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The debut with his Mothers of Invention was a double LP. No, folks, nothing to do with the rock operas of the following decade, nor with the long progressive suites or anything like that: a double album because it is overflowing with ideas, which good old Frank had matured since arriving in California, when he discovered what would become his life: music. From when he listened to Ballard, to when he met Beefheart, to when he started wriggling between experimentalism and romanticism, in an underground scene like Los Angeles, where such eccentric characters were still not looked upon favorably. It wasn't easy. Years and years of rehearsals, studies, protest, in search of maximum creative freedom. The absolutely free, indeed.
“Freak Out!” was released in 1966 and it is a product of impressive variety: it effortlessly juxtaposes anthems of youth protest (the opening “Hungry Freaks, Daddy”, “Any Way the Wind Blows”), beat and blues influences (“I Ain't Got No Heart”, “Motherly Love”, “You Didn't Try to Call Me”, where structural experiments are conducted), electronic music (“Who Are the Brain Police”), acid rock tracks (the fantastic “Trouble Comin' Every Day”, even described by some as an archaic rap), soul (“How Could I Be Such a Fool”), rock'n'roll (“I'm Not Satisfied”), doo-wop songs (“Wowie Zowie”), free-jazz (“It Can't Happen Here”) avant-garde experiments with music and noise collages (“Help, I'm a Rock” and the masterpiece “The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet”) with a cabaret-like use of spoken parts, and finally those little songs he himself called “stupid” (“Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder”), which nevertheless contained a wise irony towards those who opposed a rightful change, a rightful revolution to be carried forward in those years.
Ironical above all with himself, Zappa recreated his freak world starting precisely from those who feared this world, from the conformists to the traditionalists, from American power to metropolitan neighborhoods. His message is strong, damnably current, his angers seem to take shape from verses akin to harsh verdicts, his thought goes far beyond the infamous horizon. Zappa wasn't just a musician, guitarist, composer, satirist, poet: he was the innovator par excellence, the all-around artist, the genius of revolution not only musical of the late 20th century, a forerunner of various musical and cultural movements.
After this “Freak Out!”, to simply refer to it as a “landmark” of rock would be far too reductive, Zappa's genius would have the opportunity to gift us his ideas, his madness, his experiments, his talent in about eighty albums, until his premature demise in 1993.
Someone from this world would take a lifetime just to listen to them all; he, who conceived them in only 27 years, probably wasn't from this world…
When once you find that the way you lied Once you should realize that you have lied
and all the corny tricks you tried, and all the mediocre tricks you attempted,
will not forestall the rising tide of there will be no prevention against the rising tide
hungry freaks, daddy... of hungry freaks, daddy…
But after a good 40 years, dear America, we're back to square one.
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