"Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention" is a 1985 album by Frank Zappa. The album was released in two slightly different versions, one in the US and another in Europe. The title of the album is a reference to the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center), a lobby group advocating for warning stickers on albums they deemed offensive, as well as a nod to Zappa's former band, the Mothers of Invention.
The album's release followed issues with the distribution of Zappa’s previous album Thing-Fish (1984), which was refused distribution by MCA Records, Zappa's former distributor. As a result, Zappa struck a deal with EMI Records, allowing the albums Them or Us and Thing-Fish to be distributed in the United States through Capitol Records.
To accompany these albums, Zappa included a "warning/guarantee" on the inner sleeves, which reflected his stance against censorship, particularly in relation to the PMRC and other conservative groups. The statement decried efforts to suppress rock and roll and defended the right to free expression, calling out religious and political organizations for trying to limit artistic freedom. It also poked fun at the idea that certain types of music could lead to "eternal torment" and criticized the growing influence of censorship in American culture.
The liner notes also included a quote from Senator Fritz Hollings, who had made controversial remarks during the PMRC hearings, and a reminder from Zappa for his fans to register to vote. The US version of the album featured the track "Porn Wars," a sound collage that included excerpts from the PMRC hearings. This track was omitted from the European versions and replaced with three other pieces: "I Don’t Even Care," a co-write with Johnny "Guitar" Watson, and two instrumental tracks, "One Man, One Vote," composed using Zappa's Synclavier, and "H.R. 2911," an instrumental remix of "Porn Wars," without the PMRC hearing samples and dialogue.
The album's distribution on CD followed a similar pattern. The EMI CD, which was paired with Jazz from Hell (1986), only included the European version. The original Rykodisc CDs featured a combination of the European tracks, with a shuffled track order, and the 1995 Rykodisc remaster added the third European track to the same shuffled sequence.
