Pablo Cruise

• Lifeline [A&M, 1976] C-
• A Place in the Sun [A&M, 1977] C
• Worlds Away [A&M, 1978] C

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Lifeline [A&M, 1976]
You can take the Doobie Brothers out of the country, but you can't turn them into Three Dog Night. C-

A Place in the Sun [A&M, 1977]
This mainstream synthesis is not without a certain agreeable tension--vocally and instrumentally, these boys do have their licks down. But it's also a demonstration of how today's pop exploits the rhythmic and dramatic clichés of yesterday's black music. Lyrics, too--Cory Lerios and Dave Jenkins are credited as the sole composers of "Raging Fire," in which love lifts them higher than they've ever been before. C

Worlds Away [A&M, 1978]
The Cruisers hit my enemies list somewhere on Interstate 95. Hook glut, it's called--hear David Jenkins sing "once you get past the pain" fifty times in a day and the pain will be permanent. Even if the next hit is the title cut, a genuine rocker, the band is the '70s Grass Roots, and if Orleans and the Doobie Brothers are the obvious forerunners, that's their cross to bear. It don't mean a thing if it's studio swing. C