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Frank Zappa's liner notes for Freak Out! name-checked an enormous breadth of musical and intellectual influences, and he seemingly attempts to cover them all on the second Mothers of Invention album, Absolutely Free. Leaping from style to style without warning, the album has a freewheeling, almost schizophrenic quality, encompassing everything from complex mutations of "Louie, Louie" to jazz improvisations and quotes from Stravinsky's Petrushka. It's made possible not only by expanded instrumentation, but also Zappa's experiments with tape manipulation and abrupt editing, culminating in an orchestrated mini-rock opera ("Brown Shoes Don't Make It") whose musical style shifts every few lines, often in accordance with the lyrical content.
Tracklist
Absolutely Free (#1 In A Series Of UNDERGROUND ORATORIOS)
1 Plastic People 3:42
2 The Duke Of Prunes 2:13
3 Amnesia Vivace 1:01
4 The Duke Regains His Chops 1:52
5 Call Any Vegetable 2:15
6 Invocation & Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin 7:00
7 Soft-Sell Conclusion 1:40
8 Big Leg Emma 2:31
9 Why Don'tcha Do Me Right? 2:37
The M.O.I. American Pageant (#2 In A Series Of UNDERGROUND ORATORIOS)
10 America Drinks 1:53
11 Status Back Baby 2:54
12 Uncle Bernie's Farm 2:10
13 Son Of Suzy Creamcheese 1:34
14 Brown Shoes Don't Make It 7:30
15 America Drinks & Goes Home 2:45