At some point, I think all of us eventually asked the question, “What the hell is he thinking?” An album named after a four-syllable word for a curlicue is not pertinent. Zappa seemed to thrive on confounding the mainstream.

This is Zappa’s eighteenth album (under various guises), and the most ‘popular’ album of his lifetime, which is significant when you consider that he ultimately released hundreds of them. The reason this album survives as a popular classic is because it’s the most perfect expression of Zappa’s dedication to music as a source for satirical expression. “Apostrophe” isn’t thematic (although side one suggests otherwise), but it proves that Zappa, a master of perverse fiction, was genuinely trying to entertain us.

“Apostrophe” was recorded simultaneously with “Over-Nite Sensation” (his second most popular album), so the Mothers of Invention vs. Zappa as a solo artist proved to mean little to his audience. Both albums venture deep into weirdly twisted scenarios that resemble aural cartoons, which is to be expected from the man who once stated that he despised love songs, claiming they were responsible for causing mental health issues by creating “desire for an imaginary situation which will never exist for you.”

Instead of love songs, we are introduced to characters such as St. Alphonso, Father O’Blivion, Uncle Remus and Nanook, with some of the best musicians in the world providing a soundtrack that is as stunning and outrageous as the imaginary characters.

Featured Tracks:

Don't Eat the Yellow Snow

Nanook Rubs It

St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast

Father O'Blivion

Cosmik Debris

Excentrifugal Forz

Apostrophe

Uncle Remus

Stink-Foot

March 1974 - Billboard Charted #10