Freak Out!  by The Mothers Of Invention

In 1966, Frank Zappa and his then-band, the Mothers Of Invention, released the double album Freak Out! and missed by just a week going down in rock music history as the first to release a double rock album, as Bob Dylan had beaten them to it with Blonde On Blonde. The album's producer was Tom Wilson, the same producer who had worked with Dylan up to Blonde On Blonde (!)

This first discographic effort by the Mothers Of Invention was an extremely experimental effort for its time. The album combines blues rock with jazz and psychedelia, while there are also samples of progressive rock in the sense of the long durations of two of the three songs on the second vinyl of the original edition. Another characteristic of Frank Zappa, of course, is the lyrics he writes—lyrics full of innuendo, caustic and ironic lyrics, humorous lyrics aimed at commenting on the troubles of California and the United States.

Freak Out! was never a great commercial success, but over the years it managed to secure a place among the most innovative albums of all time. The album reached No. 130 on the Billboard chart the year after its release.