Freak Out was a conceptual masterpiece…. [It] served as a living testament to L.A. freakdom, a truly honest work…. It captured the essence of the American Experience with songs like "Who Are the Brain Police."… (p. 60)

Freak Out also had some outrageous parodies of Fifties rhythm and blues tunes with "Go Cry on Somebody Else's Shoulder."… The songs on the first record dealt for the most part with common reality. The pieces of extended music on the second record were unheard of during that impoverished period of rock and roll imagination.

Side Three of Freak Out contained two memorable compositions: "Trouble Coming Every Day," a song about the Watts riots … and "Help I'm a Rock," a stomp for L.A. freakdom. (pp. 60-1)

[Absolutely Free] was filled with images of Americana all reversed. It contained many of Zappa's classics…. (p. 75)

Zappa's themes key in to the later...