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If you need a fun afternoon with the 60s there's no better choice than Frank Zappa! And with a discography of over 62 albums, where does one begin? Well, you start at the beginning, of course, with Freak Out!, the début studio album by The Mothers of Invention [not technically by Zappa and not the actual first album by Zappa himself - he's done film soundtracks, and even was arrested on "conspiracy to commit pornography" when an undercover vice squad cop engaged him in producing a score for a stag party]. Often billed as a satirical concept album on American pop culture [and the "freak scene" of LA], in my opinion, it's actually a well-executed distortion of popular music at the time as well [there are plenty of stylistic and even lyrical references there], which makes this experimental rock release a very enjoyable listen. It was also the very first 2x12" release [beat Dylan by a month], clocking in at an hour in length, with fifteen tracks of mixed R&B, doo-wop, experimental rock, and, more importantly, some musique concrète [Zappa was a big fan of modern classical and avant-garde composers, such as Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varèse]. I love that, although The Mothers are definitely serious about their music [all that dissonance and shifting time signatures are not an easy feat], the approach appears to be tongue-in-cheek, with off-tune vocals, ridiculous lyrics, and playful themes - an "antithesis of teen-idol bands" if you will. I think the mid-60s are finally ripe for truly free expression in alt/art rock - and it all started with Zappa!