Frank Zappa - Cruising with Ruben & The Jets
|
Our Price: $21.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $13.97 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Cruising with Ruben & The Jets
Free Music Review: For Discerning Listeners Only
Hit: 5 Stars
This is one of my favorite records by any artist and one of my favorites by the Mothers and Frank Zappa.I like it probly for the same reason some Frank Zappa fans don't like it -- because it's rather simple, silly and in someways quite heartfelt, a rarity for Frank Zappa. I find myself humming and singing these songs out of nowhere even after I haven't heard the album for months.
It is also the best existing showcase for Ray Collins' pure R&B vocals. He is really an excellent singer and this record shows it. This record is Ray's even more than it is Zappa's.
The cover art for the album (a cartoon showing all the musicians with stupid dog faces) is also a riot.
What I find most amusing about Cruising With Ruben and The Jets is that Frank Zappa wrote and released it almost a decade after this music went completely out of style. The idea of recording and releasing this ridiculously cheesy doo-wop music at the height of the "acid rock and Clapton is God" era makes this record as subversive and bizarre as any of the records Frank did which were bizarre.
If you can't enjoy and sing and laugh along with this stuff (especially "Fountain of Love") then you have serious emotional problems.
Free Music Review: One of The Mothers' best, if not like the Mothers' rest.
Hit: 5 Stars
A fantastic album in FZ's catalog. Yeah, it's just pretty much straight ahead greasy doo wop, but so what? "Cheap Thrills" is as catchy as 3 chord rock gets. "Deseri" is equally catchy, complete with a super corny spoken part. "Jelly Roll Gum Drop" has a set of the goofiest consecutive rhymes ever committed to vinyl, and Frank never did any better with a straight ahead love song than with "Anything", a truly moving tune with a perfect sax break and heavenly backing vocals. Don't miss out on the Mothers' weirdest outing, which was also their most straightforward. (By the bye, the rerecorded bass and drum tracks are not as bad as everyone says...I happen to like them more than the originals, as they have a bit more pep to them.)Free Music Review: Taking a shot at the music of the early sixties.
Hit: 5 Stars
Frank and the boys weren't really making a lotta dollars before this came out. They had a niche, but it didn't pay well. Hard to keep on truckin when less talanted Bimbos are getting big bucks for bad music. I suspect that this was done as much as gag as anything else and who knows, maybe some ding-a-lings would buy it not understanding that it was a take off of other peoples style. Well not quite, Frank couldn't help just playing a little off key, a little out of tempo, just to show it was all a joke. Listen to the words and you'll see what I mean.Free Music Review: One of Zappa's best
Hit: 5 Stars
FZ has touched on many musical styles, but in the early years he and the mothers focused alot on doo-wop type stuff. There's a lot of this style songs on Freak Out and the 50s R+B theme is fleshed out nicely on Cruising. I really enjoy Zappa's doo-wop excursions, if you like what youv'e heard of them on other realeases click on the "buy" button right now. Highlights: Deseri, Fountain of Love, Anyway the Wind Blows (not quite as good as the version on Freak Out though)Free Music Review: A masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
Of course, i am talking about the original (vinyl) album. Get it from various places in the internet (type the name of the album and the word 'blogspot' and google it) the original version of this, one of the Mother's best works. I downloaded mine from some one who had a very clean copy and made a great job 'mastering' it. I can't believe that the Zappa family has not rescued this great doo-wop work yet.