musicbriefs
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The Mothers of Invention

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2
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10:19
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21 min
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10:44

We’re Only in It for the Money

The Mothers of Invention · 1968

We’re Only in It for the Money is a 1968 album by The Mothers of Invention, recorded in New York between March and October 1967. It features tape splicing, speed manipulation, and layered vocals applied to psychedelic rock, musique concrète, and orchestral fragments. Its satire targets both mainstream politics and the commodification of the counterculture. Zappa produced it alone — the first time — with Tom Wilson as executive producer. Its cover parodies Sgt. Pepper’s. It was selected for the National Recording Registry in 2005.

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9:54

Freak Out!

The Mothers of Invention · 1966

Freak Out! is a satirical, structurally ambitious double album that uses studio craft, quotation, and genre collision to dissect American pop culture. Its power lies in how deliberately every decision — from personnel to sequencing to censorship — serves that critique.