At a typical Halloween or costume party it would not be unusual to meet a group of people dressed in grotesque outfits that actually turn out to be very normal, polite people underneath. I think of the Mothers of Invention as the reverse of this: a seemingly nice group of young men performing some doo-wop and other nice mid-1960's rock songs, and then the facade slips a little, and then falls off completely.
I don't hate Frank Zappa and his assorted projects, but I am daunted by the sheer size and scope of his catalog of works. Therefore, this is all I've got. Shall I venture forward and where do I go? I've found that Freak Out! is not an album you put on as background music; it demands your full attention. I also want to say that the trumpet on "How Could I Be Such a Fool" gets me every single time. And then, just a few minutes later, we jump off the sonic cliff into "Help I'm a Rock" and friends, the bulk of what would have been the second disc in the old two vinyl set. And with that, the real Mothers come out to play and it is weird.
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