Zappa In New York

This 5 CD set cannot be faulted for the music. The production is simply excellent and the music is fantastic throughout.There is far less repetition as seen on the recent releases Halloween 77 and The Roxy performances. Indeed each of the 5 discs stands up well.Disc 1 is essentially the 1978 second vinyl pressing - not the original uncensored version which was deleted soon after release and which contained Punky’s Whips.Discs 2 to 5 contain various different versions of the above songs as well as songs not having appeared on the previous releases of Zappa in New York.For completists one still needs the 2 CD set of Zappa in New York [All CD versions are the same, though opinions are mixed and the LP is generally considered to sound better, but is shorter!] and an uncensored vinyl copy, if you're a loon.Note too that there are some versions of the songs from Zappa in New York on Läther.Okay, the music is great. But what about the packaging.The tin box is beautiful and might certainly look nice on the shelf alongside the equally large cardboard box in which it comes.But does one really need all this extra packaging? Probably not. Most Zappa fans would be happy to get the discs packed in a simple CD sized card box as was the case with some editions of Shut Up n’ Play Yer Guitar.The card sleeves in which the discs are housed sit rather tightly in the foam cut-out within the tin box and the continued removal and replacement could easily damage them. The same is true of the book. As for the reproduction ticket, this is yet another superfluous gimmick.And so somes the sting, that being the price. All that lovely packaging essentially inflates the cost. When released Amazon were charging nearly £80. For those prepared to wait, perhaps somewhat impatiently, the price eventually dropped. I recently paid £65, but would have preferred the option of simpler packaging for an even greater reduction in price.Of course one could go down the route of a digital download for around third of the price but there are those amongst us who still prefer a hard copy, even if we do back up the sounds in our favourite digital library.So 10 out of 10 for the music. The packaging perhaps deserves a 9 out of 10, but is unnecessary in my opinion and makes the edition way too expensive. If you can afford it I would recommend it. For the cheaper option Amazon do offer a cheaper digital download.

For those bothered by the price, you can purchase ALL of the music officially as a download for less than £20.For everyone else...this is a REALLY beautifully put together package. The manhole/tin looks great. The Beat the Boots type box that the whole thing comes in was a nice surprise too. I love the writing on the top, like it's been hand-written with a marker pen:) The booklet has some brilliant essays by Ruth, Ray and Joe plus some fascinating never before seen photos of the shows and rehearsals taken by Gail. There's a particularly brilliant one of Frank, Ruth and Terry sharing a funny moment during rehearsal. Each card sleeve for the CDs has a different wide shot of the stage from one of the shows. Plus you get a replica ticket as well! So for me, it more than explains why this box is more money than the Roxy box...a lot more work has gone in to it. Assuming of course that the price doesn't escalate beyond £80 again!As for the music? I'm still wading through it all. But the nicest surprise was just how GREAT the original album/mix sounds. Some of these mixes were part of Lather - but here they are significantly improved. Depth, warmth and tons of detail. The mixes of Sofa, Manx, Black Page 2 and Honey are unique to this first CD (unless you have the original vinyl of course). The rest of the set is organised as though it was a complete show, with pretty much nothing from the main album reused ...there is page in the booklet that shows an original setlist and disc 2 basically follows set 1, disc 3 follows set 2 which came after the interval and disc 3 is encores, plus some other encores and one off performances are added throughout. Disc 5 is made up of unused mixes that FZ had made over the years as well as piano versions of the Black Page. One from Tommy Mars and the other recently recorded for the box set by Ruth Underwood.A few initial highlights: there's a great Montana with a funky Zappa solo. A brilliant and weird Pound for a Brown with Zappa playing around with some delay effects. An epic Black Napkins (28mins!) including a typically brilliant Eddie Jobson violin solo.Loads still to discover. But all in all it's a really fitting celebration for this classic album! Fingers crossed that the Royce Hall shows get given a similar treatment sometime soon...

The sound quality of this album is excellent but something obviously went wrong at the pressing plant with the copies I've received. First copy I received had upleasant distortion sound at the beginning of Side 3 on the track "Honey, Don't You Want A Man Like Me?", this was followed by skips and jumps where Zappa's vocals come in. Returned and ordered 2nd copy, again, the same thing in the same place. I guess a bad batch. Why bother going to such lengths to produce a great sounding vinyl record only for it to be skimped at the pressing plant?!

I live in Japan and I had to order this here because none of the online stores had this available at release.I own the original US Press LP as well as an uncensored 2-disc CD and really like them both.Because both Zappa and NY having a special place in my heart I had to buy this expensive set. I lived in NY for 10 years.The tin can package is surprisingly high quality and even the outer cardboard box is a well done pastiche. It looks like there might be an apple pie or a NY cheese cake inside.The music of course is first class especially with the Brecker Brothers' horns and Ruth Underwood's percussion coming through very clearly with the new mastering. Excellent reissue of an arguably the best live album by Frank Zappa!

Expensive this set maybe but imo it's worth every penny. Admittedly I was going to give it a miss and just buy the triple vinyl (still am), so as "In New York" is one of my favourite FZ albums the expanded track listing swayed me, so glad it did. Sound quality and mastering is flawless, this run of concerts was incredibly well recorded. No song is performed exactly the same as the previous night, each performance has it's own uniqueness. If you love Frank, this set is a must, forget the cost, this is a must have. Oh and the New York manhole tin is nice too.