note de la contradiction. C'est trop important pour mettre moins, mais c’est trop "particulier" pour mériter plus dans mon cœur. C’est une expérience de vie, un rite de passage. Mais une fois que tu as survécu à "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet", tu as surtout envie de mettre un disque de silence pour te remettre les neurones en place.

Alors Freak Out! ?
Génial ? Oui.
Insupportable ? Souvent.
WTZ (What The Zappa) ? Absolument

Freak Out! c’est le premier jet d’une carrière qui allait devenir légendaire. C'est un album à écouter pour la culture et pour comprendre d'où vient tout le bordel qui a suivi dans les années 70.

More tame in places, weird as a fish and a fun listen! This and Joe's Garage are now in my musics, thank you 1001! :)

Freak Out starts off pretty psychedelic, then hits on some strange doo-wop, and then ends in pure insanity. It really has everything I want in a Zappa record; it’s weird, it’s satirical, and it’s full of his wit and humour.

The concept album that breaks the rule that all concept albums are bad .. I enjoyed (most of) it 👍

Pretty cool but also zany at times.

Its not special but its not the worst thing ive ever heard. 3 stars.

Honestly, I kept zoning out and every time I finally zoned back in I found myself listening to some BULLSHIT. Kinda crazy this came out in ‘66 though

My biases about Frank Zappa inform me, prior to listening to this album that there's no way I'm listening to 60 minutes of his band. We'll see

Yeah, pretty shit. If you guys think people who make music suck so much, rather than make fun of them, do better than them, you smug fucks. This is like the trope of the old guy outside the construction site telling the workers how to do their jobs.

Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up.

⭐

It was interesting, to say the least.

Seems quite ahead of its time.

But most of the songs didn't draw me in that much.

Gave the relisten a miss as I'd respun it very recently. Grand record. About as weird as 60s gets. Not zappa best but pretty damn good.

A Frank Zappa album that I quite like. The zaniness hadn't taken over yet.

This one is a bit better than the other Mothers Of Invention I got. I appreciate Zappa a lot, but still I don't find this extremely good. It's way more interesting than the other one, but not great.

To say that Zappa and The Mothers of Invention were w/o precedent would not be quite correct. The Kinks were making similarly satirical rock music, tho their Britishness reined in the experimental aspects of their invention. B/c he's American, Zappa's will for the avant-garde is unguarded and full-spectrum: Freak Out! is, compositionally and lyrically, as in-your-face as the best punk. While Ray Davies cultivates a coy, restrained Britishness, Zappa develops an extroverted brand of the American cutting-edge. My favorite tracks on this debut, which I admire but do not love to death - it's got too many songs that are mere novelties - are the ones that engage an American aesthetic - doo-wop + early rock 'n' roll - ironically but lovingly.