APOSTROPHE (')

This was my very first Zappa album, and still remains my favorite. It is more humor oriented than many of his other releases, but that certainly does not mean that the music is any less impressive. St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast, for instance, is hilarious. But what you may not notice upon first listen is the intricate interplay and unisons between the different instruments. Musical genious, indeed. The rest of the album is similar in that the complexity is more subtle than on many other Zappa albums.

The highlight to me is the 'Yellow Snow Suite' which is comprised of the first four tracks. The spoken word verses during Nanook Rubs It are nothing short of comedy gold, but are made even better by the way the musicians are also telling the story, so to speak, with the way they play their instruments. The way they are able to shift seemlessly through different genres is very impressive, as is their ability to make each unique style sound like part of a whole as opposed to have it sound like different pieces.

That is not to say that the rest of the album is not excellent as well. Cosmik Debris remains one of Zappa's most well known songs and also contains one of my favorite Zappa guitar solos. Stink-Foot is among the very funniest songs in Zappa's extensive discography, and Uncle Remus shows that he can write beautiful 'normal' music, too.

All in all, this album stands out as one of Zappa's finest. An essential piece of progressive music, deserving no less than five stars.