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.

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!

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!

On one hand, listening to this album in 2005 it makes me sad to think that so many of the issues, if not the personalities mentioned, are still topical today! Oh, Frank! Where are you, now that we need you more than ever! Getting off track a bit, listen to the "Central Scrutinizer" intro on "Joe's Garage" - the bit about enforcing the laws that haven't been passed yet, and about "cruel and inhuman punishments are being described in tiny paragraphs so as not to conflict with the constitution". Frank's dystopian vision is now reality!

This album has his most direct social commentary, and he names names. This has the effect of dating the material. Also honestly the song quality itself is a bit weak. These are all message songs. Stripped of their message they don't really stand up to Zappa's better stuff. He does, however dish it out to all sides, wherever he sees stupidity and hypocrisy. His targets range from right-wing bible thumpers to Jesse Jackson, to depraved old rich men in high places with dirty secrets.

I do like the inclusion of "Murder by Numbers" - very topical and humorous (and a good song). Also, this WAS the album that introduced me to "Stolen Moments" way back then.

By the way, I remember when I saw Zappa on the '88 tour, the encore was a meddley of Beatles songs with new Swaggart-related lyrics - "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" became "Floozie and a Whore With Herpes" - absolutely hilarious! I don't think he ever released that (a great omission - copyright issues evidently). If you ever find that, pick it up!

There are two other albums from this last tour. The best of the 3 is [[Make a Jazz Noise Here]], which is more focused on his instrumental experimentation.

I have to respectfully disagree with all the reviewers praising this album. Of the 3 albums documenting FZ's 1988 tour (along with "Make a Jazz Noise Here" and "The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life") this is the worst. In fact, I would put it at the bottom end of Frank's entire catalogue.

There are a number of reasons why this album is largely unsatisfying. First off is the sound. Frank was always on the cutting edge of musical technology, which means that this and other 80s albums make extensive use of synthesizers and other electronic gadgets from the decade. Oddly enough, this makes the album sound much more dated than his work from the 60s and 70s. The synthetic sound just doesn't carry the same kind of power as analog instruments, and the music sounds rather passionless as a result.

Second is the humor. This is Zappa by way of Dr. Demento (in fact, I know that "Elvis Has Just Left The Building" among other songs from this album were staples on the Doc's novelty radio show). Zappa's musicianship and brilliant compositional skills take a back seat to his self-indulgent humor, which isn't even among his best humor anyway. It's not that I disagree with his politics, but I prefer the Zappa that foregrounds music, not jokey lyrics. Remember in 200 Motels when the band complained about having to play "Zappa's comedy music"? Well, this helps you understand them a little better.

The music itself is poor in some spots. "Any Kind of Pain" is truly a low-point in Frank's songwriting, a barely tolerable soft-rock "parody" that sounds too much like authentic soft rock! There are some good tracks, however, such as "Stolen Moments" and an excellent solo on "Outside Now." "Murder By Numbers" featuring Sting is also good fun. But overall, they don't do enough to save this album. The only reason that I own it is because I'm a hardcore Zappaphile and completist. 3 stars is, honestly, a generous appraisal; this would be max 2 stars if it was any other artist but Zappa. Only those who must own all of Zappa's works, or those who are self-professed fans of, ugh, "novelty" music should pick this one up.