Frank Zappa – The best band you never heard in your live - 1

[Roland Bru]

The title refers to the fact, explained in the liner notes, that the band ‘self-destruted halfway during the tour, and did not ever finish it. It’s also indicative of the quality Frank knew he had when he assembled these musicians. From a technical perspective these are some of the best players in the business, tackling some of the most difficult tunes ever devised for pop concerts. Add some great lyrics (satire, political humor, whatever) and you have a great document of an unforgettable tour. The 1988 tour was to be Franks last live tour, and yielded three albums. Apart from this one, Broadway the hard way and Make a jazz noise here were released, plus some tunes on the YCDTOSA series (you figure out what it stands for, and then buy all 6 volumes).

Highlights on this album are Cosmic debris, Zomby woof (amazingly complex!), Bolero and Stairway to heaven (if only for the curiosity value), The torture never stops and generally all the songs with lyrics that relate to Jim Swaggart, an evangelist who around that time was somewhat damaged because of extramarital affairs with prostitutes. Zappa is not for the faint-hearted and few people like everything Zappa ever did (which is a lot, I own some 80 cd’s by him). The best band you never heard in your life is a nice introduction to Zappa, one of his best bands and a nice overview of his work through the decades.