THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION: CRUISING WITH RUBEN & THE JETS

I understand that Frank Zappa loved doo-wop music. He certainly had enough doo-wop tracks on his regular albums. But to create an entire album of the music? I'm not sure it was a good idea. And I know Zappa claimed that this was a sincere tribute to the music he loved, but far too often, there seems to be a sneer or snicker behind the vocals. I wonder if The Mothers were editorializing and Frank didn't notice.

Four of the tracks, How Could Be Such A Fool, I'm Not Satisfied, You Didn't Try To Call me, and Any Way The Wind Blows were originally on the first LP of "Freak Out", and all sounded better there. How Could I Be Such A Fool fares the worst, as the original waltz tempo has been rearranged into an awkward 4/4.

There are some cool FZ guitar solos, but the prog rating on this album os absolutely zero.

As he did on the CD pairing "We're Only In It For The Money" and "Lumpy Gravy", Frank, for some reason thought it was a good idea to re-record the drums and bass for the original Ryko CD release (except for Stuff Up The Cracks, who knows why?). Because the album does not have the historical importance that the others did, it's not the abomination that it was on "Money" and "Gravy". So I would give the same rating to either release.