ALBUM REVIEW: The Mothers of Invention - The Grand Wazoo

    In 1969, Frank Zappa took a new and exciting turn with his career when he began to explore the world of jazz - his Hot Rats album from that year remains a touchstone of jazz rock, and is still one of his most highly beloved records to this day with its creative textures and expansive sounds. Well, in 1972, Zappa took what he begun with Hot Rats and expanded on it with two more releases, creating a pseudo-trilogy of jazz rock albums - the largely instrumental format also served as an important time period of convalescence for Zappa, as in December of 1971 he was attacked by a fan at the Rainbow Theater, being left with various broken bones and a vocal range that dropped a third in an attack so severe that the band thought Zappa had been killed. While The Grand Wazoo carries on Zappa's foray into jazz rock, this album sees him taking influence from aspects of the avant-garde and big band jazz music, which only helps to accentuate the eccentricities of the music. In many ways more expensive and bizarre than a lot of the material on Hot Rats, The Mothers' first proper studio recording after being killed off in 1969 is as inventive as most of their albums - offbeat in many regards, but showcasing a surprising amount of technicality and vibrance under the zany coat of paint that adorns it. It's a real triumph in the Mothers of Invention camp, filled with fascinating musicality and the occasional humor that is oh so crucial for Zappa, all of which comes together to make for a fantastical record experience.

     Frank Zappa was always pretty good at the whole jazzy thing, and this much was evident even before his landmarking Hot Rats album - if albums like Uncle Meat or Lumpy Gravy are any indication, this was just the way the wind was blowing for Frank. Nevertheless, on this third album Zappa hones his skills even further with his compositions, which range in variety from the epic scope of the off-kilter and lively title track to the short and sweet energy of "Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus" to the surprisingly gentle and beautiful album closer "Blessed Relief", the scope of Zappa's skill is on full power throughout, especially as a composer and arranger - it's an album like this that really amazes you when you learn that Frank was completely self-taught as a composer, which only makes a composition like "The Grand Wazoo" all the more fantastical. These compositions are only accentuated by the skill of the musicians on the display across the record, which features a much larger ensemble in comparison to the earlier Hot Rats; this is the part where I mention that the Mothers label is a bit misleading, even though some featured musicians would later become a part of the group's 1973-1975 period. The resulting large sessions create a record that sounds masterfully constructed and produced, and just as flavorful as any jazz rock from the period; one online comment speculated that the record could be a slight dig at groups that utilized big band influence in less sophisticated manners (such as Chicago). While that could be the case, I mostly think that Zappa is showcasing some real skill on this record as an arranger and composer. This is also without mention his own soloing ability, where Frank yet again shows some immense work on the six string, only adding to the excellence.

    The Grand Wazoo is also so strong mainly because many of the songs are fantastic, and make for a well-oiled and moving record from start to finish - sure, a song like "Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus" is a little weaker than the surrounding tracks, but to call it bad is a bit facetious for the sake of this review. Most of the album rises to the occasion with its walls of sound and ideas, and undoubtedly the shining example of this is the expansive title track that closes the first half - a 13-minutes suite that rises and sinks and sometimes verges into walls of cacophony before falling back to normalcy. It's excellence and scope is up there with a track like "The Gumbo Variations" on Hot Rats, and it's easily the album's defining moment. The second half is no slouch, though, with the back-to-back ending punch of "Eat That Question", an equally vibrant 6-and-a-half minute excursion, and the surprisingly beautiful "Blessed Relief" that ends the record proper - from a personality as satirical and music as eclectic as Zappa, it was a genuine surprise to hear this gentle piece, but a very pleasant one. "Eat That Question" almost feels like a continuation of ideas from the title track, complete with riffing organ parts and some of the best soloing from Frank Zappa on the entire album - he is electric on this track, and it stands as the album's energetic peak. "For Calvin (And His Next Two Hitch-Hikers)" is the only song with actual vocals, albeit not from Zappa due to his still recovering from the '71 injury, and it's an expectedly quirky moment from Zappa, perfectly in-line with some of the Mothers' material. It all comes together into a well-honed fusion experience, and one that does wonders in picking up right where Zappa left off.

    While somewhat separated from the actual Mothers of Invention group, which would see a proper return in 1973, The Grand Wazoo manages to fit solidly within their lineage, while also proving a successful expansion on Frank Zappa's previous jazz ambitions. It's bigger in scope, more zany in arrangements, and dripping with life throughout all of the compositions, even at its worst. What would follow for Zappa is an era of art rock and progressive rock, and a reintroduction of the satirical heart of the Mothers that really signals their return to the studio. Nevertheless, The Grand Wazoo probably stands as the best Mothers album at this point in their catalog, endlessly creative and musically rewarding through and through, and bearing the singular mark of Zappa at his creative prime.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to The Grand Wazoo