THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: FREAK OUT!

Enter progressive music. Freak Out! was legendary in a handful of reasons. It was indeed the first record to hint at the full-blown idea of progressive music, and first recorded double LP to name a few. To think the sound collages, satire, and the overall freakiness of this album came before Sgt. Pepper's, and is so so overlooked is sad. Paul McCartney and John Lennon stated this album as revolutionary and attempted to make it themselves with their own Beatly flair.

Now, this album is freaky for sure, but the thing with the Mothers is, they're an exceptionally tight band, and can play their asses off. Frank's knack for great melody is as present as ever on this album, as well as his lyrical genius and some of the first anti-establishment lyrics in the genre (Hungry Freaks Daddy and Trouble Every Day). The first side is mostly dedicated to mocking the messages of contemporary music. Frank says these guys on the radio just don't know what they're talking about, let's make fun of them! The second half of the album is the true innovating chunk of it. Like Who Are The Brain Police? on the first half, the second half bears Return of the Son of Monster Magnet, Help I'm A Rock, You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here, and It Can't Happen Here. Each mentioned, a psychedelic freakout slapped with melody. Another great part about Freak Out! is, it touches a whole lot of music genres, and lets you know what Frank's insight on it was. Frank was a true free-thinker, and he saw through things.

The album consistently mocks the whiny pop singers everyone's digging nowadays, makes fun of Doo Wop, freaks out, uses a kazoo for a bridge, uses nasty distortion and effects towards the end, and contains stronger melody than most albums ever recorded. I would think the reason this album was so overlooked was because the message of the album was nothing anyone had ever experienced and people would pass it off as just ununderstandable or just far too weird to hold up on their turntable, but if you sit down and think for a minute, you'll realize that Frank innovated on orchestral instrumentation in rock, extremely strong melody, very funny humor, and straight-up discipline in the players. Freak Out! was a taste for arguably the greatest art rock musician's work to come, and from prog rock in general. Also, this album has much substance and great songs, so it's not just a passable history item as some people list it as.