Frank Zappa - Apostrophe
|
Our Price: $49.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $32.95 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Apostrophe
Free Music Review: Welcome to the airwaves, Frank!
Hit: 5 Stars
"Apostrophe" was the first time a lot of people heard any Zappa material, as no radio station would play Zappa's music, with or without The Mothers Of Invention, and it put some people off, with the song about "Yellow Snow," but as usual, the absurd lyrics and story belie some very serious musicianship.
The relaxed atmosphere of this release makes for some very easy listening, and I would call it a jazz record, even with the heavily distorted guitar work. The slow bass lines and light drumming, for the most part, set the backdrop for the soloists to play some blistering arrangements, and even the rhythm section goes into overdrive here and there, see "Saint Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast/Father O'Blivion" sequence for comfirmation of this. At times, the material can be a little suggestive, but self-censorship, the only censorship I support, ensures a "clean" listening experience. The live version of this piece, in Volume One of the "You Can't Do That On Stage" series, gives the listener the uncut version of the words and concepts as originally created.
Of course, there is some progressive, foreward-looking material, as in the otherworldly "Excentrigugal Forz," and free-form jamming in the title track, where Jack Bruce plays a typical Cream-style bass solo to Tony Duran's rhythm guitar arrangement. Follow this with Mother Superior himself, FZ's solo, and Jim Gordon's drum solo, and a free-for-all fade out, and you have some intense performing here.
"Uncle Remus" gives this an ethnic feel, with the soulful back-up vocals and George Duke's beautiful piano playing, and of course, the jagged-edged guitar solo Zappa was so fond of at the time, and you have a minor masterpiece.
Silly stories are told in this record, as with the opening suite of "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow/Nanook Rubs It/St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast/Father O'Blivion," the dark and sinister sounding "Cosmik Debris," and the completely inane "Stinkfoot." A song about foot-odor, one would think, could never be taken seriously, but it is given a serious treatment, with a vamp to jam on, a double-tracked guitar solo (really cool trick, feeding the same signal into two amplifiers with a dry, clean sound on one channel, and a wah pedal in the other, played on one instrument, but splitting the signal to make it sound like dual guitarists), and just as good a production as any of his other compositions. Yes, it's silly, and kind of dated, but still very enjoyable.
"Apostrophe" is a good, radio-friendly piece of Americana, circa 1974, and an excellent place to start your budding Zappa collection.
Free Music Review: Great Zappa
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a great album... Musically, it's amazing and atmospheric, and lyrically it's funny and very unique. Zappa did all kinds of music, from experimental to intelligent social parodies... This one is very jazzy, and the lyrics range from parodies of [phony] psychics to bathroom humor... It starts out as a concept album, then shifts to some random songs. Here's what I think of each song:Don't Eat the Yellow Snow: Short, but sweet song that starts the story of Nanook the eskimo. Great song, funny and great to listen to.
Nanook Rubs it: Nanook gets into a conflict with a fur trapper, who jumps from behind an igloo, and starts whippin' on his favorite baby seal... They both end up blinded, and it causes the fur trapper to go up to Saint Alfonzo to help his eyes. Great jazz-rock song, with great vocals and instrumental work.
St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast: This one speeds it up, and is actually pretty catchy. I like it quite a bit, funny and great listening.
Father O'Blivion: Another faster song, it's great and quirky... The last song that stays as a concept album. (I think, it's a bit of a blurry concept album) *sigh* No others like Zappa...
Cosmik Debris: Wonderful, great song, one of my favorites. It makes fun of phony psychics, and the like. It's very funny, and musically it's very catchy and cool. "I wrapped a newspaper round my head, so I'd look like I was deep. I said some mumbojumbos then, and I told him he was going to sleep. I robbed his rings and pocket watch and every thing else I found. I had that[guy]hypnotized, he couldn't even make a sound. I proceeded to tell him his future then. As long as he was hanging around, I said, 'The price of meat has just gone up and your old lady has just gone down.'"
Excentrifugal Forz: My least favorite on the album, it's still a good song.
Apostrophe: This is one of Zappa's less complex and interesting instrumentals, but still worth a listen. However, this album isn't an instrumental classic. (for great instrumentals, try Yellow Shark, Hot Rats or The Grand Wazoo)
Uncle Remus: Flowing, nice little song, with cultural awareness. Very good, nice piano music too.
Stinkfoot: Heh, funny, quirky and great jazz song about the dreaded... STINKFOOT! Another favorite of mine, I like this one a lot.
Oh, no one was like Zappa... Great album, I recommend it to newer Zappa fans, because it's easier to digest than some of his explicit stuff, and some of his surreal, insane music. To others... Well, the open-minded jazz fans will like it, but for casual pop fans... no.
Free Music Review: Some of Frank's Finest
Hit: 5 Stars
Love him or hate him, there is no denying that Frank Zappa produced some of the most interesting and musical recordings in Rock. Apostrophe(') is quite possibly one of Franks finest. The album opens with "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow/Nanook Rubs it". The titles are separated on the jacket, with different times listed for each, but in typical Zappa style there is no dead air between any of the tracks. This CD leans less toward the protracted jazz/rockish type of song writing of the mothers and leans more toward the more compact rock/pop song writing that characterized his later recordings. The disc continues on with "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast," which melts into "Father O'Blivion." One can't help but wonder where his inspiration came from for any of his music, and this is no exception. Then again, with song writing this brilliant, who cares? The music is funky enough to make you tap your foot, with hooks the will have you humming all day at work. Your going to want to run home and listen to this cd all the time. Words can't really do the music justice, but if you could imagine blues and funk mixed with jazz and given a good stiff does of sometimes brash irony, you'd begin to get an understanding. Of course Zappa is constantly experimenting with sounds and arrangements, and this disc is no exception. Unlike some of his other recordings, however, he seems to sticks a little closer to a more traditional vein. Well...traditional for him, anyhow. The CD continues on with "Cosmic Debris," a short, funny, R&B inspired tune about a "mystery man" that is classic Zappa.The album continues with "Excentrifugal Forz," "Apostrophe," a nearly 6 minute instrumental that reeks of early 70's funk, the Bluesy "Uncle Remis," and ends with the classic jam song "Stink-Foot." All of the tunes are tight and well written with superb musicianship and some really fine guitar work - something that Frank doesn't often get enough recognition for. This is the kind of CD you can listen over and over again and hear something new every time. As you might expect, its laced with irony and sexual innuendo - adult material and definitely something you shouldn't play around young children. Probably all of Zappa's work could be described as brilliant, but Apostrophe(') hits the nail square on the head. It's definitely worth the price of admission - and then some.Free Music Review: Childhood Distorted By Zappa Album! Film At 11!
Hit: 5 Stars
Whenever anybody asks me what the best album to buy as a first Zappa album, I tell them either "We're Only In It For The Money" or this one, and I usually give this one a little higher boost.Why? Because this is the album that got me into FZ at the tender age of 11 years old. By accident....
One balmy spring day in early '75, my (then) uptight, Catholic, ex-John Birch Society mother came home with a stack of records from the local Ridgecrest library that she thought looked appropriate for kids. My sister and I looked through the stack until.....Apostrophe! We looked at each other in shock: Mom brought home a ZAPPA record! At that time, only kids with hipster bros & sis's had heard his records. We knew the rumours: he talked about "naughty" things on his records! Was mom "letting her hair down"? No. She just thought that "the guy on the record cover looks like a jazz musician with a sense of humor", and "the song titles are funny".
Cool! Diane & I ran to the record player & were therein initiated into the universe of Frank Zappa. Of course we giggled through the obligatory scatology of "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" & the adventures of Nanook, but there were other songs here that made some slowly emerging gears in my 11 year old head start to turn. What was so important about "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast"? What was "Cosmik Debris", and why was the man "jiving" him with it? Why did I like the instrumental "Apostrophe", and why did I feel in my gut that it was different somehow that other rock solos? Why did the man have the argument with the dog after the discussion of the importance of personal hygene in "Stink Foot"? My pre-adolescent brain began to burn with one of the most subversive things that rock n' roll ever did to kids. Sex? No (well, okay, maybe a little..). Drugs? No.
The frightening answer was......questions!! I was beginning to THINK FOR MYSELF, stimulated by Zappa's imaginative absurdity!!
Now, as an adult, I 've figured out those answers. "St. Alfonzo's" is a satire about religious hypocrisy & behaivior.
"Cozmik Debris" is a stab at mocking the "new age", and its voodoo b.s. "Apostrophe" is a solo in the Lydian mode, highly unusual. And the dog & the man were arguing about semantics.
Thanks, Frank, for making this guy think. Too bad, other adults didn't get warped like I did.
It's not too late. Buy Apostrophe.
Free Music Review: The best introduction to the zany wild world of Frank Zappa.
Hit: 5 Stars
With over 80 albums, 20 live releases, and tons of archive concerts, it can be a little overwhelming for someone wanting to be introduced to the crazy world of Frank Zappa. But I think if you're gonna start somewhere, you should start with the most accessible & best albums he ever made, Overnite Sensation, and especially, Apostrophe. Both of these albums contain everything great about Zappa: The quirky humor, the ridiculous instrumental passages, the blistering jams & guitar solos, and the overall fantastic musicianship of his big band.
With this album and Overnite Sensation, Frank Zappa became a household name; the freaky long-haired daddy with a strange sense of humor and a love of all things quirky. With this album, Zappa tackles the over-indulgent song cycles of progressive rock bands, and turns it into something over-the-top, and yet at the same time, catchy and poppy. The Yellow Snow cycle contains some of the funniest lyrics you'll ever hear, and at the same time, it's instantly recognizable. Zappa goes on about an Eskimo named Nanook whose mother always warned him not to eat the yellow snow, but one day he witnessed a strictly commercial fur trapper beat up his favorite baby seal with a lead filled snow shoe, so he picked up some yellow snow and rubbed it into the fur trapper's eyes whereupon the latter went blind, and then he got angry and did likewise to Nanook, and then suddenly he remembered an old legend that said if Nanook rubbed your eyes with yellow snow, you should cross the tundra in search of the parish of St Alfonzo where Father O'Blivion bakes his incredible pancakes and...well, you get the idea.
Along with that, there's some fantastic music to go along. The fusion-rock of Cosmik Debris, the free-form jamming of Apostrophe, the doo-wop parody of Uncle Remus, and the dark funk of Stink Foot...it's all over the map, but it never loses your attention or makes you scratch your head, unlike previous Zappa albums. This is the first one where everything clicks.
If you're interested in this side of Zappa's work, check out Overnite Sensation, the album previous to this one. It contains Zappa's best known song, Camarillo Brillo. Check it out if you're a fan of the bizarre.