FRANK ZAPPA

“Broadway the Hardway.” **

Barking Pumpkin. Mr. Z’s rep as rock’s most articulate defender of the First Amendment would carry a lot more weight if he was as pro-tolerance on record as he is in front of congressional committees. On his latest he takes mean-spirited swipes at the likes of Jesse Jackson (in an incongruous country parody, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop in a rap number and Richard Nixon--what’s the point in 1988?). And, as usual, the overly complex music seems designed more to prove how talented a composer Zappa is rather than to impart any kind of emotion. Hey Frank: Freedom of speech means a lot more than just having the right to say how much cooler you are than everybody else.