Museum Musica

USA, 1979, rock opera / comedy rock / experimental rock

Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage: If you’re going to be self-indulgent, you better be damn good at it or your art is going to fail spectacularly. Zappa is damn good, and he’s so damn self-indulgent on this triple album. So what’s the story here? Well, it’s about Joe starting a band in his garage, but he gets in trouble with the law for noise. Joe can’t get over Mary (the Catholic girl) or Lucille (the girl at the hamburger joint). He’s been used by heartless Catholic sluts, so he looks for love (and humiliation) in the arms of a sexbot. This is the conclusion of Joe’s story, after he gets out of prison for fucking a sexbot to death and not being able to pay the company for the damage he’d caused their product. In this dystopian world, Zappa shows us his persecution complex: a world where music is outlawed (like that would ever happen!). So all Joe’s got is the music in his mind, and therein he plays his last guitar solo…and this is Zappa at his best. I’ve got a real love-hate thing for Zappa. He’s an utter douche (just watch Baby Snakes ffs), but he writes such great music. This album needs to be right up there with Part I. One simply cannot stop Joe’s story with his heart and mind broken by cruel, cruel Lucille. Parts II & III are just as worthy of attention.