135. The Mothers of Invention - We're Only in It for the Money

Artist: The Mothers of Invention
Album: We're Only in It for the Money
Year: 1968

We're Only in It for the Money is my second pass at the wild genius of Frank Zappa. I found The Mothers of Invention's Freak Out! to be a pretty awesome send-up of the prevailing styles of the time, a hilarious album that played like satire in the first half before turning weird and experimental the second half. The second half didn't work too well for me, but the first half was positively awesome, providing a clearly jumping off point for bands like Ween who have thrived on faithful satire.

This album, I can't really say I care for too much. It follows kind of a similar formula to the first album, but the satire is either more veiled, less funny, or just flat-out weird. I guess it's a satire of the psychedelic era in general...and in doing so is a wildly psychedelic album itself. "Flower Punk" is pretty funny, kind of a cross between The Doors' "Light My Fire" and Hendrix' "Hey Joe," serving as a mockery of the hippie lifestyle. But really, it's one of those songs that you don't really ever need to hear more than once. Which is the impression I got from most of the songs here.

I don't know, maybe this is an album that rewards repeat listens, but for me it was far inferior to Freak Out! I'm not ready to give up on Zappa but for me this is a step in the wrong direction.

Rating: Not worth a listen