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The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!

Tuesday, 27 November 2007

Editor's rating

8.5

out of 10

Reviewed by:
Adam Urteaga
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Thursday, 06 December 2007
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Music Information

Track Listing:
01. Hungry Freaks, Daddy
02. I Ain't Got No Heart
03. Who Are the Brain Police?
04. Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder
05. Motherly Love
06. How Could I Be Such a Fool?
07. Wowie Zowie
08. You Didn't Try to Call Me
09. Any Way the Wind Blows
10. I'm Not Satisfied
11 You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here
12. Trouble Every Day
13. Help, I'm a Rock
14. It Can't Happen Here
15. The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet

Artist: The Mothers of Invention
Title: Freak Out!
Genre: Jazz Fusion • Progressive Rock
Release Date: 30 November 1999
Record Label: MGM Records
Format: Full-length
Country: United States of America
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May 2, 1995 re-release

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Editor review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful


Overall rating (weighted)		8.5
Musicianship		8.0
Composition		9.0
Experimentation		9.0
Production		8.0
Value		8.0

In a career spanning thirty years Zappa's output as a composer is hardly matched by any contemporary; his staggering catalog of material is even more formidable considering the breadth of styles incorporated. Recently, his son, Dweezil, embarked on a successful tour reviving Frank's music for a younger audience. In a modern musical era dominated by unchallenging artistry, a time when to most, music is a passive entity, full of trite and meaningless babble, rediscovering, or discovering Zappa for the first time is a welcome change of pace for the few pockets of thirsty brains demanding more cerebral challenges. One could begin their explorations of Zappa's music from nearly any point in his career and find material that is involving for the listener, daring you to think in ways you may not have before thought possible. To celebrate the forty years of his provocative music revisiting The Mothers of Invention 1966 debut Freak Out! is more than a curiosity of origins, it is a test of the artist's durability.

Lyrically, however more subdued than later releases, Zappa is as typical; snide social satire and mocking jabs at the music industry and the average, ignorant listener. There is, though, a certain naivete to much of the bohemian lyricism espoused by Zappa, as much of the album is a call to arms for an impending cultural/intellectual revolution that never quite happened. Songs here are varied and largely accessible, but for all the pop sensibility Zappa proves capable of much more with peculiar arrangements and instrumentation, offering new twists to old forms. There is the game of shifting accents he plays on "How Could I Be Such a Fool," or the excellent harmonies and contrapuntal vocalizations of the sardonic and retro doo wop number "Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder." Rhythmic and melodic themes are atypical, taking their cues from Zappa's lifelong infatuation with modernist composers like Stravinsky and Varese, best exemplified on the dramatically orchestrated "You Didn't Try to Call Me." Zappa really hits then uncharted territory on the jammed out feel of "Help, I'm a Rock," with its snake-like Middle Easter vibe and the accapella perversion "It Can't Happen Here." The album closes with the trying "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet," another jam piece deftly mixed with some of Zappa's trademark tape collages, creating a swirl of atonal sound amidst alternately slowed and speeded vocal parts seemingly designed to test the listener's sanity.

That this album has been named among the most important in rock history is no coincidence. This is a piece that not only tests limits and smashes them, it launched the career of a twentieth century musical icon whose work will far outlive the man. There is something for everyone on this album. It has depth and variety aplenty, intelligent social criticism, and a shocking duality of challenging, thoughtful music that is also easily accessible. This is an album where the more you listen, the more you get; certainly not Zappa's most sophisticated work, but far from a disappointment.

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