Frank Zappa was a genius. His albums reflected the times. And
\nfor some of his albums, they may have been classic to some, and
\nstrange to others. Strange pretty much best defines his second
\nalbum with his group The Mothers Of Invention,
\nAbsolutely Free<\/i>, released in 1967.<\/p>\n
As the album begins, “Plastic People” is political, as it starts
\nout with Zappa as The President of The United States, singing about
\nthe ups and downs of Plastic People. “The Duke Of Prunes” is a
\njazz-oriented song, yet it does feature some strange (yet unique)
\nvocals, which merges into the next two songs, “Amnesia Vivace” and
\n“The Duke Regains His Chops”. (Consider this a three-song
\nmedley.)<\/p>\n
“Call Any Vegetable” is another unique song, as Zappa sings
\nabout – what else? – vegetables. The yodeling at the end of this
\nsong about rutabegas is quite funny and unique. “Invocation And
\nRitual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin” is a seven-minute composition
\nthat mixes rock and jazz. It features very little vocals, and
\nthroughout the ending of the song, features a five-minute rock +
\njazz jam, which features horns, an instrument probably not much
\nused back in the late Sixties rock and roll music.<\/p>\n
“Soft-Sell Conclusion” is another rock\/jazz tune, as it
\ncontinues the story of vegetables. “Big Leg Emma” features what was
\nrecorded many times by Zappa – songs with a comedical sense, both
\nin lyrics and in sound. This one is very bouncy, and jazzy, as it
\ntells the story about “a big dilemma \/ bout my Big Leg Emma… She
\nwas my steady date \/ until she put on weight.” (To those who may
\nthink that this album may be too much to handle hearing-wise, “Big
\nLeg Emma” maybe the only song those people could actually listen to
\nand enjoy it.)<\/p>\n
“Why Dont’cha Do Me Right” is a psychedelic tune with Zappa on
\nfrog-type vocals. It’s definitely psychedelic – vocals and guitars,
\nas this was the popular music at the time. “America Drinks” is
\nanother “comedical” lyric song, and like others heard on this
\nalbum, it’s strange, and somewhat psychedelic. Best put: It’s
\nstrange. “Status Back Baby” is another bouncy-comedical song, but
\nnot as cooly bouncy as “Big Leg Emma”. It then merges into another
\nbouncy tune, “Uncle Bernie’s Farm” (another medley, if you want to
\ncall it). Again, it’s not as bouncy as “Big Leg Emma”. Both songs
\nare, again, strange.<\/p>\n
“Son Of Suzy Creamcheese” is the continuing saga from Zappa’s
\nfirst album with The Mothers of Invention,
\nFreak Out<\/i>. The character Suzy Creamcheese continues as the
\nband keeps asking “What’s got into you?” “Brown Shoes Don’t Make
\nIt” is another strange tune, and again, it does bring a comedical
\ntouch to it, as it changes its musical style throughout the song,
\nfeaturing rock, a slice of jazz, and theatrical rock. It clocks in
\nat just over seven minutes in length. Ending the album is another
\ntheatrical style song, as it also has a broadway touch to it, is
\n“America Drinks And Goes Home”.<\/p>\n
Zappa’s music may not be for all people. Some may think he was a
\ngenius, others a demented comedian. If you’re a fan of Dr. Demento,
\nyou can see the strangeness in how the mad doctor gets his musical
\nknowledge and compare it to the music heard on
\nAbsolutely Free<\/i>. Probably the most “demented” tune on
\nAbsolutely Free<\/i> is the seven-minute-plus “Brown Shoes Don’t
\nMake It”. At first some may think this album is just so bizarre,
\nyou may just want to give up on it during the first six songs or
\nso. Especially the first seven-minute tune, “Invocation And Ritual
\nDance Of The Young Pumpkin,” where it features “speed-jazz” as if
\nit was “thrash-speed-metal.”<\/p>\n
But giving an overview chance in listening to this album
\nstraight through, it features jazz with rock in a unique blend,
\nobviously unheard of back in the rock and roll days of the late
\npsychedelic rock years of The Beatles, the early Pink Floyd, and
\nThe Jimi Hendrix Experience (to name a few). Zappa’s
\nAbsolutely Free<\/i> may have to be listened to more than once,
\nto get the ideas where Zappa was referring to. But all in all, it’s
\nan album that is unique… and that pretty much sums up the career
\nof Frank Zappa.
\nAbsolutely Free<\/i> being his second chronological release, it
\nwas truly amazing how he came up with his ideas for future
\nreleases, with and without The Mothers Of Invention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":25434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5861],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-36639","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-frank-zappa-mothers-of-invention","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36639"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36639"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}