In an alternative reality, groups such as Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and the Velvet Underground would have received radio airplay while the likes of Three Dog Night and the Carpenters would have remained in relative obscurity. But we live in the real world and, although I was young and alive in '67-'68 when these albums were released, Frank Zappa was a name I never heard until several years later, when I purchased their rather salacious "Live at the Fillmore East". But it was just this year, 2002, sickened by the mediocrity of the current music scene and still trying to find something new to listen to, that I experienced these classic sides. Then, all this that was old suddenly became new, because it was new to me.
The diversity of Zappa's musical language is nothing short of astounding. Everything but the kitchen sink is in these CD's. The initial offering, "Freak Out", has a few songs on it that are almost but just not quite commercial enough for the climate of the Summer of Love. Zappa is, of course, the supreme rock satirist, but the song "Trouble Every Day" is fairly straightforward social commentary set to a garage-band vibe that wouldn't sound out of place on a "Nuggets" compilation. On the other hand, "Return of the Son of Monster Magnet" is an experimental tour-de-force that goes places rock music had not ventured prior to that time. The follow-up album, "Absolutely Free", has its moments as well, but all that is just preperatory for the ultimate Zappa masterpiece "We're Only In It for the Money." A devastating satire on hippie culture, while at the same time lampooning "straight" society, it belongs on any list of top rock albums you would care to enumerate. Listen, laugh, and marvel.
See all 14 tracks on this disc
