Were only in it for the Monay

We're only in it for the money

Zappa's mocking attack of the "summer of love" and its adherents' bloated self-importance might seem dated to some (I still find it very funny), but the satire of "We're Only in it for the Money" isn't really the point. Its strength lies in Zappa's command in the studio and his ability to piece together a huge patchwork of sounds into one wonderfully varied 39-minute work.

The 1968 release was Zappa's answer to the Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," which he lampoons on the cover. The Beatles' work had in turn been inspired by the Mothers' "Freak Out." Whatever the difference between "Money" and the Lennon and McCartney's work, though, the two albums share one similarity: they both surprise with sound. Zappa's work includes patches of melody played backward, spoken words, doo-wop, surf music, hard-edged guitar, and a note held at the end of the tone poem "The Chrome-Plated Megaphone of Destiny," which ends the album and provides Zappa's final comment to the closer of "Sergeant Pepper's," the then-spooky "Day in the Life."

The album nearly unrelentingly taunts the "flower power" generation, but its tones run deep. There is anger at the police, real insight into the gaps between parents and kids, and Zappa's ever-present love of plain absurdity. With the "Chrome-Plated Megaphone of Destiny," he reveals his orchestral sense and his willingness to challenge his audience with a thoroughly free work. Zappa never condescended to his audience.

Zappa's music was always a great leavening agent to the reigning pomposities of the day. "We're Only in it for the Money" sears with satire but also amazes with the sound of surprise.

The thing I find most irritating is this attitude that comes across through the words and the music itself (especially the way he uses the xylophone) that seems to be saying it's the most funny, most clever thing ever made. Lines like, "You paint your head/ Your mind is dead/ That's yoooooouuu... American womanhood!" are delivered with this "nya-nya-nya-nya-boo-boo" quality that makes me want to smack the singer. I admit that there are a few segments that have genuine merit from a musical perspective (for example, the piano parts on "Absolutely Free"), but it hardly matters because the presentation is so atrocious. The music may be melodic at times but much of it is simplistic and repetitious. Some of the studio effects might sound kinda cool but in this context they just sound cheesy.

Other annoying things about WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY: Zappa's engineer periodically whispers heavily-echoed narcissistic nonsense throughout the album...croaking frog noises are often heard...sped-up chipmunk voices...backwards guitar and other effects that merely sound like a child goofing off in the studio. If this is supposed to be some sort of commentary on psychedelic pretensions, that notion certainly doesn't make it worth listening to. This being Zappa, there's some disgusting scatological "humor" to be found, both petulant and babyish. The song "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" has lines like, "wizzing and pasting and pooting through the day" and, "all the while on the shelf in the shed/ Kenny's little creatures on display." "Ronnie saves his `noomies' on a window in his room/ A marble to be seen/ dysentery green." If kiddie gross-out humor is your thing then Zappa is definitely for you.