THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: ONE SIZE FITS ALL

Frank Zappa. By mentioning his name alone my wife already starts rolling over the floor from laughter. "Muppet Show music" she calls it. Yes, she's a cheerful person, and I must say her enthusiasm has spurred me to spend more time with the man's discography over the last year.

Frank Zappa has always been an artist I found difficult to get into, usually enjoying the jazz-rock based musicianship a lot, but at the same time put off by the goofy humour, the whimsical songwriting, and the theatrical storylines and quotes from music styles such as "German Schlager" (Du bist mein Sofa), circus music, cabaret, musical etc... This album has it all really. Great jazz-rock, goofy humour, absurdities and a couple of good grooves and catchy melodies of which Inca Roads, Po-jama People and Andy are the ones to check out first.

One Size Fits All seems to be the Zappa where both the musicality and the lyrics get an equal amount of attention. As such it is doubtlessly his most complete album and the obvious favourite for the real Zappa fans. Being a Zappa outsider I happen to enjoy albums like Hot Rats more, but who knows how much more I'll be brainwashed.