APOSTROPHE (')

Apostrophe refines and perfects the approach that Zappa and the Mothers tried out on Overnite Sensation, attaining a sound which is accessible wiithout sacrificing any of Zappa's quirky complexity. A short but sweet affair, beginning with the long nonsense story that runs from Don't Eat the Yellow Snow to Father O'Blivion, the album also includes an Overnite-styled off- cut in the form of Cosmic Debris and a clutch of other excellent songs. Zappa's lyrics are as witty as ever but are a bit lighter on his usual sexual and scatological themes, and the musicianship is as tight as you'd expect from the superb mid-1970s lineup of the Mothers. This probably qualifies as Zappa's first masterpiece since Hot Rats.