APOSTROPHE (')

Great Googly Moogly! Hardcore fans probably have other favorites, but a newcomer to the ZAPPA world could do a lot worse than start with this album. Continuing the approach that worked wonders on "Over- nite Sensation", Frank keeps up the bent humor and rock-pop accessibility (relatively, of course) to balance the instrumental prowess and compositional intricacies. The opening suite is one of the greatest musical interpretations of a dream sequence- surreal, funny, full of strange references, compositional left turns, and red herrings (or, rather, mud sharks). "Cosmik Debris" is a classic sleazy track with incredible performances; if for some strange reason the sounds of Jean- Luc Ponty don't impress you, how about Tina Turner and her backup singers? "Excentrifugal Forz" is a "Hot Rats" leftover, but sounds more at home here, providing a good jazzy contrast with the rest of the album. "Apostrophe" is simply outstanding, a funky, heavy jam- even if Zappa and Jack Bruce had a difficult time working together, the result is on a par with ZAPPA's better rock jams. "Uncle Remus" is a portrait of the conflicted emotions of the black man of the era; I can't verify its authenticity, but it is one of my favorite examples of Frank's less bizarre character portraits. "Stink -foot" returns us to classic over-the-top territory- a song about bromidrosis featuring a dialogue from a dog. It's also a great slow bluesey way to wrap up the album. If you've never heard Frank or want to start a collection? This will be a necessity. Is it for everyone? No...but if you like him even a little, you'll like this- after all, "The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe."