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Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10

Frank Zappa's follow-up to his hugely experimental Freak Out! is even more experimental! ... I MEAN! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS??? ... DO YOU THINK ANYBODY CARES WHAT EXPERIMENTERS DO??? WE JUST WANT TO HEAR GOOD MUSIC, FREAK!

Well ... actually, he manages to be more experimental and more bizarre while still pretty much keeping the same level of entertainment-value. There's just so much goofiness and so much weirdness that it's difficult to restrain your chuckles through this. ... This album is oft-criticized for not keeping up with Zappa's uncanny sense of melodic talent from Freak Out! ... but I contend that I don't care about it as long as the songs are still quite entertaining. I would have been disappointed if the songs were simply experimental and utterly boring or nauseating (just take a look at what I thought of "Sister Ray" by The Velvet Underground). Some of these songs might not have great melody, but ... they're still vastly entertaining injected fully with Zappa's amusing personality and silly social satire.

Besides which, "Status Back Baby" has a great melody! ... It would have worked perfectly, if it were played straight, in a Broadway play of some sort. ... "America Drinks and Goes Home," the final album on the track, has another great melody (and, behold, Zappa sings almost normal there)! ... Perhaps the pinnacle of the album's weirdness, however, lies in the 7-minute "Brown Shoes Don't Make It." ... I attempted to describe the whole freaking thing in the track review! It's certainly dizzying!

I shall conclude that this album is so bizarre and so wonderful that one listen won't do it. I listened to it (approximately) four times, and it feels like I haven't even scratched its surface! ........ Many great years of listening ahead, I'm sure ........ but first, the rest of Zappa's discography. ... This might take awhile ...

Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10 (Much more experimental than Freak Out! and it manages to be just as entertaining! ... I'm only at reviewing Zappa's second album, and it's already safe to say that he's my hero.)

Average Song Score: 9.1 (Most of these songs are 100 percent weird and experimental ... and most of them are entertaining, too!)

Album Tilt: 9.0 (A crazy experience! ... Hopefully, you'll enjoy it, too.)

Artist Rating: 9.5 (Not everybody can be a such a crass experimenter and be so freaking entertaining at it!)

Track Reviews

Plastic People 9.5/10

INNNNNSAAAAAAANEEEEEEEEE!!!! It's based on "Louie Louie." The song goes intermittently between song, talking, goofy talking, goofy song ... I don't even want to attempt to describe this. There's a lot of stuff in here!! Yup, this is classic Zappa. It's bizarre and very entertaining to listen to.

The Duke of Prunes 9/10

This song always makes me giggle (in a very girly fashion)! Musically, it's a lethargic song ... but Zappa gives a sloppy operatic vocal performance ... That's really the only reason to listen to this. ... And the lyrics are hysterical as usual!

Amnesia Vivace 4/5

...A very weird operatic song! ... It's kind of like an instrumental interlude from a tragedy piece in a musical ... except it's on crack. It's only a minute long, though.

The Duke Regains His Chops 8.5/10

The same song as "The Duke of Prunes," except there's more instrumentals to it and it's a bit smoother. The end of this is where it really gets crazy. It's not very pretty but it's totally off-color ... and totally entertaining.

Call Any Vegetable 9.5/10

Now, the subject of the album turns from dried fruit to vegetables. ... This is more of an actual congruent *song* than the previous songs, or at the beginning of it at least. It's like a normalish 60s psychedelic song. And then it turns into a really bizarre classical music thing with a bizarre woodwind instrument doing something completely off-kilter with a clavinet (or something) ... and, of course, Zappa's silly singing.

Invocation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin 13/15

Maybe the most normal song in here! ... Surprisingly, I'm saying that even though this is a 7-minute instrumental, avant-garde song! ... Isn't it usually the other way around??? ... Well, that's Frank Zappa for you. This is completely unemotional, but the instrumentals in here are mesmerizing and the virtuosos are pretty dang entertaining. I can't help but to love this freaking soooooongggggggg!

Soft Cell Conclusion 9/10

Hah!! A very goofy background (involving a silly chant) and Frank Zappa ranting about vegetables ... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It's certainly ugly, but ... this thing is freaking entertaining. ... This dude is funny. ... And those orgasm noises from Freak Out! almost return ... eek!

Big Leg Emma 9.5/10

...Hey, this is a normalish song! Sounds like a lethargic version of Popular 60s Tune with a jazzy influence. ... I mean, this is still utterly insane, but ... it sounds more congruent than the other songs. Plus, the melody is catchy, and I really enjoy that horn in here. ... So, I think this song goes to further prove that they are phenomenal musicians ... they're not just being goofy because they don't have talent.

Why Don'tcha Do Me Right 8.5/10

Um ... I really enjoy the electric guitar stuff in here. But this song is exceedingly normal for Frank Zappa. ... And ... it's just not that enjoyable, I think. ... I contend that the electric guitar makes this song more than worth listening to.

America Drinks 8/10

Okay, the complete weirdness is back ... Wooohooo!! And ... in fact, I think this song just might be a little too weird. He must have been making up for lost time! There's a jazzy cymbal beat going though this constantly and then a completely unrelated bizarre Zappa melody going in the foreground ... and then there's carnival-on-crack music.

Status Back Baby 10/10

YEAH!!!!! ... Now this is a song that I like! It's a very theatric sounding song ... the melody is pretty dang catchy and well-written ... and the singing is pretty good (for Zappa) escalating into some non-annoying screams at parts. ... The instrumental interludes are completely interesting and don't even hint that they will be boring. One of my favorite songs from the album! Easily!

Uncle Barrie's Farm 9/10

Sort of related to "Status Back Baby" song, except it's not as catchy. But that doesn't matter. The total weirdness and goofiness of the song is entertaining enough to make up for that! ... Mannnnn, this stuff is so wonderfully craaaazyyyyyyyyyy...

Son of Suzy Creamcheese 8/10

...Uh oh... Suzy's back already ... It sounds like it revisits the old "Louie Louie" song again. Very silly, indeed, but ... not really so enjoyable this time, I'm sad to say. The lyrics are certainly fun to listen to, though!

Brown Shoes Don't Make it 15/15

It's another 7-minute song, but it's not an avant-garde song again! ... This song contains about a billion little snippets of music in it ... Some of it is regular(ish) 60s rock ... then it goes theatrical kind of like "Status Back Baby" and then there's a really goofy opera thing ... and then ... um ... train noises ... and then ... a sort of minimalistic, modern-classical opera bit ... AND THE SONG ISN'T EVEN HALF OVER YET! ... Now, we just get weird Zappa songs ... rather avant-garde at this point. ... Then it sounds kind of like musichall on crack (or something). And then there's some weird movie music! ... And somebody flickers that off. The some really drunk nightclub jazz music. ... And then some drinking music ... um ... and the drunks are singing it themselves. ... And now there's space music with some spooky, echoing talking. And now an upbeat 20s jazz song (that sounds almost normal except for the lyrics)! And now there's a strange classical music type thing ... um ... And then it goes all upbeat. Like it was a *real* musical, almost. ... And that's it! It fades out! We're done! ... I hope I did an adequate job explaining it all to you. (I did it in "real time," you know.) ... This was a really weird and completely satisfying musical excursion into I don't know what!

America Drinks & Goes Home 10/10

Hey! Apart from the peculiar background noises of people talking and screaming ... and these clicking noises ... but this is a NORMAL SONG!!! Zappa gives a real vocal performance here and the song is a perfectly catchy and legitimate lounge song! ... And then Zappa talks through the end of it (like a lounge singer would) to the audience and stuff. This is a very appropriate album closer ... what a corker!

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