THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: FREAK OUT!

Think about it. This album was recorded in 1965, and released released in 1966. At that time, there was no Pink Floyd, The Beatles were just beginning to experiment with their music, and none of the big names in progressive rock were recording anything progressive.

But here's Frank Zappa, a sarcastic but brilliant guitarist/composer, releasing an album that blew some minds.

The first half of the album consists of the more conventional songs, save for Who Are The Brain Police?. The rest of the songs mostly fit into the idea of mid-sixties pop music: short simple songs about love and easy concepts. Then there's Brain Police, a dark, experimental song delving into paranoid subtexts. Way ahead of it's time.

Then there's the second LP. It begins with Trouble Every Day, one of the most political songs of it's time, depicting the race riots in L.A., and also the way the TV news was exploiting them. Just brilliant.

The album concludes with Help I'm A Rock, and The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet (note to the music press: Frank Zappa is NOT the son of a monster magnet). These are the incredible (for their time) works of weird rhythms and tape concoctions that by far predated the Rock In Opposition movement, but contained much of that movement's ideals.

Simply put, this is an extremely important album, and although by today's standards may not be as amazing, it must be seen from it's own time.