Frank Zappa
Over Nite Sensation

This "Over Nite Sensation", dated 1973, represents a true turning point in the career of Frank Zappa. In the same year, the multifaceted mustache had come out with "The Grand Wazoo," a jazz-fusion masterpiece as well as one of the highest expressions of the concept of total music. The following album, however, takes a decisive turn towards more accessible sounds, generally more focused on song form.

Many purists and early fans turned up their noses at this change, branding the album as a commercial gimmick, but "Over Nite Sensation" remains first and foremost a Frank Zappa album, and there is no album by this man that can be trashed: even in "lesser albums" like this, the compositions remain of extremely high musical level, presenting themselves as the "usual" blend of different styles and genres, except this time they are "compressed" into a runtime ranging from 3 to 6 minutes, and consequently, there is greater accessibility, even to a casual audience.

Listening to the lyrics, then, cannot help but bring a smile, as in the case of "Montana", perhaps the most representative song of the album, where the protagonist is a guy heading to Montana riding a pony, with the dream of becoming a magnate by selling dental floss (!?). Musically, however, the piece is quite complex (as usual), with winds and guitars that proceed in unison in constructing a plot that smells of progressive, even incorporating xylophones into the composition; far from being over-intellectual, the piece flows pleasantly with Zappa's inevitable solos placed always at the right time (the first one deserves a standing ovation :D), followed by choruses sung by none other than Tina Turner (who, however, wasn't credited among the participating artists), and ending with a grotesque "yippy-aye-o-ty-ay" sung by Kin Vassey.

The album then seamlessly transitions from "devilishly sublime tunes" like "Camarillo Brillo" (which are nonetheless supported by a terrifying musical base, with drums/percussions standing out and Ian Underwood's excellent saxophone work) to experiments closer to free-jazz, as in the case of "Dinah-Moe-Humm"; in "I'm The Slime" (the lyrics seem as if they were written yesterday; in fact, the song is a sarcastic j'accuse against television which, even then, was brimming with stupid programs devoid of any cultural/educational content), as well as in "Dirty Love", the legendary mustache tackles the situation head-on with his guitar shooting off like a wild shard; in "Fifty-Fifty", the entire band steps up, with a lethal performance by George Duke on keyboards and Jean Luke Ponty on the violin, delivering screaming solos that almost overshadow Zappa's guitar, although he makes a strong comeback in "Zomby Woof". Nonetheless, there is not a single track that cannot be considered noteworthy: every song surprises with the technical subtleties that can be found within, and the arrangements are never trivial and, on the contrary, of almost manic precision typical of Zappa, but in this case, they seem to be masked to be appreciated by a broader audience; not coincidentally, the album was a massive seller and earned Zappa his first gold record in his career.

"Over Nite Sensation" certainly cannot be defined as the summation of Zappa's discography, nor as his most historically significant work, but it remains a fundamental piece to appreciate the proverbial versatility of this artist. Overlooking it would be a thoughtless mistake: ignore the transient experts and give it a chance.