Freak Out (Audio Cassette) [Import]

"This is the voice of your conscience, baby..." The recording debut of the Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention is a brilliantly wicked counter-strike to the "flower power" sensibilities prevalent at the time of its release in 1966. Arguably rock music's first true "concept album", Zappa's collage mashes together chunks of psychedelic guitars, outspoken political commentary, cultural satire and avant-garde musical sensibilities, then hides it all under cleverly crafted pop melodies. Not diminished in the slightest by the passage of time, Freak Out! remains as vital and relevant today as it was in the 1960s. --Andrew Boscardin

"This is the voice of your conscience, baby..." The recording debut of the Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention is a brilliantly wicked counter-strike to the flower power sensibilities prevalent at the time of it's release in 1966. Arguably rock music's first true "concept album," Zappa's aural collage mashes together chunks of psychedelic guitars, outspoken political commentary, cultural satire, and avant-garde musical sensibilities, and then hides it all under cleverly crafted pop melodies. Not diminished in the slightest by the passage of time, Freak Out! remains as vital and relevant today as it was in the 1960's. --Andrew Boscardin

Sorti en 1966, le premier opus de Frank Zappa avec les Mothers Of Invention n'a rien perdu de son pouvoir de subversion. Le guitariste compositeur visionnaire s'y affirme déjà comme un redoutable commentateur social doublé d'un plaisantin lubrique ("Motherly Love" est un appel aux groupies). Affectionnant les pastiches ravageurs de doo wop ("Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder") comme les pop songs détournées ("Wowie Zowie"), Zappa s'en prend aussi bien à l'establishment qu'aux premiers hippies, dont il ne partage pas la naïveté, pour soutenir les vrais anticonformistes et les laissés- pour-compte du rêve américain; le bluesy "Trouble Every Day" est ainsi sa réponse aux émeutes raciales de Watts. Pour finir, les longs et exigeants "Help, I'm A Rock" et "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet" annoncent son flirt poussé avec la musique contemporaine "sérieuse". Mieux qu'une carte de visite, Freak Out est un manifeste qui contient en germe toute l'oeuvre à venir du maestro. --Thierry Chatain

Japanese limited edition reissue of 1966 album, packaged in a miniature gatefold LP sleeve.