Broadway the Hard Way [LIVE] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Frank Zappa

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 2, 1995)
• Original Release Date: October 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live, Original recording remastered
• Label: Zappa Records
• ASIN: B0000009TI
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,024 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

From the Label
Mostly premiere recordings peppered with political commentary. This was the first of a few collections from the epic 1988 tour, and the CD is nearly twice as long as the original album version. Track highlights: "Promiscuous," 'Elvis Has Just Left The Building" and "Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk" -- plus a "Republican medley" including "Dickie's Such an Asshole" and "When the Lie's So Big," plus a few jabs at one Democrat (Jesse Jackson on "Rhymin' Man") for good measure. Guest appearance by Sting on a live version of the Police B-side "Murder By Numbers" (In response to PMRC allegations that this song was written by Satan, Sting is heard to note that "I wrote the fuckin' song!") This earned FZ's 7th and final Grammy nomination (for Best Musical Cast Album).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Angry 80s Activist FZ, November 30, 2000

By	Sir Charles Panther "Life is hard. It's hard... (Alexandria, Virginny, USandA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Overall, a great recording from a fantastic FZ band, clearly the most direct and biting of all of the 80s activist Zappa recordings. No one is spared with conservatives, Republicans, evangelists, Michael Jackson, former Surgeon General Koop, Ronald Reagan (and his entire administration), and Jesse Jackson all becoming targets.

With five horns in support, all of them Mothers veterans, all of the songs are great. That big, fat sound really comes through on the jazz standard "Stolen Moments" and its excellent Walt Fowler trumpet solo. This track segues to a guest appearance by Sting, who takes a direct shot at Jimmy Swaggart, and then performs "Murder By Numbers" with the band providing a smooth jazz backing.

Other great tracks are "Any Kind of Pain," with a fantastic FZ solo; "Elvis Has Just Left the Building" for its great lyrics; "The Untouchables" theme for the anti-Reagan administration rant; "Outside Now" for the extended FZ solo, and; the delightful throwback to the "Fillmore East: June 1971" album with "What Kind of Girl?"

Overall, this is a wonderfully representative live Zappa CD. It captures most of the feel, and definitely the wit and anger of Frank's mid-80s interactions with and responses to his sanctimonious detractors. A must for your Zappa collection, and a great addition to any music lover's collection.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Hard Way indeed, April 18, 2004

By	Patrik Lemberg (Tammisaari Finland) - See all my reviews

There are a lot of new songs on this disc that had not been recorded by Zappa prior to (and naturally not after) his world-tour in 1988 (his last). This is the first out of three albums ["Broadway the Hard Way", "The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life", and "Make a Jazz Noise Here"] to be released with material only from the (4+ month long) 1988 tour. It generally features the least amount of guitar-solos of the three, but consists musically of everything from country to jazz. There's even a rap number, which musically (considering it's the late 80's) is pretty up to date.
Incidentally, some numbers from this tour can also be found on "You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore" volumes 4 and 6.
There are no overdubs on this album, but a lot of the songs are cut together, part by part, from different shows. "Why Don't You Like Me?", for instance, is cut together (at seven points) from four different shows, and the 9+ minute "Jesus Thinks you're A Jerk" is cut together (at 22 points), from 12 different shows. At times the cutting is very noticeable (and hurts the rhythm section), but for the most part it works. There are only six songs that are performed uncut from beginning to end. One of them is Sting's "Murder by Numbers", performed by the man himself - yes, during a concert in Chicago on March 3rd, Sting joined Zappa and his band on stage, and sang this number. What is amazing about this band is that they knew 190+ songs of which Zappa could call off any at any point. During the tour the band performed 116 songs in front of an audience - here are 17. A warning, though: You may have heard "Why don't you like me?" and "What Kind of Girl?" before without knowing it; they're renamed (because of new lyrics) versions of "Tell Me You Love Me" and "What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are?"
Five years ago, when this albums was new to me--and I didn't know anything about the recording-details--I'd have given it 5/5 stars. Now, after an endless amount of careful listening I can't say I'd feel comfortable giving it more than 3.5 or 4 ...hard to decide, because it IS a great band!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 10 stars!, October 19, 2003

By	K. Tucker "i need sleep" (insomnia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is THE best live album ever! Zappa does it all here, great playing, humor, political commentary. Sting even stops by to sing a song from his days with The Police, "Murder by Numbers". A great version of "Outside Now" from Joe's Garage Acts 2-3 is aslo here. Overall this album is in my top 3 Zappa albums, I love every second of it! Buy it NOW!! You will not be sorry!