Apostrophe

Editorial Reviews
Jim Minge, The Reader, Omaha, NE
Apostrophe should be proud of their self-titled Bow-Lit release. The set reflects the appreciation of jam bands of the 70's. Apostrophe's music has an earthy, peaceful vibe.

Album Description
Debut release by Omaha, NE classic rock influenced band.

Tracks:

Don't Eat The Yellow Snow
Nanook Rubs It
St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast
Father O'Blivion
Cosmik Debris
Excentrifugal Forz
Apostrophe
Uncle Remus
Stink-Foot

Amazon.com essential recording

Thanks to the surprise radio airplay of "Don't Eat that Yellow Snow," Apostrophe introduced a whole new audience to the music of Frank Zappa in the early '70s. Like its companion set, Over-Nite Sensation, this album found Zappa producing highly polished jazz-rock, mixing tales of absurd characters with musical showmanship and snarling guitar work. The first half of the album is a sort of mini-concept album, relating the adventures of an Eskimo named Nanook, and the second half features such Zappa classics as "Cosmik Debris" and "Stink-Foot." --Andrew Boscardin

Customer Reviews:

Apostrophe (').......2007-05-29

Frank Zappa-Apostrophe(') *****

The first half of the album is sort of a concept album, well a mini-concept album about an eskimo named Nanook and all of his wild adventures. The second half of the album just plays out like a well polished jazz record with satire thrown in for lyrical content. Filled with some of the most outragiously satirical lyrics in Zappas cannon, and some of the most amazing guitar work ever heard or played mixed with some of the strangest sounds ever recorded but by this time the world had come to expect that from the genius that is Frank Zappa, and some how all of this madness managed to become a hit album. How you ask well lets see.

By this time Zappa had earned much respect in the musician comunity and a large fan base because of his humor. By the time Apostrophe(') was released in 1974 the world had began to realize that listening to a Zappa album is like whitnessing a shock and awe mission and many were curious about it. With the large success and suprize radio air time of 'Dont Eat The Yellow Snow' Apostrophe managed to become a gold album, Zappas first of his career. The song had catchy lyrics, and a great melody, and not to mention the amazing guitar playing through out.

The first two tracks 'Dont Eat The Yellow Snow' and 'Nanook Rubs It' are combined together as a single just title 'Dont Eat The Yellow Snow' which is another reason why this album is essntial and so cool because this is the way that it was ment to be heard.

'Nanook Rubs It' is a bluesy song about the murdering of Nanooks favorite baby seal. 'St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast' plays out like some strange love at first sight with Tina Turner singing backup. 'Father O'Blivion' is a fushion jazz track that is just so out of this world that it must be heard to apreciate, this track ends the mini-concept album.

The second half of the album opens with the Zappa classic 'Cosmik Debris.' This song has gone on to be a fan favorite appearing on almost all of Zappas post human compalation albums. 'Excentrifugal Forz' is just insane. Must be heard, and is truly one of the best songs that Zappa has ever written. The title track 'Apostrohe(')' is an amazing insrumental that contains some of the very best guitar playing ever recorded. 'Uncle Remus' starts out as a old time piano ballad, somewhat wild west-esq. Then it transforms into an all out guitar assualt on the ears. 'Stink Foot' is a song that not many feel is a highlight but that is just wrong, the song takes up a fifth of the 32 minute album, it is vital to the album and is perfect for closing an already great album.

Aside from Zappas guitar playing which is amazing and prevalant through out the album he also wrote everything he himself did not play. All the background music is of his own writing. All the Xylaphone, drum, ect. are all written by Zappa so not only was he playing and singing along but conductiong as well.

Apostrophe(') is an amazing album that no Zappa fan can not own and still call themselves a Zappa fan. This is essential to all jazz and rock collections!

Must have for Zappa fans.......2007-05-08

Great album! A must have for Zappa fans.
Full versions not available on greatest hits album.

Welcome to the airwaves, Frank!.......2007-04-03

"Apostrophe" was the first time a lot of people heard any Zappa material, as no radio station would play Zappa's music, with or without The Mothers Of Invention, and it put some people off, with the song about "Yellow Snow," but as usual, the absurd lyrics and story belie some very serious musicianship.

The relaxed atmosphere of this release makes for some very easy listening, and I would call it a jazz record, even with the heavily distorted guitar work. The slow bass lines and light drumming, for the most part, set the backdrop for the soloists to play some blistering arrangements, and even the rhythm section goes into overdrive here and there, see "Saint Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast/Father O'Blivion" sequence for comfirmation of this. At times, the material can be a little suggestive, but self-censorship, the only censorship I support, ensures a "clean" listening experience. The live version of this piece, in Volume One of the "You Can't Do That On Stage" series, gives the listener the uncut version of the words and concepts as originally created.

Of course, there is some progressive, foreward-looking material, as in the otherworldly "Excentrigugal Forz," and free-form jamming in the title track, where Jack Bruce plays a typical Cream-style bass solo to Tony Duran's rhythm guitar arrangement. Follow this with Mother Superior himself, FZ's solo, and Jim Gordon's drum solo, and a free-for-all fade out, and you have some intense performing here.

"Uncle Remus" gives this an ethnic feel, with the soulful back-up vocals and George Duke's beautiful piano playing, and of course, the jagged-edged guitar solo Zappa was so fond of at the time, and you have a minor masterpiece.

Silly stories are told in this record, as with the opening suite of "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow/Nanook Rubs It/St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast/Father O'Blivion," the dark and sinister sounding "Cosmik Debris," and the completely inane "Stinkfoot." A song about foot-odor, one would think, could never be taken seriously, but it is given a serious treatment, with a vamp to jam on, a double-tracked guitar solo (really cool trick, feeding the same signal into two amplifiers with a dry, clean sound on one channel, and a wah pedal in the other, played on one instrument, but splitting the signal to make it sound like dual guitarists), and just as good a production as any of his other compositions. Yes, it's silly, and kind of dated, but still very enjoyable.

"Apostrophe" is a good, radio-friendly piece of Americana, circa 1974, and an excellent place to start your budding Zappa collection.

True Zappa fans must have!.......2007-03-27

If you want the FULL uncut versions of these songs, you can't buy a "best of" type cd and get the long versions. This is the album that has the FULL length version of Yellow Snow.

an absolute must.......2007-02-27

This CD is to recommend to all the people who still don't know that there has been such an artist called F Zappa : it's an absolute must.

Average customer rating:

You no longer have to choose between Zappa's two best albums

Apostrophe/Over-nite Sensation
Frank Zappa
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000008MLS
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Don't Eat the Yellow Snow
Nanook Rubs It
St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast
Father O'Blivion
Cosmik Debris
Excentrifugal Forz
Apostrophe
Uncle Remus
Stinkfoot
Camarillo Brillo
I'm the Slime
Dirty Love
Fifty-Fifty
Zomby Woof
Dinah-Moe Humm
Montana

Customer Reviews:

You no longer have to choose between Zappa's two best albums.......2004-03-18

The debate seems to be centered on which of Frank Zappa's albums is the best and the choice is between "Apostrophe" and "Over-nite Sensation." But such a debate is moot if you put the two albums on one CD, right? Besides, these albums run a bit short on their own, so putting them together makes sense on that economic level as well.

"Apostrophe," in its own words, "is an album of songs and stories set to music performed for your dining and dancing pleasure." The first four songs are about an Eskimo that almost makes sense, which makes this something of an actual concept album, at least for the first "side" of the record. What I remember is that "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" was my first exposure to the musical stylings of Frank Zappa (my roommate did the "listen to this" bit with me). The best guitar solos are on "Cosmik Debris," "Stink-Foot," and the title cut. The lyrics are perhaps a dark shade of Zappa than you usually find, but it was 1974 and that could explain it right there since you should look for deep, hidden meanings in the songs of Frank Zappa, but just not in any conventional way.

Now, the reason I have this album can easily be explained by quoting the chorus of the first track, "Camarillo Brillo":

She had a snake for a pet
And an amulet
And she was breeding a dwarf
But she wasn't done yet
She had gray-green skin
A doll with a pin
I told her she was awright
But I couldn't come in
(actually, I was very busy then).

The lyrics are what hooked me, but I also like the way George Duke pounds the ivories during that song. Along with "I'm the Slime" and "Dirty Love" I think that the first three tracks on "Overnite Sensation" distill the Zappa essence as well as any comparable set you can find in his entire oeuvre. Perhaps the best proof of this would the anecdotal evidence that this is the album people who only own one Frank Zappa album happen to own. This would make sense since "Overnite Sensation" is probably more rock-oriented than most of Zappa's albums. For songs about in a similar vein, only about an Eskimo, check out "Apostrophe," which was produced in the same time with pretty much the same musicians.

Apostrophe (Limited Edition Japanese Mini LP Sleeve CD)
Average customer rating:

Apostrphe (')

Genius, pure genius!

Apostrophe (Limited Edition Japanese Mini LP Sleeve CD)
Frank Zappa
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music
General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000A2H59M
Release Date: 2005-07-19

Tracks:

Don't Eat The Yellow Snow
Nanook Rubs It
St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast
Father O'Blivion
Cosmik Debris
Excentrifugal Forz
Apostrophe'
Uncle Remus
Stink-Foot

Album Description

Imported from Japan by Rykodisc

Packaged in deluxe mini-album jacket sleeves, these 10 classic albums by rock legend FRANK ZAPPA are now available as limited edition Japanese Imports! These packages re-create the original vinyl packaging in miniaturized form!

Customer Reviews:

Apostrphe (').......2007-06-05