THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: CRUISING WITH RUBEN & THE JETS

Fifth (I think) album from frank's Mothers, this album is somewhat poorer than most its predecessors, mainly because it seems obsessed with the 50's early rock and doo-wop music. This was and will be always a staple of Frank's works, but here it's a little over the top, as the title of the album indicates. Of course, Zappa's core of his sardonic and caustic humour is hidden in those Doo-wop songs, but the whole point is that generally the humour (not necessarily filled with finesse) quickly wears off after a few listens! In most of Zappa's works, this isn't that dramatic, because the music is deep in surprises and starts unravelling its secrets and mysteries by the time the humour is irritating, but in "Cruising With?", it simply isn't the case, cos the music lacks the usual depth, and the Doo-wop and 50's feel is simply constant, unrelenting and downright wearisome (if it was soporific, I wouldn't complain this much ;o))))) This doesn't mean that all is bad in this album, because the vocals are extremely well carried out, sometimes complex ala Gentle Giant, but this is not enough for progheads to get interested in it until he/she has gotten to the completionist stage. Best avoided, at least in the early stages of your Zappa-ian investigations.