Freak Out!

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.

The first track of this double LP debut album is called “Hungry Freaks, Daddy”. It’s absolutely terrible, from a traditional pop music perspective, but really establishes the !

I’ve listened to a moderate amount of psychedelic rock for this project, and every time I find myself wondering “this is fine, but when does psychedelic rock get REALLY weird?” Turns out, it happened right at the beginning, in 1966, before most of those other albums even came out. Neat. Part of me is curious what this listening experience would be like on even a fraction of any of the drugs consumed during its creation. I’ll probably never know.

It’s fun to hear Frank Zappa sorting things out. His solo stuff is pretty wonky/nerdy and hard for me to get into, but slacker/stoner Frank Zappa is its own vibe. Idk how often I can listen to this but it’s more frequent than never.

What turned out to be a very fun, satiristic album got dragged down to the depths of hell by that 12 minute warbling mess of a last track. Discordant organs, nonsensical chants, and waifish moans do not make a good ending to your album.

I have a big respect for Zappa and the influence he had on some of my favorite artists. I still struggle to enjoy his music personally, but I feel like this album has the most relatable songs in Frank's entire discography.

Pretty innovative for 1966. Sgt Pepper comes out the following year so maybe it was just the time these psychedelia albums came out.

Was growing tired of this towards the end.

2.5/5. Raising to a 3.

When I was a student a Zappa loving goth told me people are either Zappa people or Beefheart people. I'm definitely a Beefheart person by some margin. I quite like the sound of this one and there are some great tracks like I'm Not Satisfied and Trouble Every Day but its occasional Zappa patented arch tone can be a stone cold drag. Let's listen to The Fugs instead next time.

They're better when they don't sing

Not my favorite Zappa album but I do love me some weird.

This album, released in 1966, was way ahead of its time—as are most of Frank Zappa's works. From sophisticated picking to kazoo melodies, from orchestral arrangements to pure chaos, The Mothers of Invention use the entire palette and play it with great timing.
For me, it's not quite top notch, but it's certainly a very good and very influential album.

I think the word is tedious. This album absolutely needs to be on this list. Part of the reason I'm going through this list is to force myself to listen to these "important" albums, and I'm glad I did because there is some interesting aspects of this album. But man. Its a lot. That last song especially. Ugh.

Capolavoro. Pensare che è uscito nel 66...

I know it's a satire, I get what it's going for, but man is this a *rough* listen if you're not part of its exact target audience. Not a fan of 60s rock? Well this is straight 60slop with a shitload of kazoos and absolute vocal fuckery! On the lyrical side there's quite a bit of depth, I can tell this Zappa guy is based, but again his sense of humour is so wacky that the album falls apart entirely if you don't vibe with it.

It gets a 2 star because I do see how this could be a great album to the right people, but I'm personally very far removed from Zappa's wave.

About halfway through, I thought that this was actually pretty interesting and fun to listen to. They were trying out different stuff, and hitting on different styles of music.

By the end, this was off the rails.

Evens out to a 3, I suppose.

Better than Coldplay

I've dealt with a share of bizarre, experimental rock from Frank Zappa. It was a matter of time before I checked out the band he was in prior, The Mothers of Invention. A rotating cavalcade of musicians, the Mothers are considered one of the bigger names in California's late 1960s underground scene. Their debut record, often cited as one of the first concept albums, certainly lives up to its title.

Freak Out! starts innocent enough with the rather kooky, playful pastiches of doo wop and rhythm and blues. It's pretty evident that not only did everyone in the band play rather competently for these compositions, but Zappa loved taking the piss out of American pop culture. Whether it's the message of love from the hippies on "I Ain't Got No Heart", the sappy teenage romance on "Go Cry on Someone Else's Shoulder", or the purveying oxymorons that come with the doo wop tunes on "Wowie Zowie", there was a good variety and execution in the parodies they offered.

As the album goes on, the band slowly descends into sheer madness. The final two tracks, "It Can't Happen Here" and "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet", are some of the weirdest tracks I've heard on my journey. The former is an a cappella track that ironically foreshadows the rise of the counterculture, while the latter is a 12-minute sound collage illustrating someone going insane. Funny enough, the latter track wasn't even the finished product according to Zappa, as it was meant to be much longer.

Make no mistake, Freak Out! is a strange record. It does go on for a rather long time, and I imagine it would get unsettling for some people, especially towards the end. But it is unique and helped usher in one of the most creative forces to have walked the earth.

The opening track, "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" is basically where sweet leaf by sabbath ripped from. Kinda wild. It's crazy that this is 1966, ahead of it's time in some ways but really dated in other ways.

They're fucking around and I'm finding out

Weird, incohesive, bonkers, yet entertaining.

The Temu Rolling Stones

What is wrong with this guy lol