THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: FREAK OUT!

"Freak Out!" is the debut full-length studio album by US, California based avantgarde/experimental rock act The Mothers of Invention. The album was released through Verve Records in June 1966. It´s a historical album in terms of release format, as it´s only the second double rock music album released after Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde", which was released just a week earlier. It´s the first debut album in rock music history to be released as a double album. The history of The Mothers of Invention started in the early 60s and the rhythm and blues cover band The Soul Giants, which was fronted by later The Mothers of Invention lead vocalist Ray Collins. Collins got in a fight with the band´s guitarist, who subsequently left and he asked Frank Zappa to join. The latter brought with him original compositions, which the band soon began to perform instead of the rhythm and blues covers they had predominantly performed up until then. At that point the band changed their name to The Mothers. They would however change their name again to The Mothers of Invention at the request of their label, before "Freak Out!" was released.

Zappa was quite the advanced composer already this early on, and although "Freak Out!" features a lot of songs which at their core are either rhythm and blues or doo-wop influenced (and actually must have sounded quite old fashioned in 1966), "Freak Out!" also features more avantgarde tracks and experimental moments. The ultra dark and eerie "Who Are The Brain Police?", the heavy blues rock of "Trouble Comin' Every Day" (although not an avantgarde track, the song still stands out as different from anything else on the album), the psychedelic rock of "Hungry Freaks, Daddy", and of course the two avantgarde rock collage tracks "Help, I'm a Rock (Suite in Three Movements)" and "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet In Two Tableaus)", owing a lot to Zappa´s inspiration from avantgarde classical composers like Edgar Varese, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Conlon Nancarrow. Especially "The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet (Unfinished Ballet In Two Tableaus)" is like travelling into a black, paranoia inducing psychedelic hole. It´s the avantgarde blueprint version to early Gong and Hawkwind.

While the above specific named tracks are arguably among the standout tracks on "Freak Out!", some of the rhythm and blues or doo-wop influenced tracks are also quite entertaining and as they are all delivered with a satiric gleam in the eye, even the most cliché doo-woop tracks like "You Didn't Try To Call Me" and "Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder" work really well within in context of the album. Other standout tracks worth a mention is "Motherly Love" and "Wowie Zowie" which are both infectiously catchy. The latter features absolutely silly lyrics and a positive uplifting spirit, which stand in great contrast to some of the darker moments on the album, but that´s the story of "Freak Out!". In terms of featuring a homogene sound, it´s quite inconsistent, but it´s in the contrasts of light and dark, serious and silly, that The Mothers of Invention excel.

"Freak Out!" features a well sounding production job, and you´re able to hear all instruments and vocals in the mix and upon conclusion it´s an essential listen to anyone interested in 60s avantgarde rock, and although some tracks on the album aren´t particularly experimental, the satire and the over-the-top silly vocal performances, make even those tracks feel odd and out there. A 3-5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.