Frank Zappa
Apostrophe (')

THE REVIEW

Apostrophe ('), 1974, Frank Zappa.

An album considered not one of Zappa's best by fans, but I think it's a great album.

Let's try to understand it more: what genius other than Zappa could make similar music in 1974? It's precisely from 1974 "Apostrophe (')", specifically released on April 22, 1974.  Apostrophe (') was the album that achieved the best result on the American charts, and the opening track "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" is Zappa's first single to be released, in an extended version, incorporating part of "Nanook Rubs it".

It is precisely about "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" and "Nanook Rubs It" that I will talk about, tracks that together with "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast" and "Father O' Blivion" constitute a single mad and ever-changing song. It starts with the slow and irreverent "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" and its wonderful bass line, the only melody that maintains itself throughout the piece. However, the melody changes when the piece flows into "Nanook Rubs It", an even slower piece, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful. On the contrary, it's truly wonderful.

Nanook Rubs It extends for 4 and a half minutes, then transforms into "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast", through a xylomarimba solo, a particular ethnic version of the xylophone, with a funny and frenetic sound. St. Alfonzo's is perhaps the best track on the album, although short. It's short, true, but it wakes you up after the drowsy Nanook Rubs It with a very fast melody that continues on "Father O' Blivion", until it becomes a crazy cross between samba and funky, complete with synthesizers, xylophone, and a wonderful rhythm. After Father O' Blivion ends, "Cosmik Debris" begins, a slow and provocative piece in typical Zappa style.

The album continues with the very particular "Excentrifugal Forz" which, despite its short duration, remains in your mind for hours after listening. The piece contains a live guitar solo glued on, just like a collage. In fact, Apostrophe (') contains numerous ingeniously glued live guitar solos in the pieces, however, after listening to the piece a few times, you realize that the sound comes from another recording.  It's time for the title track, "Apostrophe", a classic blues in Zappa style. Critics have defined Apostrophe as the most relevant track of the album, but if I have to tell you my opinion, I find it less relevant than the rest of the album. Not that it's bad, of course not, on the contrary, it contains a monstrous guitar solo, but it still remains not very relevant. Then we move on to "Uncle Remus", a wonderful piece with a piano intro. I find the piece truly wonderful: it has that rhythm and sound typical of the ballads of the period, but the lyrics are definitely crazy!

Finally, we come to "Stink-Foot", the last track, a good six minutes long. Even Stink-Foot is not fast, like almost all the rest of the album, but it's still pleasant: it contains a couple of wonderful solos and some crazy interludes like Zappa calling a dog and answering himself with a mad "Harf Harf Harf!".

Apostrophe (') is a good album. Of course, it's not comparable to musical masterpieces like Hot Rats, much less to irreverent masterpieces like Absolutely Free and Chunga's Revenge, but it still has its charm. Apostrophe (') remains one of Zappa's most easily listenable albums, and a true musical masterpiece, like all Zappa's albums (except Pregnant, I hate that one é_é )