THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY

Only Money progressive rock? NOT A CHANCE!

But Frank Zappa wasn't always progressive. Throughout his lengthy and colourful career, he was practically his own genre! With albums ranging from jazz to hard rock, straightforward classical to standup comedy, avant-garde to psychedelic pop, it was very hard to actually classify Zappa under one genre!

Rumour has it that this album is one of the greatest ever recorded. That rumour seems to be correct. I bought a CD of this album in early March 2003, as my Zappa collection was starting to grow like a daffodil. Fortunately, this CD was the 1995 edition with somewhat lacking sound quality (because it was copied from an LP master) but without the awful new wave rhythm section that destroyed Cruising with Ruben & the Jets.

Although there are more than soft influences of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper, the copy seems to be better than the original! (But I love both of them and I'm a Beatles fan so no need to worry.) The front cover looks less promising since the background is dark purple, and the people gracing the collage look stoned! Zappa for one is dressed like a schoolgirl, ponytails and all!

Now for the music on the album:

Some sonic sounds (possibly from a switchboard) are in the background as Eric Clapton asks some unknown female if she's hung up (whatever that means). Gary Kellgren (the chief engineer on the album) whispers terrifyingly that he is going to erase every tape recording in the world. Shortly afterwards, Jimmy Carl Black proudly introduces himself as the Indian of the group (according to amIannoying.com, he still calls himself an "Indian" - the PC term is Native American!).

Feeling so stoned and depressed, Frank asks himself, "Who Neds The Peace Corps?" He plans to go to San Francisco, wear a hippy wig, drink beer, smoke marijuana and just let loose! The music is quite catchy with some restrained guitar and tenor sax stylings.

"Concentration Moon" is a two-minute ditty about wanting to hang out with the hippies and what will result later on in the park with the police. Gary returns to inform the listeners that the next day, he will work again with Frank.

"Mom & Dad" is a beautiful song that relates to the Kent State University incident, in which protestors (hippies) were trying to stop the Vietnam War and got shot dead by the police.

Next, Frank tries to hook up the ubiquitous Suzy Creamcheese with her sister on the phone. The conversation makes no sense, so it's basically just filler.

The silly 33-second "Bow Tie Daddy" (which was originaly a tie-in to the telephone conversation) is a promise to all the working fathers across the nation that "everything's under control" and just to have fun. Not surprisingly, it was never performed live.

Beginning with some piano, Zappa sings in a high-pitched voice that the attitude of "American womanhood" "stinks" and that their lives are "completely empty." Later on, Harry and Madge start fighting and Madge bursts into tears.

Now, "What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?" Not your nose. Not your toes. But your mind! After this warning, Zappa informs all the kids who are listening that they are not safe around their parents.

With a lovely piano intro and Suzy Creamcheese saying she won't do "publicity balling" anymore, the best track (which is titled "Absolutely Free" - strange since that was the title of the last Mothers of Invention LP) ensues. "The first word in this song is discorporate. It means to leave your body." But he can't mean that literally cause it is impossible. What Zappa means is to get high, be free and "enter the world of a strange purple Jello." Certainly would be better in dreams but smoking marijuana kills brain cells!

Don't look for Joe Strummer! The punk in "Flower Punk" is a young, inexperienced guy who has no sense of direction at all. A rip-off of "Hey Joe", this is a call-and-answer song in which a punk says he's going "down to Frisco to join a psychedelic band," "to the love-in to sit and play his bongos in the dirt," "to the dance to get some action," and, finally, "to the shrink." After that final remark, turmoil ensues and everybody begins to freak out! Two guys start speaking in separate channels. One talks about how he came to be a hippie; another guy is very excited to be in the music business and can't decide if he wants to buy a Mustang, a Corvette, a Harley Davidson or a yacht.

Gary Kellgren finishes side 1 by whispering about Zappa sitting and working the controls because "it is the way he can create." Then a cloud of backwards and sped-up noise emerges from the speakers and the listener gets knocked out by a deep snork!

A tribute to Edgard Varese, "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" are a collection of weird sounds, with clips of Eric Clapton exclaiming, "God!" and some surf music. This track foreshadows the next song.

"Let's Make The Water Turn Black" is a catchy, two-minute song about Ronnie and Kenny Williams, who, when they were kids, would inflame their farts with matches, collect urine samples and make creatures come to life, and cover their bedroom windows with boogers until it became "dyssentery green." Later versions of this song are instrumental.

"The Idiot Bastard Son" is an abandoned child raised by Ronnie and Kenny. The song explains how the child will grow into a world of chaos. In the middle of the song, Motorhead says he "never really wanted to..." and people begin freaking out with him. The refrains of the song are kind of spooky, especially when Frank sings "Try and imagine the window all covered in green!" Later versions of this song are instrumental, too. The track closes with Gary Kellgren breathing into the mic and talking about his lack of royalties from two hit records he's had on the chart.

The concept of no love between parents & children continues on this track called "Lonely Little Girl." The final part of "What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?" is repeated in another cycle with some sitar-like guitar work closing the track.

A 1½-minute track on the joys of no shame and more freedom, "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" is an odd track with stupid vocals and odd lyrics.

The Mothers come back to remind you that the "Ugliest Part of Your Body" is your mind. Then, some tape warps ensue until finally your head can't handle it any more, it snorks and a spooky voice says, "Do it again! Do it again!"

"Mother People" is a bouncy, happy-go-lucky track which protests the right to be free and how hippies can be the same as everybody else. Shortly before the song ends, a few seconds of "I Don't Know If I Can Go Through This Again" is sampled.

The album ends with a frightening, Franz Kafka-influenced track called "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny." The only word ever spoken in the track is "arbitrary." Creepy, no? With maniacal laughter and avant-garde musical sounds, the track is practically a fitting way to end this great album. Don't listen to this album at night, though, because it gave me nightmares.

Well, that wraps up this very long review.

We're only in it for a rollercoaster of quality fun

Truly an Excellent addition to any prog rock collection - but not "prog" as we know it - a masterpiece of its own genre. So why do I not award the full 5 stars? Simply for that reason - it is NOT a masterpiece of Progressive Rock in the sense that "Court of the Crimson King" or "Foxtrot" are masters of the genre. A fine line, perhaps - but although this is progressive rock music without the capitalisation, it is the genre itself we are considering.

Now that you understand "prog" perfectly, onwards to a track-by-track analysis... No! Wait! What is the point, when we are considering a concept which contains many ideas rather than a simple collection of individual ideas - a work of art rather than a pop record;

There are stand out tracks, such as "Concentration Moon", "Flower Punk", "Lonely Little Girl", "Take Your Clothes off When You Dance" and "Mother People" - but that's not what this album is about; it is joined together as a complete concept should be, even if tenuously in places.

There is the satirical theme running through the album, from the cover which mocks "Sgt Pepper" (although that's the only thing about this album which does), to "Flower Punk", which directly mocks Hendrix's lyrics and attitude, while shying away from mocking his phenomenal talent - Zappa clearly had respect for other great musicians even if he did loathe what they stood for. In between, we find attacks on the hippie movement in general and the type of middle class Americans it attracted, who tended to be "weekend hippies" with dark private lives at odds with the ideals of the movement. It's not just these people, but also their families, corporations and the American Way that comes under Zappa's fire.

We also find a lot of musical experimentation - by playing with the popular styles of the day, Zappa embroiders them with his own personal style, humour and a super-rich production which gives this album a timeless feel musically. Use of electronics and reverse tapes (e.g. "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music") add a distinctly futuristic sound. I have always been particularly impressed by the sound of the bass on this album - and yes, it sounds like that on the original vinyl.

The burbling noises and spoken snippets range from the amusing to the downright irritating - some actually make me feel a little sick - but there's still no doubt that the overall collage that is "WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY" is a work of art by a genius. Buy it, and live in awe.

in terms of zappa in the 60s, this is probably the epitome. zappa went completely against the norm here in sound, and attacked all that the 60s were about. this album is not even 40 minutes long, and the only negative i can find on this album is that the last track can be a bit of a journey to get through and sort of sticks out from the rest of the album, which flows perfectly and is just phenomenal. it's a contender for best zappa album ever, but it's too close to call there.

coming out in 1968 this is an amazing record! i had to listen to it twice to appreciate it and by the third listen i was in love with it. this record has some of the earliest progressive rock grooves with the 7/4 passages in the songs "flower punk" and "whats the ugliest...". this preceeded king crimson by a year, and yes and genesis by years. i wonder if they were influenced.... this record has many progressive touches with the songs continuing without breaks, songs morphing into other songs, constant changes of beat, sound effects and reprises of bits of songs thrown in the middle of other songs. for 1968 this is groundbreaking stuff and it makes you laugh as well. i am giving four stars because even though this is a masterpiece it is more of a pop/prog masterpiece. not quite a masterpiece of prog.

Now this is a weird album. Zappa does some kind of parody here, mostly dealing with hippies and stuff. But the point is, the first time I heard this record, I was shocked, and I thought "THIS is a masterpiece???", but after some time it grew on me. This thing is amazing, the melodies are strong, there are lots of sped-up vocals (or at least they sound like that) that are SO catchy that it's unbelievable. I'd honestly prefer to listen to this kind of funny-styled social critique than the serious approach many artists take when doing "important" lyrics, which many times ruin the message AND the music. Anyway, the second song's the best, but most of them are nice pop and doo wop songs that are surprisingly catchy. The album sounds ridiculous and it's meant to be that way. There are, however, some problems, like some of this sound "collages" which aren't very good, and a couple of weak moments here and there (especially the conversations and such things). But "Concentration Moon", "Mother People", "Bow Tie Daddy", "Who Needs The Peace Corps?", "What's The Ugliest...", "Take Your Clothes Off...", "Let's Make The Water..." are all good, especially if you are looking for something weird but catchy at the same time.

Much has been said about this masterpiece, it's graced the Rolling Stones top 100 rock albums of all time.

I believe that We're Only In It For The Money is the grand finale of the satire-heavy Mothers' era. Frank used everything he learned about writing great melody and using a lot of freaky production techniques and sound exploration and combined them into this tour de force. Zappa's messages were never stronger, and his freakiness was never more abundant than in this album.

This album was the single answer to "Why are hippies stupid?" Zappa touched more and more styles of music in this album. Let's Make The Water Turn Black sounds like a children's ditty when the show ends, and Nasal Retentive Calliope Music touches surf music at the end and is a tribute to the dissonance of Edgard Varese (along with The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny), both being severely interesting and freaky. A lot of the songs are short, freaked up diaogue pieces, sometimes in the middle of one of the actual songs on the album! Most of it again inside stories that only Frank and the Mothers know about, unless you've read up somewhere the story behind them.

There are no guitar solos on the album, as the album concentrates once again on message and stories combined with freaky dissonance and actual played instruments, with effects layered all over. So, this album is more of a mixture of Freak Out! and Lumpy Gravy, sacrifiing the groove and improvisation of Absolutely Free, which can be a bad thing. A lot of the effects can definitely be intriguing, but can get old and may interrupt what one would call a solid listen of a song-oriented album, which isn't necessarily the case for me, I enjoy Frank's freak-outs thoroughly, but it's definitely specific.

I'd say as an accessible album with stronger melody and more interesting playing, Absolutely Free edges this one, but We're Only In It For The Money is a masterpiece because the structure is extremely solid with what Frank wanted to do, and it ended up probably THE most different and original album of it's time, with plenty of great songs, including the worded version of Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance. A must-buy, it's hard to explain, but this album is being rated high for a reason.

in terms of zappa in the 60s, this is probably the epitome. zappa went completely against the norm here in sound, and attacked all that the 60s were about. this album is not even 40 minutes long, and the only negative i can find on this album is that the last track can be a bit of a journey to get through and sort of sticks out from the rest of the album, which flows perfectly and is just phenomenal. it's a contender for best zappa album ever, but it's too close to call there.

We're Only in It for the Money is an incredibly satirical album. Zappa's paranoid perspective of the social scene is vicious and hilarious here. The production and melodic strength here is the real interesting factor of this album. The studio work here is amazing, effects and oddball breaks are amazingly cool for this time, and are still fresh to listen to to this day, Zappa's command over a studio is truly legendary. Complexity and guitar solos are not in effect much in this album a matter of fact there are no guitar solos. Zappa's message is most important here, and his composition is not forgotten either, songs like Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance and Harry, You're a Beast are very popular Zappa compositions. This is the Mothers' peak of sneering social protest and oddball lifestyles. As far as all this it's amazing, it made the Rolling Stones' Top 100 Albums of All Time! As far as artsy jam complexity freakout jamming like we expect from Frank look elsewhere. 9.3/10

This album is a masterpiece because I never get bored listening to it, there is always something new to discover, this is not an easy listening album and it is good from the beginning to the end. And I always have a laugh when I hear:"Who cares if you're so poor you can't afford To buy a pair of Mod A Go-Go stretch-elastic pants... THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN YOU CAN EVEN TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF WHEN YOU DANCE" WA WA WA WA!!! Or: "What's the ugliest Part of your body? What's the ugliest Part of your body? Some say your nose, Some say your toes But I think it's YOUR MIND" Je l'adore!!

I have not heard many Zappa albums that i will confes, 5 with this one i am planing to buy some more some day, but dont realy know what i whant there so many of em you know :-) Well of the Zappa albums i have heard this in without a doubt the best one. This is a complete masterpiece, everything with this recording is perfect, its very funy in thos dayes Zappa and the mothers at least on this album realy was funy and he dident try so hard as one later albums like Shike yerbouti wich i dont like much at all. We're only in it for the money is very much fun to lisen to bothe the lyrics and all crazy sounds and studio tricks are all fantastic you thougt you hade heard good efects on albums like SGT pepper, your mind will melt when you here this studio efect freak out. The songs are very short most of em but the wholy album feels to me more like on big strange trip, everything is pasted toghter. allmost all the songs are great cant come up with any real bad ones. Well if you like Zappa or is whondering what he is all about this shuld be you first album i think its a Album everyone shuld have. And even the american musical paper Rolling "What is Prog?" Stone, gave it good revives and said it was a masterpiece so it realy must be something.

This was maybe the fifth zappa album i've heard, and........ouch!, big disappointement, first I tough i'd like it if I give it some more chances, but no..

In fact, this album is a satire album were zappa mock the Hippie culture, ( Just look at the album cover, a spoof of the beatles Sgt.Pepper)... In this period zappa was mostly on psychedelic and weird sound experimentations.. The vocals are a big dissapointement, the chipmunks-like vocals are kind of funny, but it's just what you don't like to hear, a lot of the songs here are just idiotic.

This album is maybe unique, but I think it's the most overrated zappa album...

Don't expect long guitar solo or some other great instrumental parts, there are just very short pop-sounding satire song.

2,5/5 : Collectors/fans only

I used to listen to this album in my teens and thought it was a really great parody of pop music, but more recently have been listening to it closely and have come to the conclusion it is one of the greatest albums of all time.

It is far more than a parody of pop, or of the hippie movement. It is a biting satirical look at all aspects of society in the 1960s, from the wannabe hippies ("I'm really just a phoney but forgive me cuz I'm stoned") to the brain dead middle class who ignored the massive social upheavals of the era ("don't try to do no thinkin'/ just go on with yer drinkin'/just have your fun you ol' son of a gun/and drive home in your lincoln").

Brilliant orchestral arrangements appear suddenly between the rapidly changing melodies as do unexpected spoken passages that relate the "plot" of the album: a pop band trying unsuccessfully to get rich and famous.

The album no doubt goes over the heads of many, but someone with an appreciation for experimental music and biting satire will find this a true masterpiece.

This is the third album by The Mothers of Invention (i.e. NOT Frank Zappa solo). It's a crazy and bizarre ride through avant-garde rock and pop-rock, with a strong 60's psychelic edge to it. There are many references to region around San Bernadino, California, where the band lived and hung out.

The songs all flow together, and you really don't quite know what to expect the first few times you listen to it. The styles change from moment to moment, from rock to pop to jazz to classical, all with a fun and deranged humor.

The reviews above give a fairly good idea of some of the variety on the album. It's clear that this type of album probably couldn't be created these days. Definitely a product of the times and the location (60's California, San Francisco, etc.)

The album was re-released on CD in the late 80's (or early 90's) with some of the tracks having been re-recorded. In particular, the bass and drum tracks were redone to update their sound. The original album sounds slightly different.

Great album. Maybe not a prog. rock classic, but a classic rock album from the 60's. Good to listen to when life and people get too serious, and you need some comic relief.

A surprisingly enjoyable album, of course much of it is utter nonsense but this time it's all pretty fun. In fact this is a total masterpiece and I have absolutely no problem with all of the ridiculous sound collages and other absurdities on the album because the overall effect is utterly brilliant. Silly hardcore proggers with no interest in psychedelic music probably won't like this album though since it's pseudo- psychedelic. My initial reaction to hearing it was to dismiss it as way to chaotic but after repeated listenings it has become one of my favorite, because as chaotic as the album is it never loses focus if that makes any sense. I think it's safe to say that this album is one of Zappa's best if not his best.

Zappa, The 60's, satire, perfection.

Highly experimental creation of Zappa and The Mothers. Playing with vocal manipulation, diverse genres, sonic experimentation and funny or depressive lyrics, depends how you assimilate the whole entity that WE'RE ONLY DOING IT FOR THE MONEY.

Playfull songs like: "Who needs the Peace Corps?", "Bow Tie Daddy", "Harry, Youre a Beast", "Let's make The Water turn Black" contrast with the sadness of "Mom and Dad", "Lonely Little Girl" and with the sometimes very true lyrics of "What's the Ugliest part of your Body?"

Experimentation fall is songs like "Are you Hung Up?", "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" and "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny"

To resume: If you want to listen a fun, deep, true, insane and psychadelic critic of the 60s by the genius of Zappa the go buy this album now and stop reading this review!!! =D

a Thousand stars!!

2.9/5.0 Wow, yet another weird and even weirder album! At first I thought it was disappointing, but after some listenings I am beginning to appreciate it. This is hardly real prog music, but the rhythms are entertaining and I think the satire on this album (the sleeve itself is a Beatles parody) is much better than what have been done before.

From a musical point, however, this is far from been an essential album. It's good, but the interesting beats do not last long enough to be fully appreciated. Still, interesting to listen to! 2.9/5.0

This is the ultimate bashing of all the phonies that America was dealing with at those turbulent times which were the sixties. Not only does Zappa bash the hippies, he bashes there parent's, the music industry and the squares also. He comes across as not denouncing the whole movement, but there lack of organization and not being strong enough to do something about the problems America faces.

The music on this album doesnt have many electric guitars. It's mostly Horns and Pianos that carry the melodies. It's also very experimental. Lost of psychedelic sound effects and sound collages show up here. At times it can be difficult to listen to, but it's still great stuff.

The strength of the album comes in the songwriting rather the instrumentation though. It's truly a hilarious album that never fails to entertain. It's psychotic, fun and deranged humor that carries important messages about society. An excellent addition to a prog collection, but not really a prog rock album.

"We're Only In It For The Money" was my first Zappa album, and I declared it one of my favourite albums to this day.

It bears all the qualities that I never thought could possibly fit onto one disc, or be accomplished by one artist. For one, I rarely see artists incorporating humour into their music and even if they do, it isn't to my taste. The humour also reflects what it's musically like: erratic, unpredictable and dynamic.

It pulls off having these elements, yet at the same time it doesn't venture into becoming too inconsistant to throw you off in disinterest.

Unfortunately to the layman, this appears to be drug influenced music. So far I haven't convinced anyone who has heard it that Frank Zappa didn't do drugs.

I don't have a top track to pick off this album, because I feel like I have to listen to it as a whole, or listen to a fair chunk of it. I'm guessing I just like to take it in a similar way as I would with "Lumpy Gravy" rather than pick seperate songs and sections out, take the whole thing for what it is in it's entirety.

Definately essential, definately a masterpiece and definately what I call progressive music. I recommend for everyone just to check out, even if you don't like it, you are bound to be intrigued.

Okay...first things first. DO NOT make this your first Frank Zappa album. It is very hard to get into if you are not yet interested in Frank Zappa. I am saying this from experience, which means, yes, this was the first Zappa album that I bought. I hated it at first, but after a while, I began to appreciate it for what it is: a great cohesive satirical work of art. Not to imply that the songs take a backseat to the concept at all....but many of them are very short(I love short songs), very experimental and segue into the next song(which I love veeery much also). This album was the result of much great effort by Zappa as a producer. ALOT of complex tape editing and manipulation was involved in its making. Most of the vocals are altered in pitch and speed by recording at a slower tape speed, so that when played back they would be unnaturally high. Also, this record revolves around one subject: the artificiality and superficiality of flower-power counterculture. This concept is tackled with large amounts of acerbic sardonic humor. I won't do a track-by-track review because there are so many tracks.

A brilliant and insane observation of the "culture" that evolved around the hippie lifestyle. This is in my opinion one of Zappa's finest albums, and one of his most outrageous and hilarious satirical peices. The album is made up 19 shorter tracks, so it goes without saying that it is an album that is meant to be listened to as a whole. The music on this album is all over the place, and does feature the "cut and paste" style of alot of Zappa's earlier work. This will surely be a difficult album to digest for the Zappa novice - definitely not a good place to start if you are interested in Zappa. But once you are ready - this is a real treat. Biting and intelligent (not to mention hilarious) commentary on the hippie movement, all backed by the very style of music the hippie movement so much enjoyed. An absolute masterpeice! - 5/5

This album is a fantastic and amusing masterpiece. From the pastiche of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band for the front cover to the comical lyrics and musical devices used throughout the album for instance a lyrical example might be "who cares if your so poor you can't afford to buy a pair of Mod A Go-Go stretch elastic pants." which is clearly an amusing line. This album is far from just a cheap spoofy gimick. It uses the studio to great effect splicing sounds to create madcap soundscapes which perfectly demonsrate the hysteria of the album. The album's instrumentation is also rather good with classy guitar work from Frank Zappa. All in all a masterpiece of wit, melody and structure, it flows with perfect coherence to the end.

This was one of the first albums by The Mothers that I discovered, and I am addicted to it. I can't stop listening to this album, I love it!

Though coming short at only 40 minutes, the album displays The Mothers creative, weird, and quite funny style. The Album was a direct message about the corruption of the government at the time, and also making fun of the pop-culture (Surf Music especially).

The album opens up with "Are You hung Up?". It is a weird blend of whispering, various sound effects, and weird effects (though not so uncommon today), like echoing and phasing. No music in this track, just a very cool intro. The 2nd song, (or the first actual "song"), is "Who Needs Peace Corps". The main message is simply making fun of hippies and their ways. Nice music in this track though, the drumming is very nicely done, as are the rest of the instruments. Following that is "Concentration Moon", a weird blend of strange music and conversation. Halfway through the music stops and you hear almost undecipherable speaking (Like Most songs on this album). The song by itself is quite good, except the singing isn't very good, just off key and stuff. The next song,"Mom & Dad", is probably The most serious song, with no funny vocals or noises. This, like most songs, discusses the corrupted government. This talks about a young teenager being shot by cops in the park, which has been sung about by many artists during that era, (like Ohio, by CSNY). The song is great nonetheless, one of my favorites, just for the music. The Next couple of songs are Zappas silly weird songs. Starting the list is "Telephone Conversation", which is nothing more or less than, that. That goes into a short, 30- second long, 50's sounding song called "Bow Tie Daddy" its alright, nothing special on its own, but essential to the album. Now we're back to real songs, with "Harry, You're a Beast!", I'm saying the same thing over and over, but again, this is just a good song, the sound is similar to those 50/60's pop songs. The next is a famous song and question.."Whats The Ugliest Part of your body", a good funny zappa-esque song. I guess I shouldn't cover all the tracks, considering I'll be repeating myself, but, some essential, remarkable songs still remain. "Absolutely Free", is one of my favorites, it's an incredible song, you'll love it. The next is a favorite of mine, which some of my friends have called it "horribly irritating and unlistenable", it is "Flower Punk", a fast paced, high pitched (the pitch is literally increased, to give Zappa a helium-type voice). The song itself is in the exact same structure as Hendrix' famous tune, "Hey Joe"; instead, it's "Hey Punk", a funny song, especially the drums.

The next 2 songs I tend to skip. "Hot Poop", and "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" are just noise, weird noise with some whispering and delay effects. A bunch of stuff to listen to if you're stoned. Also, a little interesting fact is that Eric Claptons voice is head during "Nasal REtentive Calliope Music"

Here come my favorites. "Lets Make the Water Turn Black", is a song about a family that Frank Zappa stayed with for a week or two when he was younger. Considering the lyrics, they were a very dysfunctional, messed up family. The lyrics explain it all. The Music in this song is outstanding, I can't get enough of it. This is probably my favorite, it's funny, and well played (Like most of his songs). Next, dealing with the same family concept is "the Idiot Bastard Son" My 2nd favorite; another serious song, no funny sounds or whispering. Again, it's about the Family Zappa stayed with. This is an essential song. The album wraps up with "Lonely Little Girl", "Take your clothes off when you dance", "Mother People", the reprise to "What's the Ugliest Part of your Body", "Mother People", and "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny". All Essential songs but I don't want to bore you.

If you like Zappa, pick this album right now, if you don't like Zappa, pick it up right now. This is his best album in my opinion, Everything balances out and makes this a perfect experience.

It's not surprising that this record is very funny and that Frank uses a lot of satire. What surprised me was "who" he was making fun of in 1968. People like THE BEATLES, hippies, Woodstock and middle class America. Ok, middle class America I can see, but it just shows that no one is off limits from Zappa's parody. The front album cover of the band dressed up as women is one of the funniest pictures i've ever seen. And add to that the fact they are lampooning the "Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Heartsclub Band" album cover, well it's priceless.

"Who Needs The Peace Corps" is about fake hippies, and is so funny especially the line "I will love the police as they kick the sh$#t out of me". "Concentration Moon" is another hilarious song about middle class America and their attitude towards hippies. How they would love to send them all away on a bus and "smash every creep in the face with a rock".

"Mom And Dad" is a mellow, catchy tune that is almost prophetic about the violence against young people by authorities, as like what happened in Ohio. "Harry, Your A Beast" is very BEATLES sounding. "Flower Punk" is a mockery of Woodstock, and is so funny. "Let's Make The Water Turn Black" is a brilliant, well done song. Yeah, it's funny too."The Idiot Bastard Son" made me laugh right out loud at work when I was listening to this. Some nice guitar in "Lonely Little Girl" while "The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny" is experimental sounding and really quite good.

All in all this is about the lyrics more than the music, but it's just so well done. And especially when you consider the year and the people Zappa was making fun of.

Absolutely fantastic "contra-hippies-music" album. I can hear here echoes of Beatles music and many bands from 60-ties. And fantastic musicians: of course Frank, and Roy Estrada, Don Preston and all "boys". For me - the best album of Frank Zappa

(Before I get started with my review, I must say that I started listening to Zappa about two months ago, and I've been trying to build a decent collection of his work. (I plan to collect all of his official releases.) I currently own 11 Zappa albums and this is my second Mothers album. After reading your reviews of We're Only In It For The Money, I was so intrigued I decided to purchase the album, join ProgArchives, and write my own review. I believe all that must be said about this album has been said by the various writers on this website, but I thought I'd also show my feelings.

After the experimental edge, sophisticated satire, and pop genius displayed in 'Freak Out', I didn't think that Zappa and Co. were going to be able to produce a record half as good as their first. (I mean, come on, didn't he say all that he needed to with 'Who Are The Brain Police'?) But after three good listens to this record, I must say that it is a wonderful record that all Zappa enthusists should cherish. Exceptional is the word to describe this album. There is no obvious storyline or epic plot contained within (unless you want to fabricate one for yourself), and with the exception of a few poppy hooks and imaginative guitar techniques, the music isn't so great. It's really the impact of the words and the revolutionary 'cut-and-paste' production that make this album such a 'mini masterpiece'. You must come to the table with a knowledge of Zappa's personality and beliefs to really understand what he is saying about the '60s culture. His biting wit and heavy satirical insight make the record a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It is a concept. With the stoned, drop out, San Francisco hippies as the backdrop, and with the avant-garde electronics in the foreground. Actually, my first listening to this album was one of the most profound experiences I've ever had. Zappa fills up the space in the grooves with dialogue, commentary, voices of different speeds, electronic noises, and typical 60s pop fare. All of these elements are painstakingly put together to achieve the maximum intensity in the music. It transports you back to the summer of love, Vietnam, and the days before Woodstock, and it scares you. THIS ALBUM IS CREEPY! Without being too overwhelming. But creepy nonetheless!

IF THIS IS CONSIDERED A REVOLUTIONARY ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENT TODAY, JUST IMAGINE HOW AHEAD OF IT'S TIME IT WAS BACK THEN! Not only the noise, but the title, the unifying theme and the way the songs segue into eachother, the total parody of the culture, and the mass stupidity of government, hippies, and the very overrated plastic Beatles.

This album becomes less interesting with each listen though as the "Mothers rely on shock value" according to Rolling Stone and I happen to agree. Sonically, this album proves Zappa's genius, but melodically Freak Out was much more enjoyable and accessible. But they shouldn't be compared. Times changed drastically between 1966 and 1968, and both albums define their times.

4/5. Bottom line.

We're Only In It For the Money is the highlight of the Zappa with the Mothers of Invention. He would go on to write better albums after ditching the Mothers, but this still stands as his first triumph. This album is built upon the concept of satirizing the 60s. While Zappa aims a few hits at other artists (the cover mocks the Sgt. Pepper artwork, while "Flower Punk" attacks Hendrix based on his lyrics and rock-star attitude), he generally stops short of attacking the talent of the aforementioned bands, as Mark already said. Frank mocks the attitude of sonic exploration by using mainly electronics over conventional instruments. However, he does so in a way that makes the album musical, moreso than many LSD-fueled experimentations of contemporary bands.

Zappa's gift of humor pervades the album, particularly on songs like "Who Need the Peace Corps?," which tears apart the hippie culture. If you don't laugh when Frank mocks the hippie attitude when he says "I will love everyone, I will love the police as they kick the s**t out of me on the street," then you're dead inside. "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" is one of countless innuendo-filled tunes. When you listen to AC/DC, later-day Rolling Stones, and a host of other like minded bands, you have Frank to thank. I'll spare you a track by track review; suffice to say the album drips with some of the smartest lyrics of the decade. Really the only serious song is "Mom & Dad," which deals with a teen being shot by police. Think of it as Zappa's "Ohio." Every other song is filled with biting satire, and countless effects that make Sgt. Pepper's seem conventional by comparison.

As wonderful as this album is, it can't be listened to repeatedly; I have to give breaks in between listens. It's probably the most progressive album of the 60s, save perhaps In the Court of the Crimson King, and at least that fit melodies. Zappa fans should start with Apostrophe and Over-nite Sensation before braving this great but inacessible gem.

Grade: B+

The shortest album by Mothers of invention, with most tracks beeing miniatures. The irony, mocking and critism is still there, of course.

Are you hung up Weird and silly vocals with a bit of guitar in the outro. 0 stars

Who needs the peace corps A melodic numberdominated by hypnotical drumming and good vocaals by Zappa. Good saxophone playing as well. 5 stars

Concentration moon Agaun a mock pop track . There is a nice melodic change near the middle however. 3 stars

Mom and dad A nce melody with funny lyrics, Zappaesque as usual. In the better way . 5 stars

Telephone conversation Well, a telephone conversation. No more, no less, no melody. 0 points

Bow tie daddy A mock pop song with melody a la thirties. 0.5 stars

Harry, you´re a beast Harmless filler. 0 stars

What´s the ugliest part of your baddy Another mock of a pop song. The melodies are catch&y, however and it sounds almost like a micro opera. 5 stars

Absolutelly free After a dramatic intro with piano the track gets into the mock pop style again. Nothing to rave about. The previous one was better. Still, the melody is nice. 3.5 star

Flower punk A mock of the hippies and psychedelias. (not the first one on the record, obviously). The melody is repetitive and clumsy and then it´s just weird talking and yelling. 0 stars

Hot poop Just a spoken filler not even a minute long. 0 stars

Nasal retentive caliope music Just some weird noises. No melody, no mood. 0 stars

Let´s make the water turn black A mock pop track Melodic, but not necessarily breahtaking. 3 stars

The idiot bastard A catchy trak with good vocals from Frank. 5 stars

Lonely litle girl Mocking again. The melody is sub par again. At least there is some nice guitar playing in the fast intro. 1 star

Take your clothes off when you dance A bit better melody, than on the previous track, but that´s all. 1.5 stars

What´s the ugliest part of your body (reprise) A reprise, but more weird and less melody. 0 stars

Mother people A mini epic with catchy melody, and good vocals, which dominate the number. 5 stars

The chrome plated megaphone of destiny Just a weird collage of sound, which is missing atmosphere. 0 stars

Overall rating: 2 STARS

It may be the greatest mock album ever released, but not musically).

Collectors/Fans only

Firstly is this prog ? Well yes I believe it is, but its roots are in American Doo-whop music rather than than rock and roll. It is also the work of a genius. A lot has already been said far to much in fact. So buy yourself a copy and listen because this remains one of the most important records of all time a true classic and an example of all that progressive music can be. It is also an important document of 1967-68 seen through the eyes of freaks rather than drugged up hippy's. You need a copy of this record as much as any other LP represented here and its worth all 7 stars but it will have to be happy with just 5. Those reviews who believe this is not prog don't understand the meaning of the term IMHO.

Making fun of hippies never gets old!

First off, I have to say that I love this album. However, it's more like watching a witty sitcom, or maybe even watching a comedian who has the audience, rather than listening to an album. There's no virtuosic playing, few catchy melodies, and a whole lot of effects and bizarre vocals. Clever? Yes. Unique? Probably. Genius? Hardly.

One thing that the Mothers really have going for them is that they seem to realize that their melodies really aren't that interesting by themselves, and they make sure to constantly keep things moving by shifting to new ones and adding all sorts of weird sounds and voices. The basic content of hippie jokes amazingly hasn't changed much in the last forty years: make fun of love for everyone, free love, not showering or shaving, and playing simple music while pretending that you're changing the world in doing so. Fortunately, they do deviate from this primary goal, also poking fun at some of the squares of the time (The Idiot Bastard Son, Bow Tie Daddy). Of course some of the songs are absolutely worthless, such as the entire six minutes of sound effects that constitutes The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny, as well as Hot Poop (which I'm convinced was just an excuse to use that as a song title).

It's very difficult to compare this to traditional prog albums, as noted by other reviewers. Basically, you have some truly engaging, entertaining, and downright hilarious lyrics. On the other hand, by copying the style of the hippie songs they are making fun of, the basic music is not very good. In addition, the snarky lyrics can go a bit too far and get a bit stale. I hope they had fun making this album (and I'm sure they did), because I get the feeling the that Mothers feel that their work is a lot more profound than it really is. At any rate, this is definitely an album worth owning, but also not one to expect too much from.

Wine ages gracefully. Cheese ages gracefully. We're Only In It For The Money, alas, does not, and for one simple reason.

Where's the music?

There's a lot of savage irony, some eclectic vocals, some truly weird studio sounds and some sing-along tunes on here. A lot of interesting stuff is on here that keeps you paying attention until the end of the album. But somehow, the memorable music was left out. What an omission!!! It's a great tribute to Zappa that his weirdness and his studio tricks can keep you engaged throughout an album without having to throw in any memorable music.

So time has gone by. The limits of studio wizardry have been exceeded time and again. Mockery of hippies and flower power have grown stale. The Mothers of Invention have long since broken up, and Uncle Frank is up in heaven now playing Bobby Brown and watching all the angels squirm. Time has not been kind to this record. Despite all of the genius in it's production, it still wants some memorable music.

I'll give it 2 stars. If you like Frank's weirdness, you'll definitely want to hear this. It's good. It's entertaining. But musically, it falls way short of what we'd have liked it to acheive.

Wow! What can we say to a record that touches the heights of perfection? Is this phase one to Lumpy Gravy, asks Zappa in the cover. How can that be? If we think about it, it is a record that, like is twin brother, tries to deal with the dialectics of commercialism. With the recording industry itself. It satirizes Sgt. Peppers and remembers everyone that music is made by people and not by gods like The Beatles were then considered. It remembers that composers need to eat to and most of it is lumpy and gravy and that they are really interested in money, after all they are in the industry only for it. Irony? Tons of it. The music is gorgeous: inventive melodies, complex collages, everything gathers to make this one of the best Zappa records ever. Mom and Dad is beautiful even if a bit creepy in the singing. Let's Make the Water Turn Black, The Idiot Bastard Son, Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance, Harry, You're a Beast, Absolutely Free are unforgetable melodies with marvellous arrangements. In terms of lyrics it is also important and it would be his more political record until Broadway the Hard Way twenty years later. Artistic statements tend to tell us more in a political level when they first confront us in a personal level, just like Zappa on this one: What is the ugliest part of your body? Some say your nose, some say your toes, but I think it's your mind. Absolutely essential to any progrocker or listener or person who's interested in music in its best forms.

While working in a record store about 10 years ago, I had been contemplating diving into the world of Frank Zappa on several occasions. However, the sheer vastness of his discography scared me away, as I was afraid to pick the wrong one to start with, and back off without giving FZ his proper chance. So I started with STRICTLY COMMERCIAL. This turned out to be a life-changer, as I am now the proud owner of approximately 50 FZ albums. Brilliant! Hyper-neurotic rythms, melodies (at least to non-believers), ingeniously funny lyrics, FZ rules! The first real album I got was WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY. As I loved both Sgt. Pepper and the fact that FZ made fun of everything, and the hilarious lyrics of LET'S MAKE THE WATER TURN BLACK, this seemed like a good start. Life has never been the same! What a brilliant combination of wit, musicianship, great songs and general weirdness! To me, his 1973-1979 period showed him at his absolute best, but of his 60ies album, this is the best by far! Wonderful highlights include WHAT's THE UGLIEST PART OF YOUR BODY? and TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF WHEN YOU DANCE, but naming them is selling short the rest. The only songs that fail to stick are HOT POOP and THE CHROME PLATED MEGAPHONE. Too weird even for my taste. The cover by itself should be enough to get you to buy this album. Step into the world of FZ, I dare you!

As my this is my first review here I was a bit suprised when the little GUIDELINES WARNING popped up after I confidently pressed the circle signifying a 5 star rating but this didn't deter me, mind you, because in my every estimation this is a true masterpiece. Once this album crawls under your skin you won't be able to live without it, listening to it over and over, again and again. In a sense it's the drug you've always wanted: while it takes you to the same general (great) place everytime, you'll find something new and exciting you missed the last time you were there. Constantly fresh, never a dull moment, the brilliantly controlled insanity that is We're Only In It For The Money earns the 5 star seal of approval.

Frank Zappa once again displays himself as a satiricus, making fun of the Flower Power and hippy movement in this wonderfull album. Psychedelic songs, with a typical hippy flavour. The lyrics often times are hilarious, the conceptual theme reminds me of albums like Sergeant Pepper (Beatles) Sell Out (The Who) and that Beach Boys album (Pet Sounds), but musically it's distinctively Zappa style, short fragmented melody's glued perfectly together, with short spoken intermezzo's.

Highlights on this amazing album include Who Needs The Peace Corps, Flower Punk, Let's Make The Water Turn Black and Take Your Clothes Off but really all songs have some quality that makes them fitting for this album. Earlier Zappa albums are a bit more out-there musically, but in a way this is the best he did so far, and that's saying something.

Highly recommended.

This is one of the best known Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention albums. It´s a favorite of mine in his discography and if you haven´t listened to Zappa before this is one of the albums you should start with. This is one of the most progressive yet accessible rock albums from the sixties that I have heard. Strange sounds and tape recordings of conversations spliced together mixed with pop/ rock songs with memorable and even beautiful melodies. This is topped of by some of the most provocative and clever lyrics written for a rock album ever. This is simply put one of my all time favorite albums. It´s fantastic! no less.

The lyrics are funny, provocative and clever as I mentioned above. A line like: What´s the Ugliest Part Of Your Body, some Say Your Nose, some Say Your Toes, But I think it´s Your Mind, sung in fifties style doo voop is just fantastic and the sexual explicit lyrics in Harry You´re a Beast are so hilarious and I can only say tuché to the american womanhood. There is a kind of backwards sounding vocal part which is just beautiful to the twisted mind ( I am one). It seems like censorship noise but I´m sure Zappa did this on purpose and to great effect I might add. The song starts with the vocal line: I´m gonna tell you the way it is, and I´m not gonna be kind or easy, your whole attitude sticks I say, and the Life you lead is completely empty. I´ll just let that stand there for a while. This was of course very provocative in 1968 as it is the american womanhood Zappa is talking about, but as bitingly sarcastic and provocative Zappa could be, he could be just as socially aware. Songs like Concentration Moon and Mom & Dad proves this fully. Thoughful and clever lyrics.

A lot of the lyrics are about what Zappa saw as fake hippy ideals, society´s expectations to young people and Zappa´s favorite subject hypocricy and bigotry.

The music is for the most part little pop/ rock songs with lots of twists, there are a few examples of the more noisy avant garde side of The Mothers Of Invention in Nasal Retentive Calliope Music and The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny but the rest of the album is in a more conventional format. All the songs seque together though and the album ends up being a kind of concept album. There are also strong classical influences on the album even though there are no classical music parts as such.

The incarnation of The Mothers of Invention who played on various parts of this album was perhaps the best lineup they ever had. Frank Zappa on Vocals and Guitar, Roy Estrada on Vocals ( The high pitched notes) and Bass, two drummers in Billy Mundi and Jimmy Carl Black. Jimmy Carl Black also adds vocals, but they are mostly spoken. Don Preston on keyboards and the classical trained Ian Underwood on winds and keyboards/ Piano, Euclid James `Motorhead` Sherwood on winds and finally Bunk Gardner on winds. All very talented musicians who could play almost anything.

The production is worth a whole review for itself as it is fantastic and innovative. Frank Zappa was not only an outstanding musician but also a brilliant producer.

It seems I can´t praise this album enough, but I´m sure you get the picture, without me going on about the many qualities this album have. All I want to say here in my conclusion is that this is a milestone album in prog rock and in Zappa´s discography and it deserves 5 stars more than any other album in prog archives.

This is my favourite Zappa album, despite Freak Out! being acclaimed as more important. I saw this album in shops when it was released, and must admit the cover deterred me from buying it, although I already had Chunga's Revenge which I loved. But in this country (New Zealand) the cover was not gatefold, did not show the Sgt. Pepper parody, only the weird and party cross-dressed musicians, whose creativity and expertise was not apparent from their bizarre appearance. I was familiar with several of the tracks in later years, having compilations such as Mother's day etc. When I finally got a good original US pressing of this record in about 1991, I could fully appreciate the album as a cohesive whole. I love the flow of it, there is little deviation from a hard-hitting pastiche of human frailty, satire mixed with tragedy and comedy. The songs are sometimes clever pop/rock- Flower Punk, Absolutely Free, Mother People, sometimes experimental- Chrome Plated Megaphone and Nasal Retentive Calliope Music, and other hard to define genres of Zappa output. What gets me about this album, is that it is one album I love to listen to, from cover to cover. It really takes me on a trip that unveils a poetic beauty reminiscent of Kerouac's writing about America. It also is partly about the Love generation. Another thing, which seems rare in Frank Zappa music(perhaps the only other example I can think of is Uncle Remus), I find some parts of this album very touching. Idiot Bastard Son, for example, and parts of the instrumental pieces. Seems strange that the intellectual, satirical, politically active Frank, could actually write some very poignant, sensitive music. Anyway that's my take on it. I recommend it as one of the most important, if not the most important album that he made.

Oddly enough, this was the first Zappa album I ever heard. For most people, starting with Zappa here would probably turn them off, or in some cases send them running into the streets screaming in terror. The issue with this album, as a reviewer said awhile ago, is that one must understand the inner workings of Zappa's mind before one can truly "get" this album. Even though this was the first Zappa album I ever heard, I actually wasn't turned off by the lyrics or psychedelic, eclectic music. The lyrics weren't an issue for me because I had been a (now former) long time Weird Al Yankovic fan, where strange lyrics are to be expected. Since there are 19 tracks, I won't bother going through each one, and even if I did, it wouldn't tell you all that much about the music. It's better to think of each song as a segment of the album as a whole. The humor fits quite well on this album actually, and even though it does seem over the top at times, it's countered by a few more serious sections. Overall this is an album that is hard to describe unless you've actually listened to it. However, I think this album is an absolute essential from one of the master producers and guitarists of progressive rock. If it isn't in your collection you'll want to get it eventually, but not until you've at least heard some other Zappa, particularly Hot Rats or another one of his masterpieces. Still though, I think this album is deserving of a 5 star rating because it's Zappa at one of his best moments.

The ultimate musical "a curse on all your houses", before Altamont, before the National Guard shooting students in Ohio, before the chaos at the 1968 Democratic convention and the victory of Richard Nixon, Zappa and the Mothers were there, right in the thick of the summer of love, exposing it for the sham that it is whilst refusing to let the establishment off the hook at the same time. Lyrically bang on target, the album expresses Zappa's anger as the momentum of the civil rights movement and all the movements for progressive social change that had built up in the earlier part of the decade is squandered by naive hippies espousing incoherent, vacuous philosophies and showing more interest in taking drugs and getting laid than genuinely changing the world. Along with Love's "Forever Changes" and *maybe* the work of the Doors, this ranks amongst the very first albums to suggest that the Age of Aquarius might, in fact, simply be a washout.

Musically speaking, it's a bit less schizophrenic than Absolutely Free, partially because of the unity of the concept. Between the tape effects and whisperings at the edge of the recording, some of which hide the inner thoughts of the hippy musicians the band are parodying, the music begins with a strident, almost militant tone with "who needs the peace corps", takes pot-shots at the establishment with "Bow-Tie Daddy" and "Mom and Dad", and as the 60s generation gets gradually consumed by Vietnam amidst the fairytale gadding about of "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" the music - like the movement it is criticising - breaks down and gives way to the incoherence musique concrete of The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny. This and "Absolutely Free" are the two major statements of the early Mothers of Invention; Zappa's later music would be more progressive, but the satire would never be quite as finely targeted.

Frank Zappa's anti-Flower Power parody was one of those self-consciously wacky albums that was probably more fun to write and record that it was to play back afterward (at least after the first, hilarious exposure).

It was released in answer to what Zappa saw as the commercial mainstreaming of the counterculture after the Summer of Love (hence the cynical title). But talk about easy targets: picking on the hippies must have been like shooting stoned fish in a pastel-colored barrel. What exactly was the matter, Frank? Were the phony freaks getting more media attention than the genuine ones? It's 1968, there's rioting in the streets from Paris to Chicago, and you're satirizing the Flower Children? What happened to the legitimate outrage evident in the earlier Mother's song 'Trouble Every Day'?

All right, enough carping, easy enough to do with over forty years of hindsight. There is of course a lot more here than mere hippie-bashing. The album was unique in its day, both for its daring nonconformity (a rock 'n' roll record mocking rock 'n' roll's primary audience) and for the groundbreaking cut-and-paste composite production job.

The entire album flows together like an extended theatrical stage show, despite being broken up into discrete songs ranging from a breathless 23-seconds ('Hot Poop') to a brief 3+ minutes ('Idiot Bastard Son'). The exception is the free-form album closer, 'The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny' six minutes of carefully orchestrated noise and tape effects, revealing Zappa's deeply-rooted affection for post-romantic European classical avant- garde and musique concrète (notable the work of Edgar Varèse, a hero of Frank's since childhood).

Underneath all the munchkin vocals, corrupted doo-wop, ersatz psychedelia and silly track titles ('Nasal Retentive Calliope Music') is a not-so-subtle condemnation of the music industry, already marketing rebellion as a freeze-dried commodity in 1968. The album, then as now, plays like a wet slap in the face of cultural complacency and corporate brainwashing.

Coda: it's easy in retrospect to see Zappa's influence on such celebrated outsider music groups like FAUST and (in particular) the RESIDENTS. But Uncle Frank was there first.

This is very arguably Zappa's most famous album, and in my observation is very often the album that Zappa newbies are recommended to pick up first. This actually has quite a bit merit (though I'd probably have gotten You Are What You Is first if I could do it all over again); it has quite a few great, GREAT melodies, a bunch of neat sound effects that don't usually take total precedence over the music, and of course it has the concept and the accompanying lyrics. Yes, this is the infamous total bashing of "Flower Power" and hippies in general, the one with the band in drag and the inside cover containing an elaborate Sgt. Pepper's parody and all of that. The final nail in the coffin of the psychedelia of 1967, if you will (though by coming out in the second half of 1968, its impact wasn't as timely as it could have been).

Before I start commenting on the concept, just as every single review of this album is seemingly required to do at some point, there's something I want to comment on that I don't think I've ever seen discussed. Today, years after the release of this album, the fact that Zappa despised hippies is just taken for granted, and the reasons he gives for this are certainly very legitimate ones. I have to wonder, though; did hippies back in 1967 and 1968 have any reason to believe that an album like this was imminent from The Mothers of Invention? I can't help but think that the situation was quite the opposite; Zappa had put so much energy into ripping on "conventional" American culture in his first two albums that I would think that many hippies would have thought they'd found a common soulmate. After all, they were rebelling against their parents and elder authority figures (and the culture that had sprung up from them), the same people which Zappa thoroughly condemned in his own unique way. In a certain way, it could have been perceived that Zappa and Flower Power hippies were sort of "brothers in arms," united in their struggle against The Man.

And yet, there's this album, which I suspect was an even greater shock to the hippie community than we today consider it to have been. The question is then this: why would Zappa so thoroughly despise the people and ideologies he condemns on this album, when in theory they had several goals in common with him? The answer, I suspect, was largely tied in with the fact that hippies were making Zappa and his own fervent desire to bring down the establishment look bad by association. It's the same sort of reason why, even though I like a lot of prog rock, I despise reading messages from people insisting that music is supposed to be judged solely on how complex and intricate and difficult-to-play it is. When I'm trying to get people into art-rock and prog-rock, as I have attempted for much of my adult life, I have done so with the intended goal of showing fans of "normal" rock music that they can indeed fit art-rock and prog-rock into their already-existing pallettes, and that you don't have to become a snooty technique whore to enjoy these things. More than any other kind of comment, I get absolutely livid when I read comments of this type, because in those comments is an inadvertant and incidental, but nonetheless very real, attack on my credibility as an art-rock lover among others whom I am trying to convert.

And so it was with Zappa and hippies; he was really trying to effect a change in society as a whole, but while hippies were ostensibly trying to do the same thing, most of them were just a bunch of lazy poseur brats who were merely looking for an excuse to get high and get laid. Zappa had to make it as clear as he could that he did not consider these imposters as people on the same side as him; it was only true eccentrics like him, the "other people" that he refers to in the song "Mother People," that were the true revolutionaries, the ones who could actually pull off what it was he intended to accomplish.

Now that that little rant is over, I can get back to the album. The truth is, as much as I like it, I still don't feel like I like it as much I'm "supposed" to. As thorough an assault on hippies (and by extension, all phonies, poseurs and hangers-on) as it is, it kinda feels to me like the concept runs out of steam midway through. I'm still not sure of the purpose of the whispering control-room voice threatening to erase every Zappa album (as cool as it sounds), since it's kinda difficult for me to figure what some sort of commentary related to censorship has to do with the album concept. I'm also not a fan at all of the closing sound collage, "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny;" I do think it's amusing that Frank would essentially stick a parody of taking music too seriously onto the end of the album (after asking around, I've found that at least the people I've asked think that the spiel Frank goes off about needing to read "In the Penal Colony" by Franz Kafka is totally tongue in cheek), but making it almost twice as long as anything else on the album was a bit much. I'm also not a particular fan of "Absolutely Free" (the second longest track on here), which aside from the lovely piano introduction is alarmingly dull to my ears (echoing voices saying "Flower power sucks!" notwithstanding), and "The Idiot Bastard Son" doesn't do much for me either.

Now, that might seem like a whole lot of complaining I've given for an album I'm giving a ***** grade, and to a large extent I agree; it's extremely tempting to go back to the beginning and change that ***** to a ****. On the other hand, there are a whole lot of parts to this album that I really love, and furthermore there's just some unexplainable power coming out of this album that I can't help but feel beholden to. It also doesn't hurt, for instance, that not only are there a whole lot of melody snippets strewn throughout this album that I find unbelievably great, but that a lot of the lyrics and spoken passages strike my ears as absurdly perfect even after hearing them a zillion times. Do you have any idea how much giddy joy I get from hearing Frank sing, "I'm completely stoned. I'm hippy and I'm trippy; I'm a gypsy on my own. I'll stay a week and get the crabs and take a bus back home. I'm really just a phony but forgive me 'cause I'm stoned?" Or hearing the spoken voice-over in the same song ("Who Needs the Peace Corps?") say the following?

"First I'll buy some beads, and then a leather band to go around my head; some feathers and bells and a book of Indian lore. I will ask the Chamber of Commerce how to get to Haight Street, and smoke an awful lot of dope. I will wander around barefoot. I will have a psychedelic gleam in my eye at all times. I will love everyone; I will love the police as they kick the [&*!#] out of me on the street. I will sleep ... I will, I will go to a house. That's, that's what I'll do; I will go to a house where there's a rock'n'roll band, 'cause the groups all live together, and I will join a rock'n'roll band. I will be their road manager, and I will stay there with them. And I will get the crabs, but I won't care."

Does it get ANY more perfect than that?

Let's see, after that, there's "Concentration Moon," which has 3 melody snippets that I can't regard as anything less than awesome: the "AMERICAN WAY" snippet, the "Don't cry, gotta go bye bye" bit, and of course the main "verse" melody ("Wish I was back in the valley with all of my friends ...'). There's the extremely moving "Mom and Dad," where in the span of 2:16 he puts much of the blame for the existence of the hippies that he hates squarely on the shoulders of emotionally negligent parents. As much as many like to go on about how America needs to get back to ways of the 1950's in order to save the moral structure of the country, it should not be ignored that it was in this time that the archetype of the emotionally distant father, who came home from work and just wanted to put his feet up, read his paper, eat his already-made dinner and only have a token amount of involvement in his children's lives, really etched its way into the American consciousness. This was the time when the Pleasantville style of life became the supposed ideal, and you know what? That was the time period and culture that created the conditions for the culture of the 60's to come into being, and was indeed the soil from which phony hippies sprung. This song hits on that observation better than any I've ever come across, and if you don't grit your teeth a bit at the lines, "Ever take a minute just to show a real emotion, in between the moisture cream and velvet facial lotion?" and "It's such a drag to have a plastic Mom and Dad," (an obvious nod to "Plastic People;" conceptual continuity strikes again!) then we're just not on the same wavelength.

Other major highlights include the hilarious "What's The Ugliest Part of Your Body" (which then breaks into Frank delivering his message in a straight-up metered superliminal fashion), the AMAZING "Hey Joe" parody "Flower Punk" (which ends with two entirely separate monologues done in the usual helium-Zappa phony hippy voice, one in each speaker, each of which are jaw-droppingly dead-on imitations of shallow hippiedom) and of course the gloriously catchy "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance." Yeah, it's only a minute and a half long, and I know it's to be taken as a mockery of hippy world peace anthems, but it's so much fun and so lighthearted in comparison to the rest of the album that I can't help but be happy when it comes on.

There's other good songs, and other great sound effects (the most notable of which is the quasi-"rewinding" of "Mother People" that takes place during the unfortunately-titled "Hot Poop"), but I don't really need to go over them at this point. The overall message I want to convey here is that, as (arguably) overhyped as the album might be, and as obnoxious as some of its passages might be, Money nonetheless exudes greatness, and has a feeling of being "essential" to any 60's rock collection that I don't think should be ignored. I wouldn't recommend it as a first Zappa purchase, but it definitely should be gotten early on.

There are many reasons why this can be considered a masterpiece. First of all, the music itself is insane, typical Avant Prog I guess. But also, what really impressed me (and made me laugh) was the humor and the satire, elements that are typical of Frank Zappa's early albums, and some of his latter ones.

With his third album Zappa releases one of his finest albums, a great concept album that was at the time acclaimed by the hippie culture, even though he did make fun of them a lot. It is also considered one of the best concept albums ever, thanks to it's unique musicality and impressive subject, which focuses mainly on America's society at the time. Despite that, it still is a modern album, just as effective as it was in 1968.

A special guest was a surprising Eric Clapton, who did a few vocal parts.

Five stars, as I really enjoyed it, it truly is a masterpiece that everyone should listen to sooner or later.

Zappa's third album with The Mothers is another hodgepodge of 60's music styles that is more interesting for its lyrical content then for the music.

The songs are presented as a musical pastiche but are not offering music that actually rises above the limits of the respective genres they are meant to make fun of. I don't see the point of these parodies at all really, where they do a simple blues it's still a simple blues, if they mock a sticky crooner, they're still just playing a sticky crooner, nothing more. Regardless how daft the lyrics are meant to be, this music remains unremarkable, it's another Zappa album that will remain sealed for me forever, it's been like this for 20 years and I don't expect any change in the coming decades.

Uninteresting unless you're digging the lyrics and consequently can appreciate it as the work of art it was meant to be. When just considering the music, I can't see more then 2 stars. Zappa has made tons of albums that are better then this one. Anyway, I'm obviously missing out on whatever everybody else hears, but if I want absurd humour I'll pop a Monty Python episode into the DVD. I certainly won't play this album.

It was this album that really introduced me to the legend that is Frank Zappa, and i really enjoyed it. This being the third album with The Mothers of Invention and is no doubt his most famous of this period, its just wierd that it so happens to be more of a parody of the more famous bands and albums out at the time (mostly the Sgt Peppers album) but with songs like WHO NEEDS THE PEACE CORPS? do you really care if its that goofy? of course not, the music is some of Zappas best in my honest opinion standout tracks include WHATS THE UGLIEST PART OF YOUR BODY?, HOT POOP, LETS MAKE THE WATER TURN BLACK and TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES WHEN YOU DANCE. The production as youd expect from Zappa of course is brilliant and most of the melodies are first class with some songs being very funny;

Are You Hung Up? - 8/10 Who Needs The Peace Corps? - 10/10 Concentration Moon - 8/10 Mom & Dad - 8/10 Telephone Conversation - 8/10 Bow Tie Daddy - 9/10 Harry, You're A Beast - 9/10 What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? - 10/10 Absolutley Free- 9/10 Flower Punk - 8/10 Hot Poop - 9/10 Nasal Retentive Calliope Music - 7/10 Let's Make The Water Turn Black - 10/10 The Idiot Bastard Son - 8/10 Lonely Little Girl - 8/10 Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance - 9/10 What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? (Reprise) - 8/10 Mother People - 9/10 The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny - 9/10

MY CONCLUSION? If your after a great prog rock album with a good sence of humour, id buy this album, or if your just after a great album, this is the one to go to

Frank mocks hippie youth and their parents

"What's the ugliest part of your body? I think it's your mind..."

The Mothers albums were huge indictments of society in the 1960s. One of the pleasant surprises hearing them again was realizing Zappa was not simply going to take the easy path and trash only "them." He was willing to point the lens back at the "us" side of the equation and call the liberal youth to task for some of their vanity and hypocrisies. This time out the music switched again from the previous albums by moving more forcefully into psych-parody, while the banter's venom level was sustained if redirected somewhat. The band had flown from New York to London for shows and finished up this album upon their return. If the work from this period sounds connected it was no accident, Zappa was always working on more than one project and he would intentionally cross pollinate them musically and thematically, so you again hear references to other work. This helps give the Mothers years an even more rewarding overall feel.

Here the musical theme is a hilarious send-up of psych-rock/pop with trippy sequences and looped tape effects, all very period, but I suspect being offered with disdain rather than the reverence of his peers to this style. Musically the short little melodic ditties are more like the first album than the second, which had expanded more instrumentally, but the first album felt late 50s/early 60s while this one feels Summer of Love, maniacally bastardized of course. Zappa didn't hate the counter-culture for the parts he considered authentic but he did hate the way the scene was just as malleable by vanity and comfort as the mainstream, and the way that youth were letting themselves be defined by other forces. He was scathing in his views on the drug culture and his general displeasure for the hippie scene is unleashed here in hilarious lyrics. In my favorite segment, the hilarious "Flower Punk," they completely mock the flower warrior on his way to San Fran to join a psych band, play bongos at the love-ins, and live with a band in the Haight. Similar criticism appears in "Who needs the Peace Corps" where the stoners are mentioned in the quest for hair and good drugs before returning home the next week, the inference being the "movement" for many was little more than partying and getting laid before returning to Mom and Dad's basement to avoid supporting one's self. Equal vitriol is of course served up for Mom and Dad, for being sexually repressed and unable to raise children who think for themselves. All of these points are valid to consider, although I'm not sure the Zappa lifestyle was necessarily a healthier template for the youth of America. As the Zappa bio points out, Frank was pretty good at being "too busy for the kids" himself.

"We're Only In It For The Money is a remarkable album and still holds up well. Despite its jolly snatches of surfing music, the tape clips, the speeded-up tape, the chipmunk voices and the parodies of the sensitive flower-power music, it is a profoundly serious album. Zappa's view is bleak and filled with foreboding. The lyrics are about lonely, unloved children, fascist trigger happy cops, materialistic parents who are too busy consuming to notice their children are sad. ---Barry Miles, Zappa-A Biography (That last part is ironic as Moon once had to give her father a note pleading for his attention because Frank was always busy with the business and writing.)

Miles and most reviewers are far more satisfied with this album overall than I am. While lyrically there are some vintage Zappa moments, the musical experience gets by more on quirk and parody than on the actual strength of the songs. To me they do feel more obvious and less thrilling than they should for such a highly rated work. I'm surprised so many feel that this is the place to begin with Zappa. I would say the debut album "Freak Out" remains the true classic among these early works.

Rarely do I give an album five stars that's as silly as this one is, but it truly deserves it.

Frank's answer to Sgt. Pepper was one large cynical hippie rant that any fan of music can't resist. I mean, as it turns out flower-power had no power. Or at least that's what Frank told me.

Anyways, what you get hear is a bunch of silly little psych-pop tunes interspersed with sound and noise experiments. The imprint it leaves on your mind is "Wow! I gotta hear that again" so you do, again and again and again. It's like a drug, I don't normally like stuff this comedic. But I get the feeling that somewhere in that vast mess of intentional idocracy there is some deeper meaning.

I'll go ahead and say it right now that this is the only silly album I will give five stars. Just the sheer variety it gives makes me do that. I think anyways.

Also, the ending hurts your head after awhile but after hearing it I couldn't help but think, "What a nutjob! Putting that on a record!" Then I remembered, that's how most prog is.

We're Only In It For The Money is generally considered to be the apex of the Mothers' career and I can definitely stand by that opinion!

Just like the two previous releases, this is another album that mocks the state of society that existed at the time although on this occasion it's the whole psychedelic and flower power movement that gets under Zappa's crossfire. Remember that We're Only In It For The Money was released in the first quarter of 1968, right in the middle of the movements prosperity, which made it a daring statement indeed. The material is comprised of catchy jingle-like short tunes mixed with audio collages where the band depict some of their weirdest experiments yet!

I always considered the first three tracks to comprise a short trilogy where Are You Hung Up? introduces us to the audio collage-format that will be an important part of this record followed by the critique of Who Needs The Peace Corps? which then transitions into the mockery of Concentration Moon. These three songs basically sum up this album in a nutshell! The rest of the album follows that same blueprint with a few surprises added here and there.

I've heard that We're Only In It For The Money was originally conceived as a direct response to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band for being labeled as the first concept album in the mainstream media. Supposedly, this upset Frank Zappa since Freak Out! was released almost a year prior to the Beatles' masterpiece and featured many similarities in the thematic outline of the material. This might explain why this album used a collage of famous people á la Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band as a payback of a sort!

The more I listen to this album the more strange similarities I find to other works of the time. For example; there is an interesting similarity between the sound of Flower Punk and Jimi Hendrix's version of Hey Joe. Is it suppose to be a parody of this rock classic or am I just listening into it too much? Who knows and, frankly, who cares when we have so much excellent material here well worth to create a movement of its own! Have it not been for the acquired taste conclusion with the 6+ minute audio collage suitably titled The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny, this would have been a jewel in my record collection. As it stands today it's very close to grabbing that final star, but I just can't be that generous. We're Only In It For The Money is nonetheless a highly recommended album to all fans of groundbreaking prog rock music!

***** star songs: Are You Hung Up? (1:24) Concentration Moon (2:22) Mom & Dad (2:16) Bow Tie Daddy (0:33) Harry, You're A Beast (1:21) What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? (1:03) Let's Make The Water Turn Black (2:01) Lonely Little Girl (1:09) Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance (1:32) Mother People (2:26)

**** star songs: Who Needs The Peace Corps? (2:34) Telephone Conversation (0:48) Absolutley Free (3:24) Flower Punk (3:03) Hot Poop (0:23) Nasal Retentive Calliope Music (2:02) The Idiot Bastard Son (3:18) What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? (Reprise) (1:02) The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny (6:25)

If you're someone like me-- practically two generations removed from the '60's and only ever hearing of Zappa in the context of "weird"-- do yourself a favor and check out We're Only In It For The Money right now. Yes, it's very weird, but in an infectious way, and is an absolutley inimitable tour de force of satircal charm... so long as you can stand a few freak-outs.

The music itself is very anacronistic, moving briskly through an eclectic parody of what sounds like a collection of '60's greatest hits. The musicianship is subtle but excellent, especially given the countless twists and turns of the tempo and dynamics. The tone is playful and manic, assisted by lots of psychedelic sound effects and electronic distortion-- which sounds great in this digital production.

The real show however, is the sardonic wit and style of Zappa, whose indictment of culture at the time is genuinly entertaining. You won't find any display's of his guitar virtuosity, but rather be constantly tickled by his lyrics and manipulated lyrics.

A unique master stroke of deep-nonsense.

Songwriting: 4 Instrumental Performances: 4 Lyrics/Vocals: 5 Style/Emotion/Replay: 5

The nonsensical humour has turned into nonsense.

The first two Mothers of Invention albums were filled with brash, biting humour at traditional American culturalisms that were funny, but the albums were great because the music underpinning the humour was either smartly experimental, cleverly sarcastic or cop outs to trends but thrown off. ABSOLUTELY FREE was a great album with some slight missteps, but I thought this album would pick up the momentum and I would find an everyday masterpiece. Instead, I'm wondering why the Mothers pasted that momentum in favour of hippie-bashing.

This is nothing more than taking easy jabs at the mainstream perception of hippies and thier impact on our culture. I'm fine with the satire, but the music suffers. It's all too bright and cheery compared to what the Mothers gave us earlier, especially getting used to the singers always being on key (I really miss the off-key singing). Even worse is that on tracks like ''Take Your Clothes Off...'' and ''Flower Punk'', the vocals are tampered with creating stupid Smurf-esque vocals in the process. The humour here makes me go ''Meh'' instead of making me laugh. What happened?

Truth be told, there are some things worth salvaging. ''Let's Make the Water Turn Black'' is still funny, but only if you're in teenage, adolescent or college years. Some of the shorter tracks have whimsy like ''Take Your Clothes Off...'', ''Bow Tie Daddy'' and ''Ugliest Part of Your Body''. ''Absolutely Free'' and ''Mother People'' make fine mini-epics with a portion of ''Mother People'' sounding like ''Fiddle About'' from the TOMMY album.

Any chance that I give IN IT FOR THE MONEY four stars is nullified when looking at the noise collage pieces. I have a distaste for most of them, and even if some are short, I'd rather skip tracks like ''Hot Poop'' and ''Are You Hung Up?''. The worst is the ''Megaphone'' closer that is seven minutes of that abstractness; this is just too much, and it's the worst closer of an album I can think of.

I feel so bummed, dude. Too much of IN IT FOR THE MONEY sound sterile and too polished compared to earlier works. It's still a fine album nevertheless.

The Mothers of Invention - We're Only in it for the Money (1968)

* my first Zappa review *

It's always nice when colleagues are willing to donate their vinyl record collection to a student like me. To find two vinyls of Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention in those old boxes full of dusty vinyls is like hitting the jack-pot. I hadn't heard many Frank Zappa music, only Weasels Ripped my Flesh once at my brothers.

The cover-artwork of this 'We're only in it for the Money' is an attempt to criticize the Beatles. The composition of all parts of the fold-out cover is exactly the same as that of 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts club Band'. Very strange...

This '68 record is truly progressive as in 'innovative'. The album is extremely psychedelic with avant-garde like noises and bizarre song-writing. The vocals are always strange and never serious. Still this has a very likable effect and it's damn catchy. Exploring the possibilities of strange vocals is a key-element of this album. The composition is very progressive and has many new harmonies, great experimental rhythms and many different sounds. The style of the music goes from bizarre Canterbury to silly pop, with strange lyrics being the only factor that remains throughout the record. That the Mothers would evoke what would later become the Canterbury-style prog was a surprise for me. Listening to this record, it is has become clear where bands like Soft Machine, early Pink Floyd, Supersister and The United States of America got their inspiration. These early albums of Frank Zappa and crew are clearly very important for other musicians to feel free and go out and explore.

Conclusion. Well, this is one of the strongest and most progressive albums of 1968. In fact, the only record I would rate higher is that of The Unites States of America. We're Only in it for the Money is a very likable record, but the great amount of strange noised (mainly on side two of the record) still disturbs me at times. The recording is good for it's year of release. I will go with the strong four-star rating. Recommend to fans of psychedelic rock, avant-garde and Canterbury styled prog. Furthermore, it is essential to understand the progressive genre.

Frank Zappa: We're Only in It for the Money [1968]

Rating: 9/10

We're Only in It for the Money is the greatest Mothers of Invention album and the crowning achievement of Zappa's early career. Everything Zappa had been aiming for on the first two Mothers albums is perfected here. Musically, WOiIftM is an unceasingly interesting avant-garde psychedelic cornucopia. Zappa's normally complex compositions are substituted with a more simplistic, musique-concrete style. Lyrically, this album manages to skewer every detail of 1960s culture, oftentimes in a humorous way, but sometimes in a caustically biting fashion. These elements are combined with Zappa's characteristic craziness, making WOiIftM a truly unique and memorable experience.

"Are You Hung Up?" is a brief sound collage that opens the album. "Who Needs the Peace Corps?" lambasts the hippie movement (perhaps the "phony hippie movement" would be a better description). This is mostly a psychedelic song, although the hilarious spoken word section is backed up by jazzy sax. "Concentration Moon" alternates between satirical flower-power music and more sound collages. The previously humorous tone of the album is brought down by "Mom & Dad", a somber song about police brutality and societal hypocrisy. Excellent bass and flute back up the poignant lyrics. "Telephone Conversation" is a short interlude consisting of, well, an excerpt from a phone conversation. "Bow Tie Daddy" is a thirty-second a-cappella piece. Despite its short length, this is one of my favorites here. "Harry, You're a Beast" shows piano playing taking a slightly larger role. Lyrically, "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" is the strongest song here. Zappa's social criticism has rarely got better than this. "Absolutely Free" continues in the album's normal style, although with a more defined chorus. The same applies to "Flower Punk", another funny examination of the hippie lifestyle. "Hot Poop" is another short sound collage. "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" sticks to the avant-grade minimalism throughout its duration. "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" is a fast-paced lyrically-driven song. "The Idiot Bastard Son" may be the most musically interesting piece on the album, with flute/piano passages backing up the vocals. "Lonely Little Girl" sharply contrasts minimalism with psychedelic quirkiness. "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" is completely vocally-driven and is the one of the catchiest and most brilliant things Zappa wrote in the 60s. A reprise of "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" leads into "Mother People", which contains some funky bass and wah guitar. "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny" is a six-minute musique-concrete piece that ends the album.

This is a unique recording not only within the context of popular music, but within Zappa's catalogue as well. The psychedelic minimalism and vocally-driven segments present here were fully explored neither before nor after this album's release. This is a masterpiece of an album, not only due to this distinctive musical style but also because of the hysterical, subversive, and brilliant lyrical content. There are few other pieces of art that merge innovation and cultural commentary as well as We're Only in It for the Money does.

This is hands down my favorite Mothers album. An incredibly diverse mix of styles and flavors, "We're Only in it for the Money" combines weird, avant-pop sensibilities with lyrical brilliance and top notch musicianship to create one of the tightest, most interesting albums I've ever heard.

As I mentioned, there's an incredible variety of style in the music here, ranging from pretty standard pop to avant-garde noise and even a brief parody of the tin-pan-alley style on "Bow Tie Daddy." Often there are multiple styles in one song, which is especially impressive when you see that most of the songs are less than three minutes long. That said, nothing ever feels rushed or forced, and many of the songs flow together to make the album feel much "larger" than it actually is, if that makes any sense.

Lyrically the album is a bit more focused. As evidenced by the title and the cover, this is a scathing attack on the flower-power hippy culture. Even further than that, though, I think the album's theme can be summarized in a line: "What's the ugliest part of your body... I think it's your mind" from the song of the same name. Overall, though, the lyrics are very clever and lack the gross-out anatomical nature of some of his later lyrics.

The vocals, like the music, show a great range. From the almost purposefully annoying nasal vocals on "Who Needs the Peace Corps?" to the barbershop-quartet-esque chorus of "Concentration Moon" to the spoken word passages on various tracks (which work surprisingly well) the vocals are anything but dull.

Overall then, I think this album, more than any other, gives the best all around picture of what Frank Zappa was all about and I would recommend that anyone looking to get into his music pick this one up first.

5/5

Part comedy, part parody, all brilliant.

Even after over forty years, this album still shines. While many people focus on Zappa's skewering of the hippie movement, this album is much more than that. In fact, if you listen to the lyrics, he appears to be aiming at the hangers-on around the movement, and the corporate suits who turned it into a mass-marketing tool (just like they do with everything that gets popular). Also in Zappa's crosshairs are parents, politicians, and other miscreants. There is also an interlude where he just goes off on an odd story of some of his friends.

Verve records was not too happy with this album, and censored the sh*t out of it (Zappa left the label as soon as he could). Despite the censoring, the album is still a masterpiece of it's time. Zappa upped the experimentation in songs that otherwise sounded poppy, by throwing in odd time signatures and sound effects and snippets of what sounds like music meant for "Lumpy Gravy".

Maybe you need to have a certain mind set to really appreciate this album so far from the generation that it was aimed at, but it still should be in every prog fan's collection.

Like a review already said here, I can't stop listening to this album.

Musically this is a masterpiece, no doubt! All the concepts of the songs are incredibly advanced for its time, an Zappa not only gets into rock and roll, but travels around jazz, classical, and modern electrical music, like the tape experiments all along the album. Not only interested in showing his skills, but truly developing an artistic project, Zappa deals with the blues, the psychedelic clichés, in order to make fun of the music, but also Stravinsky like orchestral parts (Mother People and others), Stockhausen like concrete music (Nasal Retentive Calliope Music, and all along the album), a true Genius!! I will highlight some cool parts. What one feels whenever he hears this album is it's not only a conceptual album, but each song is very dependent on the others, like it's one of the albums that really gives me the feeling of a single song divided into various parts, like an opera or a symphony. That gives us a good idea of what was Zappa's musical formation: some fans say that He was a musical anarchist, a critic of traditional music, but, sincerely, when I hear this guy, I know it's a specialist, almost academic musician, with qan enormous musical knowledge. Back to conceptual stuff, a lot of leitmotifs is found on this album, like a part of "What's the Ugliest..." which says "All your children are poor unfortunate...". That reappears when the American youth theme is retaken, later on the album. All the songs have a very interesting instrumentation, with several different string instruments (like 12 string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, some mandolin or something), many different electronic devices, like a discrete moog synth. The drummer for this album, Bily Mundi, also does a very good job in some truly fast parts like "Flower Punk" and "Mother People". We have to admit, anyhow, that most of the innovations in this alum is dues majority to Zappa's new recording techniques, like speed shift and the craziest overdubs I've ever heard since Les Paul. This album could not be played live at the time, the same problem that the Beatles started having with Sgt Peppers.

I can't give less than five stars to this album, it's a real masterpiece, no doubt!! But I won't talk only about the good aspects of the album. The whole thematic of the album, like many other themes on Zappa's carrier, is electing an enemy and mocking Him through all of the album. The ones chosen for this album are the 60's American society: hippies, junkies, police violence, sexual conservatives, etc. In a way, I admit that maybe the American society of that time needed to hear this kind of thing for opening its mind, but, in my opinion, there's a lot of resentment in this album and in all Zappa's work. Like his only complaining was to be an oppressed, misunderstood member of society, and all of the other people around him were guilty for that. I admit sometimes that sounds to me like a crybaby, but Zappa has his redemption when He says, in the last song, that He's another person and wants to show who he is, instead of blaming everyone else. That's the only negative point of this album, but it's very small close to the quality and musicianship of it!! LISTEN TO IT AND ENJOY A LOT, PROG FANS!!

On the surface, it may seem that there is much for me to admire about this album. The musicianship is stellar, and many of the points made through the satire are ones I could agree with. Also, I have a high regard for Uncle Frank. Yet none of that means anything to me here. Truth of the matter is, I abhor this album.

For one, the criticisms of hippiedom are mere stereotypes. Certainly, many of those who got involved in the movement did it for all the wrong reasons ? simply as an excuse to get stoned and be lazy. At the same time, underlying the hippy movement was a genuine attempt to address the ills of modern society. Even FZ and the Mothers were in on this.

Secondly, I find the album disingenuous. Who would have bought this thing when it was first released? The very same people criticized within it. Frank may have thought himself superior, but in the process of elevating himself, and the band, he stoops the same level he claims to rise above. Besides, insulting your audience only indicates you are a jerk.

Thirdly, the album itself is of the same ilk as this which it purports to despise. Now, satire is a good thing, and one must know something about the subject being satirized (both the creator and the audience), but I do not think this is the case here. FZ and the Mothers are commenting about the San Francisco hippy scene only in terms of what they have seen and heard in the media, which never understood it. This is not an intelligent approach.

Fourth, I strongly dislike the music. Much of what is heard here is semi-random noise, the kind that the stoned-out foils of it would enjoy; the kind that a person has to be stoned-out to enjoy. And when it is not noise, which includes the spoken word passages, the actual songs are repetitive and overall uninteresting. They do the same thing over and over again in each of them. Is this to satirize the state of pop music? If that is the case, then the satire is no better than what it criticizes.

So, We're Only In It For the Money is a jumbled mess of an album, one that to me shows promise, but ultimately fails for it does not rise above what it attacks. I am deliberately giving this album the lowest rating possible, in part because of the gushing high ratings and reviews it has received, but also in part because I think it is pretentious in a juvenile manner. Maybe the title is not so much a criticism of others, but an admission of kind.

I always knew i was listening to the wrong Zappa albums. Boredom mixed with annoyance was my general opinion of just about all the albums I'd heard by him.

Fortunately I found this 39 years after it's original release and it has pleased me no end with it's oddball almost 'Nurse With Wound' cut ups.

There's that weird octave vocal shift that Bowie used on 'Bewlay Brothers' in '71 on some of the vocals which creates a surreal atmosphere. It's a short album which chops and changes very quickly in a disorientating way - almost like 'Trout Mask' by Beefheart. This is a more friendly listen than that album though.

There's a lot of pre-historic tape manipulation prevalent throughout which adds to the uniqueness of what was, basically, a commercial album at the time. Simplistic but crazy lyrics in the form of the 'Residents' make this a very entertaining listen indeed.

Apparently cut to ribbons by censors due to the language used, we're left with a non sweary but double entendre galore album that should please most folk who like the strangeness of Floyd's first album and early 'Residents'

A smartassy anti-Sgt Pepper album that disses both the hippies AND the straights! And celebrates people who..... save their snot on window panes?

Respondable Pardons:

Frank Zappa - vocals, guitar, keyboards, dictator

Roy Estrada - falsetto vocals, bass guitar

Ray Collins - vocals in spots, or maybe he left by this point

Motorhead Sherwood - all around cool guy who can sort of play sax too

Bunk Gardner - Kenny Rogers lookalike who can really play the sax too

Jimmy Carl Black - the self proclaimed "Indian of the Group", drums, vocal asides

Billy Mundi - Drums, looks like someone famous I can't place right now

who else... ah yes!

Arthur Dyer Tripp III - was he in the band yet? so hard to remember. Anyway, he's a drummer too. and plays mallet percussion.

Anyway, enough of this, and on to ---

Side One (in which Frank takes a shot at the "Frisco" hippie scene with deadly aim. LA really had it in for those guys, didn't they? As in "hey! we can be smellier and creepier than you!")

Are You Hung Up? - Sound effects, static buzzing, and a collage of voices, followed by a confession of conspiracy to erase all the tapes, followed by a brief acid rock guitar solo, a goofy yelp, and Jimmy Carl Black's benediction: "Hi there boys and girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black and I'm the Indian of the group". And we're off!

Who Needs the Peace Corps? -- Absolutely hilarious expose' of the trendy bandwagon jumper type who moves to San Francisco to become a hippie.

Concentration Moon -- Dramatic account of concentration camps set up to round up freaks and hippies.

Mom and Dad -- A somber flip-side to "She's Leaving Home"... the ultimate failure of parents whose intolerance for deviance drive their kids to join the freaks, and ultimately get shot by the cops in a mixup between the law and the "counterculture".

Telephone Conversation -- just a little interlude, an actual phone conversation. no real purpose served, though Zappa fanatics will probably be able to write paragraphs about it. Wait, I'm a Zappa fanatic.

Bow Tie Daddy -- If the Sgt Pepper analogy holds up, then this is "When I'm 64". Old timey music, a tongue in cheek ode to a "straight", upstanding upper middle class man.

Harry, You're a Beast -- I think sex plays a part in this one. But it's also about the superficiality of feminine standards of appearance. Call it misogyny. No wonder people hate this guy.

What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body? -- hint: it's inside your skull.

Absolutely Free -- Just a mock flower-power song, this would be the "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" of the album. Quite pretty. The first word in this song is discorporate. It means to leave your body.

Flower Punk -- Speed metal!! well no, but getting ever closer. More trashing of the hippies. Poor peace loving sods.

Hot Poop -- a 20 second sound effects outro, included as an excuse to print the word "poop" on the album cover. . . Side Two: In which Frank introduces us to some people he actually LIKES.... and who make me a lot more worried than just some schlubb in a tie die shirt.

Nasal Retentive Calliope Music -- An ode to Edgard Varese maybe? Lots of electronic whooshes and tape edits, ending with some surf music for good measure. I think Eric Clapton's on this one, saying "God! It's God! I see God!".

Let's Make the Water Turn Black -- The story of Frank's friends Ronny and Kenny Williams. Certainly worthy of your time, especially if you're looking for ideas for how to use old mayonnaise jars.

The Idiot Bastard Son -- Not sure what this is about really, it's apparently pretty deep. Excellent melody though, good enough to have been adapted in jazz form by Jean-Luc Ponty, as well as Zappa's later fusion-tinged 70's bands.

Lonely Little Girl -- Just a quick little tune about a lonely little girl, with a slight reprise of "What's the Ugliest part of Your Body", some psychedelic effects, followed by the lovely and revealing:

Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance -- Frank's anthemic call for a world without boundaries, total freedom of expression, and loads of laundry littering the highway.

What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body (Reprise) -- Because we just needed to hear it again. It's your MIND!!!

Mother People -- As seen on the Monkees TV show while they destroy a car! Mike Nesmith dresses up like Zappa and vice versa. Funny as a foot!

The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny -- I guess this is the "Day in the Life" equivalent. Frighteningly apocalyptic closer that seems to stand apart from the rest of the album, in another class. But this isn't really a song -- it's a piece of 20th Century Music! Like Cage and Varese and all that. Frank tells us to be sure to read Kafka's "In the Penal Colony" before listening to this, but to this day I haven't complied with this order.

"We're Only In It For The Money" is a Zappa and the Mothers album dripping with cynical attitude poking fun of parental excess and adolescent stupidity. It openly has a stab at the police, the system and the yuppie jet set verses the hippy drug culture. On one listen it will amuse and the lyrics are certainly the most biting I have heard exposing the American way "smash every creep in the face with a rock, gotta go bye bye, pow pow pow." The songs are dark at least in thematic content but the tunes are quirky and whimsical. Even the album cover blatantly makes fun of the classic Beatles Sgt Pepper. There is no subtlety in either imagery or style. Zappa just lets rip on everything damning the world. The result is a mixed bag of strange hyper tense lyrics and compelling tunes.

The tracks are so short that if you do not like one you only have to wait about a minute for the next track. The special effects as always on a Mothers album are terrific. The phone call on Telephone Conversation is so similar to Pink Floyd's The Wall it is uncanny. Certainly this album was a major influence on concept albums. Zappa was doing things on vinyl that no other artist dared. "Freak Out" proved he could produce bizarre material and this follows up on this with a strong conceptual frame work. Songs like Bow Tie Daddy are throwaways for me as they are too stupid. I am not into the style either so this is a difficult listen as was "Freak Out!"

What´s the ugliest part of your body? is a fun track due to the 50s doo wop style, a Zappa-esqu touch plaguing his other albums. It is okay in small measure. The lyrics to follow are quite potent such as making fun of Christmas, "comet and cupid and donner and blitzen, escape from your logo" on Absolutely Free. The funky double bass heavy Flower Punk is particularly innovative lyrically, "throw out the crystal and join the psychedelic man, and a narrative voice spouting off about the evils of the music industry, "The kids today are so wonderful, I'm proud to be part of this gigantic mass deception".

Nasal retentive calliope music brings us back to the bizarre world of these acid heads, and perhaps is a bit too disconcerting for some listeners, as perturbing as a lot of darker prog these days. An avant-garde sound collage that is really a noise fest of creaking squeaks and ear splitting sonic vibrations. Let's Make the Water Turn Black is one of the more well known Zappa tracks featuring in some of the concerts. Some otherworldy sounds accompany the second side of the album introducing tracks and then the music jumps straight in like The Residents style, with no introductions and no endings. The songs blend together and hardly develop until the next weird effect. There is lots of jabbering and nonsense but it seems to work in a similar way to other Mothers albums. Finally we get to the hilarious Lonely Little Girl and Take your clothes off when you dance which is rather restrained for Zappa in terms of crudity, but has lots of nananana wah wah wah wah in the lyrics, but is a breezy piece that typifies the band's sound.

This is once again one of the products of the late sixties and is fun for a while but you may prefer the more serious Zappa on "Hot Rats" if you are here for the music because this one sacrifices music for insanity and subversive humour.

In my opinion, if you want to hear the essential early Mothers recording, this is it. This album has some really great moments on it, and the songs interact and weave together very nicely. Some of my favorite moments on the album are "Who Needs the Peace Corps?" and "Flower Punk", and I'm sure plenty of people would agree with me. Most of the songs on this album are short, so do not expect any masterpieces or epics: the album when listened to from front to back IS a masterpiece. In fact, while there are not any gigantic epics, the individual songs feel like parts to a much larger song. This album is truly the quintessential early Mothers recording, and it gets my highest recommendation.

Sorry Frank but is this considered to be good?

The fourth Frank Zappa, or The Mothers of Invention record "We're only in it for the money" is a famous history. It was made a long time ago, in the year 1968 and seems to be made as an irony of the hippy movement. The music isn't so compicated but it's really weird. Of these thirty-nine minutes I don't find pure music on so many of them. There are a lot of conversation and noise between and behind. Among the most famous things with the album is the cover. It was inspired with Beatles masterpiece "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band" from the year before. The title is quite provocative too. Zappa has his gang of Roy Estrada, Don Preston, Jimmy Carl Black, Ian Underwood, Euclid James Sherwood, Billy Mundi and Bunk Gardner with him and together they made this mess.

There are som pieces here and there I like with the album and I will try to tell you about them. The best song is a short song: "Take your clothes off when you dance" which despite a silly vocal style has a great and catchy melody which I praised on Zappa's revious album. Then we have "What's the ugliest part of you body?" which partially is rather amusing. "Who needs the peace corps" is an inviting and pleasant little story that I like a lot and "Absolutely free" is experimental enough but contains still a lot of music which is the same with "Let's make the water turn black" and "Mom & Dad". They're all good songs I recommend you to hear. If you want to hear intriguing instrumental passages and mighty songs this album though is not something for you. The majority of the songs feel just ironic and silly and sometimes the sound is just terrible such as some form of turture for the ears, especially "Nasal retentive callipe music" and the closing track as well. This is experimental music yes but as much as I appreciate that I dislike the feeling I get when I here it. I have heard Zappa was I genious, but he has still to convince me. I think I will find a better album by him and hear more glorious music. This was perhaps too much of a pastisch. The good parts make this a two stars album, otherwise I would have been even harder. Two stars from me!

A full blown attack on our ears and minds. I don't think that there is any other way to describe this work of genius. From the moment it starts, till it's end less than 40 minutes later, this album doesn't slow its pace, downplay its satire or let us stray away from it. It was shocking in the 60s, when it was first released, and it is still shocking today.

Some SFX lead us to the voice of Eric Clapton, asking a girl if she's hung up. Then we hear the technician talking about erasing all the masters, before we get Jimmy Carl Black talking about being the Indian of the group. It's hard to call this track a song, but? It does lay the ground for the things to come.

Who Needs the Peace Corps is where our journey really begins. We follow a hippie, or should we say a generic hippie. He drops out, goes to San Francisco, and buys a wig. The song is quick-paced, and has a great rhythm. The guitar part is great. The style of the song, though, is classic, is normal. But the words are so satirical and brilliant. On third listen and onwards, one starts to identify even more layers in this "simple" song, showing yet again the genius of Zappa. "I will love the police as they kick the [&*!#] out of me on the street".

Then we cut to the Concentration Moon, a slow paced song, lamenting about the freedom lost when one is in the jail. 37 seconds and the pace pick up, and it's a different beast. A hippie dies. The technician and JCB again, and we're back to the slow pace of the beginning. The US is afraid of us, the hippie says before dying.

Then Zappa sings for the parents, who stay for themselves, busy with their jobs, straying away from their children, letting them roam free and kill themselves. Then we get a short phone call, showing us the fear from one's dad, before getting to the next song- Bow Tie Daddy- a happy song about a beating dad.

Then a nice piano leads us to an almost Kinks's like song, or maybe just a Who's song, about the phony-ness of the hippie movement, and then some famous Zappa's SFX, still kept to a minimum.

What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body is another masterpiece, combining three complete songs into a single minute. Some short keyboard riff, then two lines said by Suzy and then Franki Zappa before the song begins, letting us experience the feeling of being on drugs. Or at least, letting us feel like seeing it from the side. It always reminds me a bit of Hendrix combined with the Beatles, but I think that it's just me. The song is yet again a quick travel between so many different musical styles, like a trip around the music industry in 3 minutes and a half.

Anyways, then comes Flower Punk which is a parody of Hendrix's Hey Joe, attacking the music industry and the hippies alike. It's quick and sounds almost like a kid's show taken to the extreme, only with some dirty lyrics and strange musical style. Around the 1:30 mark Zappa breaks loose, and the attack renounces. Screams, voices, SFX, high voices moving way to fast, and Zappa saying completely different things from each side of the sound- system. It's a cacophony, but a way too funny one to be taken seriously, much like the psychedelic music of the time.

Hot Poop is like the opening track, moving in 3 times speed. The second side was opened, and what a side it is. It sounds like all those things that Zappa kept at bay? Well, now they've got their opportunity to go out, enjoy themselves, be free for the first time in forever.

Let's Make the Water Turn Black sounds like a combination of the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, on steroids, with lyrics devoid of any inherent beauty. Zappa screams of their phony-ness. The Idiot Bastard Son continues the line the earlier song started, telling us yet another story before being cut short by the people listening.

Lonely Little Girl is a lament about a deserted girl, for whom her parents don't really care. It goes from being sad to being happy, and then all the way back, traveling through earlier songs, and going KABOOM in the middle. It even gets middle-eastern for a few seconds. And all this attack on the hippies? It all culminates in Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance. Then a reprise for What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body, taken on even greater steroids, before getting to Mother People which is a peculiar and very strange little gem. Here Zappa asks us questions, and throws some nasty words on us, in an almost way too naïve presentation. And after that? We're closing with The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny which sounds something like an avant-garde piece from 1940's Paris, combined with some nasty horror-soundtrack elements and then taken to the extreme. I can't really describe it, but I don't think that I should. It is a track one has to listen to for herself/himself.

And then we're left with a void, alone in the dark, staring at the record, and starting this musical journey all over again. Because the album doesn't end on first listen, nor does it end in the 30th. It just needs more and more time, growing better with each listen, amazing us again and again. So yeah, I don't think that I can give this album any less than 5 stars. It is essential not only for the Prog Fun, or for the historian` it's not essential only for the music lover or for the literature-student. It is one of those records that one just needs to have, to hold dear and true. This record? This one is one of those unique experiences. It just needs a listen. And then a bit more?

Incommensurable socio-cultural value. What an album! If music has the potential to revolutionize, this should be the best example. Satirical concept plus memorable music make this album a masterpiece. Sometimes artists focus too little in composing good lyrics. In this case this are not just good lyrics, they are based on REALITY!!!!!!!! It's so healthy to focus on reality, real situations, real social facts (or at least interpretations about these real social issues). This is maybe the most representative vision Zappa had in all his career. The music... well, if you don't know Zappa i cannot explain... the music is catchy yet changeable with funny vocal arrangements; the production is outstanding. 5/5 ONLY FOR PEOPLE WITH SENSE OF HUMOUR WHO CAN APPRECIATE GENIUS BEYOND SENTIMENTALISMS.

"Are You hung up?"

No, not too much on this album, unfortunately.

We're Only In It For The Money was Zappa's satirical attack and put down of the so called 60's counter culture with hippies being the main target. Are You Hung Up is the album's first track where The Mothers perform another mishmash of Doo Wop, US pop, Beach Boys motifs, etc., combined with tape effects and whispering between the first few opening tracks, to bring the familiar but artful satire of the Mothers' music.

The hypercritical stab at the hippie culture get's old fast but Frank does have some witty commentaries on police brutality, which still reverberates today, as well as revealing lyrically that the ugliest part of someone's body, in a mock love ballad, is not a nose or a face but some people's minds. Clever stuff that's immediately mixed with absurdum in a song cycle of 18 brief songs that occasionally goes into musique concrete before quickly returning to the Zappa and the Mother's style of mixed musical influences that was featured on their first album from 1966 titled Freak Out!

The closing track titled The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny is an avant-garde tape effects collage that, while effective, seems as if it had been tacked on to the end of the album.

In retrospect, it seems that Zappa spent a lot of effort knocking down what he perceived as sheep following a new master, as hippiedum was over almost as fast as it started. The following year (1969), Zappa would be telling students at a British college that the new hype of street fighting in the UK was nothing more than "last year's flower power." That's was how fast music and society changed in those days, and obviously this is what dates We're Only In It For The Money the same way as it dates the album that the cover of We're Only In It For The money parodies hilariously, the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Loney Hearts Club Band.

We're Only In It For The Money is certainly essential for Zappaholics, but to the rest of the prog and rock listening public, Freak Out! remains strangely undated, and thus, far more enjoyable.

'We're Only In It For the Money' is definitely an interesting album, to say the least. The cover and title is a direct slam to The Beatles and their album 'Sgt. Pepper', who Zappa claimed was all done for the money, not the music. The album, however, is a statement to the condition of society at the time, police violence, the hippy movement (how everyone thought they could be a hippy because it was cool) and the music business. The album is full of music, noise collages and field recordings, sometimes a song is interrupted by whatever FZ wanted to put there. It is one of the most censored albums in rock history. It was also Zappa's way of saying that classical music was being held hostage by the old ladies that tell the concert halls and radio stations what classical music to play. So much to pack in 33 minutes and 19 tracks.

FZ always felt that the Mothers filled the gap between serious music and the mass public who were being denied access to good serious music. This is why his music was never 'normal' in the radio friendly sense. When someone listens to FZ (and especially this album) for the first time, they have certain expectations, that while it is known that FZ's music is complicated, that with his crazy and crass humor, they still expect it to be normal music, not Avant-prog or RIO. When the music doesn't reach that expectation, most people turn away from it. While it is true that there is a lot of humor in this album, it isn't always apparent laugh out loud humor as much as it is sarcasm and satire, with large doses of art rock mixed in. It is a rough album, not clean and polished. It is also pretty much a continuous suite more than it is a bunch of individual tracks. Keeping this in mind, it may make more sense when a person hears it for the first time.

The frustrating thing to Zappa, was that the music and it's purpose was misunderstood. People automatically thought that the Mothers were the ones that were only in it for the money, and they missed that it was all making fun of The Beatles, even though Frank wanted to make it obvious by copying the Sgt. Pepper cover. He was upset that people could not make the connection, that they never even looked at the similarities of the album covers, and that people just thought The Beatles were sent from heaven. He felt that they were plastic and commercial, but he knew that was an unpopular view among the public.

The album starts off with a field recording that Zappa was famous for making without telling anyone and then putting it on a record. The music starts on the 2nd track with 'Who Needs the Peace Corps?' which was meant to make fun of the hippy movement and not necessarily the Peace Corps. Why work for a government run organization built to help young adults make a difference in the world when you can just be lazy, join the Dead Heads and 'be a hippy'? Then comes another musical number (mostly) called 'Concentration Moon' about how San Francisco and it's citizens were being used for a government LSD experiment and also about police brutality and they feared the hippies. 'Mom & Dad' is one of the Mothers most heartfelt lyrical songs about how parents would ignore what was going on in their world with violence until they have to be told that their own child has died. 'Telephone Conversation' is an actual taped phone conversation which is tied into the song 'Bow Tie Daddy'

'Harry You're a Beast' is about the plastic society again, women specifically. This is one of the songs that got censored quite heavily, and there is a part that sounds like it is being played backwards. That is one of the censored sections of the song. 'What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?' is a satirical take on a Steve Allen song written for children called from an album called 'How to Think'. 'Absolutely Free' starts off with a short routine involving Suzy Creamcheese (one of the Mother's recurring characters) and is another one of the songs that didn't get completely past the censors. 'Flower Punk' is a parody on the song 'Hey Joe' made popular by Jimi Hendrix, but the version they were basing it on was the version recorded by 'The Leaves'. It makes fun of the flower child movement. It turns into a sound collage during the last half with FZ saying different things through each speaker at a high speed, along with other people talking. 'Hot Poop' continues this collage with another backwards section that was censored. 'Nasal Retentive Calliope Music' continues with the sound collage, but this time with processed sounds and noises. The gizmo they used to make this collage was called an 'Apostolic Blurch Injector' (named by Zappa) that would take any source material put into it and mash it up into things that pretty much could not be understood. Some of the things put into this gizmo were police busts, censored sections, interviews with dope pushers trying to get FZ to use drugs and so on. Yes it's hard to listen to, but it's Zappa's way of experimenting.

This is followed by a song that was the creation of a theme that would be used by Zappa's band a lot and would become a very popular theme for Zappa fans. 'Let's Make the Water Turn Black' is that song, and this time you get the lyrics, which is based on actual events from Zappa's childhood, specifically certain disgusting habits by certain children he didn't care for much. I won't go into detail, but it's funny in a sick way. Quite a catchy melody though and one that's easy to recognize when Zappa's bands would be playing long improvisations. 'The Idiot Bastard's Son' is a continuation of this song and again, it didn't make it past the censors, so once again, we get it backwards. 'Lonely Little Girl' comes next followed by another familiar Zappa theme 'Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance' which was probably a parody possibly based on an old song. After that there is a reprise for 'What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?' followed by 'Mother People', which would later become a sort of theme for The Mothers. Again, more censored nonsense here. 'The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny' wraps up the album with a 6+ minute sound collage featuring that strange gizmo again.

So, yes this album really has no commercial appeal whatsoever, so go into it knowing that, and you won't be disappointed by your preconceived notions of what Frank would call Teen Age Music. This is Avant-prog music, and like I said previously, it is rough. Zappa's music would become more polished as time went on, of course. But this was the style of music he was making at the time.

There is a lot going on in this album, and the things I have pointed out in this review only brushes the surface. You literally need some kind of listener's guide to read while listening to this, it would be impossible to cover it all in this review. However, it is an important album, made before Prog music was a thing, but it would help open doors to musical exploration and was also an important movement against commercialism of music. Personally, I don't like it as much as 'Freak Out!', but I do understand it's importance and hopefully this will help shed some light on the album. And there are plenty of internet sites that explore this album quite thoroughly, and I suggest finding one that will help you listen to this crazy album. Things will make a lot more sense, believe me.

Despite England's stranglehold on rock music after the highbrow sophisticating effects of The Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and a million other worthy acts, the USA can proudly boast FRANK ZAPPA who together with THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION single-handedly outwitted pretty much every single artist tucked away under the rock music paradigm. Emerging from nowhere with the slap in the face 1966 debut "Freak Out!," these wild guys were always 50 steps ahead of the contemporary scene and transmogrified their disdain towards the shameless sheepish compliance to corporate demands into some of the highest intellectual stimulation where parody, experimental rock, psychedelia, doo-wop and music concrète performed unthinkable acts of defiance.

While The Beatles officially launched the art rock scene at least to the masses with its groundbreaking "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" designed to appeal to the largest swath of the public as possible, ZAPPA and the boyz took a completely different direction by taking on the man with a never-ending stream of iconoclastic middle fingers to both establishment lackeys as well as drug-induced drop outs who naively relinquished their own powers for the sake of a pretty flower power party. The year 1968 also began ZAPPA's prolific release of multiple albums per year fueled by a project called "No Commercial Potential" which produced the albums "Uncle Meat," "Lumpy Gravy," "Cruising With Ruben & The Jets" and this third and best gem of 1968, WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY.

Originally released with the goofy drag show album cover with the yellow background, ZAPPA quickly realized that the album could be the ultimate spoof of The Beatles' 1967 art rock project and soon the original March 4, 1968 cover art would be attempted to be replaced by the more familiar "Sgt Pepper's" parody cover but it was rejected which only fueled ZAPPA's contempt for the music biz and the parody cover would have to live on as interior artwork for a while at least. Thematically WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY took shots at both right wing and left wing extremists who simply follow their respective cult leaders as opposed to stepping back and looking at the larger picture. The album excelled at lampooning the culture of shallow superficial phoniness as well as law enforcement harassment that prevented the band from performing on the West Coast which forced a relocation to New York.

To say WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY was a strange beast is an understatement. Even by today's standards some 50 years after its release, it STILL sounds as fresh and relevant as it was when it emerged. While THE MOTHERS had successfully forged their unique wackiness on the previous releases, WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY is where it all came together in a glistening glob of sheer genius where every aspect of the juxtaposing musical ideas gelled perfectly in the context of spitting in the face of a soulless culture run amok. This album flows perfectly from the freakily bizarre opening "Are You Hung Up?" and the following psychedelic rock satire "Who Needs The Peace Corps?" to the patter song "Let's Make the Water Turn Black," the doo-wop comedy act of "What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?" all the way to the closing avant-garde mystique concrète fueled "The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny."

With eight members in THE MOTHERS proper along with ten other guest cast members, WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY comes off more as a sophisticated sonic mind trip than anything else and is part music, part comedy, part experimental noise and 100% irreverence. While this album was only one of three released in 1968, it is by far the best and only the beginning of the all-encompassing masterpieces that threw in a million disparate ideas and crafted some of the most sophisticated musical experiences within the context of rock music. When listening to the molten madness so perfectly executed on WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY, it's not that difficult to understand why FRANK ZAPPA is considered one of the greatest musical geniuses of the entire 20th century. I, for one, will not even begin to refute that because it's so very, very true.

Review #138

(Considering this an album by THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION and not a FRANK ZAPPA album)

"We're only in it for the money" was a very strange record (by its time) in which THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION went further in the fields of experimental music than they ever got before; coming and going through the most diverse selection of songs and short weird instrumental almost musicless segments, this record was a huge evolution in the band's musical development. While the sound of THE MOTHERS was getting much more psychedelic and obscure in some moments, the early comedy based on the sixties pop music was becoming much more complex and diverse.

Once again THE MOTHERS were making fun of everything, especially THE BEATLES with the shameless parody cover in which even Jimi HENDRIX was part of the picture, musically I don't find a lot of resemblance to the Liverpool guys so I don't consider the whole album being a parody of "Sgt. Pepper's", only the cover. After this record, Frank ZAPPA launched his first solo album "Lumpy gravy", which I believe took its scarce good parts directly from what he learned and created with THE MOTHERS in "We're only in it for the money".

As much as I like this record, I wouldn't consider it a masterpiece of prog since the music was still very far from getting into this musical style, however, it is one of those obligated albums in order to appreciate the roots of Avant-Garde and non-European Progressive Rock music.

SONG RATING: Are you hung up? 3 Who needs the corps? 4 Concentration Moon, 4 Mom and dad, 4 Telephone conversation, 3 Bow tie daddy, 3 Harry, you're a beast, 4 What's the ugliest part of your body? 4 Absolutely free, 5 Flower punk, 4 Hot poop, 3 Nasal retentive calliope music, 4 Let's make the water turn black, 5 The idiot bastard son, 5 Lonely little girl, 4 Take your clothes off when you're dancing, 4 What's the ugliest part of your body? (Reprise), 3 Mother people, 4 The chrome-plated megaphone of destiny, 5

AVERAGE: 3.95

PERCENTAGE: 78.95

ALBUM RATING: 4 stars

Review #22: We're Only in it for the Money

ABANDONED TO PERISH IN BACK OF A CAR, KENNY WILL STASH HIM AWAY IN A JAR!

I must admit that when I listened to the album, I didn't understand what I was listening to, or why... heh.

We're Only in it for the Money, Frank Zappa's fourth album (and actually the band's third together, The Mothers of Invention), is a concept album that parodies the cover of The Beatles' "Sgt. Peppers".

For this, the photographer and illustrator Cal Schenkel -who would go on to occupy such a role- subjected the Sgt. cover to a process of satirical metamorphosis. The clean blue sky is replaced by a thunderstorm, and instead of a host of popular and pristine personalities of 20th century culture including Edgar Allan Poe, Jung, Dylan, Monroe, Marx, Einstein, and others (with a few winks, such as Shirley Temple's rag doll jumper with the caption "Welcome The Rolling Stones"), we now see a series of B-listers and deformed figures totally outside the acceptable aesthetic parameters, such as Zappa himself and his band in drag. In the shot we also elucidate Jimi Hendrix who willingly lent his mug to the project, even though he was the first artist to pay homage to Sgt. Pepper within days of its release.

As far as I can gather, Zappa never identified with the cultural and counterculture trends of the time, despising the hippie sphere as much as the rock sphere, although, perhaps because of his carefree attitude that defied convention, he was often identified with the latter. But Frank was not a consumer, he loathed the record market and the rock journalists who dictated musical taste, and he was not at all shy about exposing it. In 1968, with his band The Mothers of Invention, he released the album "We're only in it for the money", which took direct aim at all the tricks of the music industry.

I would like to analyse the songs on the album in detail as I have been doing in previous reviews, but really, Zappa impressed me with this album... It's so wonderful that I can't even try to structure an opinion on any of them! I was really raving as I listened to the songs and the tracklist went by. At a certain point, I was afraid to keep listening haha, I felt like I was being brainwashed.

Zappa really is one of the most prolific musicians of the 20th century, and it stands to reason that to most, his art seems incomprehensible. I've shown Zappa to a lot of people, and they can't finish listening to his records! It's something from another planet. But anyway, undoubtedly one of the most innovative figures in all of music history.

8.5/10, 5 stars. There's a lot of savage irony, some eclectic vocals, some truly weird studio sounds and some sing- along tunes on here, but let's face it, nobody was doing what this guy was doing in those years. That is, something terribly eccentric, histrionic, important, innovative, historic, evolutionary... and I could go on like this for hours.

Thanks for so much Zappa!