APOSTROPHE (')

One of the more accessible albums in the Frank Zappa catalogue, Apostrophe was his first to go Gold, mainly due to the popularity of Don't Eat the Yellow Snow. After Overnite-Sensation, Frank Zappa released Apostrophe, which is very much in the same vein as O.S. in that the compositions are very technical and the songs are just as weird. The band on this album is superb, most noteworthy is the magnificent Jack Bruce (Cream, etc.) on bass. Zappa's solos on this album are arguably his fastest studio solos, and they are played wonderfully on a wah drenched guitar.

From the opening whisps of wind on Don't Eat the Yellow Snow, one can already feel a carefree ride ahead of them. The catchy 7/4 riff along with the background vocals has a very warm feeling. It segues into Nanook Rubs It, which is another part of this "suite" of sorts. It has a very nasty solo in between verses and Zappa's vocal parts are comedic and refreshing. It segues into St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast, which is a short little number that has a very catchy riff to it. It segues into Father O' Blivion, which is another short little tune that finishes off this "suite" of sorts. Cosmik Debris is another live favorite that has a very distict "new-agey" sound in it. Another catchy but complicated riff only heightens the experience. Excentrifugal Forz and Apostrophe are both instrumentals that are very different. Where Excentrifugal Forz has a rock feel to it, Apostrophe has a very bluesy feel to it, with very distinctive bass (Bruce must have had it on at 11!). Stink Foot rounds off this very short album with more weird ideas from Zappa. The spoken vocals combined with the searing solos and magnificent horn section end the album perfectly.

Overall, I was very impressed with this album, although there are some faults to it. The sound on Apostrophe is muddled and has a bit of a bootleg feel to it, and the album is terribly short, only being 31 minutes long (hell, Utopia had a 30 minute song at the time this was released!). If you want catchy Zappa in the vein of Overnite-Sensation, go for this one. But for me, I'll give it a 4/5.