The Mothers of Invention – We’re Only In It For the Money Verve V6 5045X (1968)
This is hands-down the best album to come from The Mothers of Invention (it is often inexplicably filed under bandmember Frank Zappa‘s name in many record stores). It’s the one time their goofy, satirical sense of humor materialized on record in a way that both stayed true to its nonsensical sentiments and coalesced into a consistently moving body of songs.
In a way, this is the group’s Triumph des Willens [Triumph of the Will]. If that seems an odd comparison, know that the cynical attitude here is kind of what allows the band to forge on. The title may be “We’re Only In It For the Money” and that is supposed to be a joke, but aren’t they in it for the money in the end? The way the group skewers Yippie/Hippie culture is kind of an attack on what was the greatest threat to concentrated elite control of society since the labor movement and the associated threat of the collapse of capitalism from the Bolshevik Revolution through the Great Depression. Anyway, just like Triumph of the Will, this is still a great album because of the total conviction of what it is about, and the excellent execution.