THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: UNCLE MEAT

Uncle Meat should be reviewed as less of an album and more of as a soundtrack. This is a compilation of the compositions Frank wrote around this time for the movie Uncle Meat, and some compositions he wrote otherwise.

Frank started to impress me incredibly with Uncle Meat because Frank's compositional acrobatics have just started to bloom. The Mothers' had their work cut out for them jamming out Pound For A Brown in high-speed 7/8 and playing other compositions with amazing dexterity like the Uncle Meat Main Theme. Both of these and every single one of the other compositions are amazing technically and brilliantly written for the ears, none of them too crazy to enjoy, all fantastic melody.

There are dialogue pieces, songs, and instrumental pieces. Mostly there are instrumental pieces. The songs feature the singers with seemingly helium injected throats and effected-up instruments, same with the instrumental pieces, which give Uncle Meat quite a signature sound from the rest of Frank's catalogue. A lot of the dialogue parts are either "Conceptual Continuity" or movie segments in which you'd have to see the (awesome) film to understand, but then again I won't discredit this, as Uncle Meat is put together for such an occasion.

Throughout all of this, all of the compositions even The Air and Project X prove to be an entirely interesting listen throughout, and a pioneering jazz-rock record. The second disc is amazing because all of the variations and solos on King Kong are distinct and incredibly played.

Many compositions like Green Genes and Cruisin' For Burgers made their debut here, and some of them the best versions undoubtedly, so as a great listen, and also a Frank history piece, Uncle Meat proves to be a step up melodically and instrumentally for Frank, and I really think no one was on the Mothers' level around this time.