Los Lobos Albums (15)
'The Town and the City'
Release Date 1/1/2006
Tracks 11
Label EMI Australia
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The simple fact, not stated nearly often enough, is that Los Lobos are one of America's truly great rock & roll bands, and they've been making consistently strong albums since 1984's How Will the Wolf Survive? But 1992's Kiko raised the stakes for Los Lobos' work in the studio with its edgy atmosphere, ambitious production, and expressionistic, purposefully off-kilter textures; it took their music in new and unexpected places with confidence and fire, but they seemed a bit unsure of where they should go down the new trail they blazed. Released in 1996, Colossal Head found them replicating Kiko's sonics without approaching its emotional power, while their subsequent recordings found them retreating into the safety of their status as America's finest roots rock band, which is hardly a bad or unsatisfying place to be. But The Town and the City is the first album where Los Lobos have allowed themselves the same degree of freedom and room to play with their signature sound as they had on Kiko, and the result is a quietly exhilarating experience. The Town and the City is a simpler and more measured set than one might expect from Los Lobos, with a lower quotient of full-on rock, but the band's performances are as tight and sinewy as ever; David Hidalgo offers yet another master class in virtuoso guitar playing (without strutting his ego or boring the listener in the process), and Cesar Rosas remains his perfect instrumental foil. The rhythm section gives the songs a firm backbone and adds welcome color and heft to the music, and the production (by the band, with Tchad Blake and Robert Carranza mixing) makes the most of the interplay between the musicians -- this is music that revels in the spaces as much as the notes, and demonstrates that this is truly a great band rather than just five gifted players. The 13 songs on The Town and the City work within a loose conceptual framework as they ponder the Mexican-American experience both among illegals and folks who were born and raised in the U.S.A., and while Los Lobos are too smart and too talented to sink into melodrama, there's a sense of wonder in the opening tune, "The Valley," and an air of measured dread in the finale, "The Town," which leaves room for a great deal that's both joyous and tragic in the lives of their characters. The Town and the City isn't likely to be the soundtrack for your next party, but it's an exciting and emotionally powerful experience that grows with each listen, and it's hard to think of many bands who, after three decades together, are as willing to challenge both themselves and their audience as Los Lobos do on this album. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Live at the Fillmore'
Release Date 3/15/2005
Tracks 17
Label Hollywood
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
While Los Lobos have made a handful of great albums during the course of their career, you have to see them live to fully appreciate their status as one of America's best rock bands. Their material is smart and wildly eclectic, they're superb musicians whose interplay has been honed to a fine edge by years of road work, and they know that great chops will never be as important as a strong dose of sweaty enthusiasm if you want to get over with an audience; put it all together and you get a group that never disappoints a crowd. It's a bit surprising that, after more than thirty years together, no one ever thought to record a Los Lobos live album, but in the summer of 2004, as the band was celebrating their official 30th Anniversary, they brought in a camera crew and a mobile recording truck to document a two-night stand at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium; the results were released as a DVD in late 2004, and now an audio-only version of Live at the Fillmore has come out on CD. Given how impressive a backlog of material this band has, it's almost inevitable that Live at the Fillmore would be a bit of a disappointment, given that there's only so many of los Lobos' many great songs can appear on a single disc, especially since the band puts the strongest focus on their most recent material in this set. But with an eye towards history, they do offer a taste from most of their albums in these 14 songs (going all the way back to 1984's And a Time to Dance), and the recording gear caught the band on a good night -- Los Lobos are clearly having a good time on these tunes, and playing with confidence, style and soul, running the gamut from the flat-out rock of "Good Morning Aztlan" and "Viking" to the soulful Latin groove of "Cumbia Raza," finally closing with an impassioned cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On." Los Lobos are a band who would do well to consider a series of live albums that could capture the full breadth of their capabilities in concert, in the manner of Pearl Jam and the Grateful Dead, but Live at the Fillmore captures a taste of the band's on-stage magic with accuracy and finesse, and both fans and newcomers will find it tasty stuff indeed. The initial pressing also includes a bonus CD including three acoustic tracks. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Not counting compilations and live recordings, The Ride is the 11th album by East Los Angelinos Los Lobos. And in contrast to the rest of their hefty catalog, it stands as a wonderful anomaly on their shelf. First, it is an offering with loads of guests, from influences such as Richard Thompson, Garth Hudson, the Grateful Dead's famed lyricist Robert Hunter, R&B legend Bobby Womack, Latin garage-funk hero Little Willie G., gospel great Mavis Staples, and Tom Waits to contemporaries like Elvis Costello, Dave Alvin, Greg Leisz, Mitchell Froom, Martha Gonzales, Latin music statesman Rubén Blades, and rock en Español inventors Café Tacuba, and many more. These 13 tracks walk the razored edge between the band's wondrous amalgam of rock, blues, country, soul, and Latin folk and pop styles found on How Will the Wolf Survive? and The Neighborhood to the song fragmentation and studio experimentation that made records like Kiko and Colossal Head standouts. To this end, Los Lobos redo some of their nuggets There's a wonderfully gospelized read of "Matter of Time," with Costello, that adds a completely new meaning to the tune. Little Willie G.'s vocal on "Is This All There Is" digs deep into the tune for its gritty funk root and stretches it to the breaking point -- it's one of the strongest performances on the disc. But the medley of "Wicked Rain" from Kiko with Womack's "Across 110th Street," with the band in full stretch-out mode and Womack at the peak of his soul crooning powers, is the biggest surprise. Over eight minutes in length, the combination of the tunes is smooth and sweet, driven with acoustic guitars, a punched-up horn section, and Rev. Charles Williams' shimmering Rhodes and B-3 in the mix. But the new material, such as "Veganza de los Pelados," with Mexico City's Café Tacuba, is the meld of the two bands' quirky strengths. Los Lobos bring the mystic Latin groove and bluesy angularity of the guitar lines, while the Tacubas bring the big knotty beats and edgy power chords, stunning dynamics, and a sense of play. Likewise, "Ya Se Va," with Blades, is a perfect cocktail of Afro-Cuban son and mariachi. "Wreck of the Carlos Rey," with Thompson, pairs David Hidalgo with the British guitarist in a snaky moaning weave of Anglo folk and driving, minor-key bluesy rock. The meeting of the band and Staples on "Someday," with Williams on clavinet and Lonnie Jordan on B-3, is so fine and fluid that an entire album should be considered. Ultimately, with the possible exception of "Kitate," with Waits and Gonzales, which feels overindulgent and directionless, this record comes off like a dream, full of strength, vision, warmth, rhythms, textures, and a coming together of all of Los Lobos' various adventures in a solid coat of many colors. This is the culmination of 30 years, and as such, it is an album that pays tribute as well as points to the next, and walks the narrow path between playful adventurousness and tuneful accessibility with ragged elegance and swaggering confidence. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Great rock & roll bands aren't supposed to be as modest as Los Lobos, an unlikely band comprised of five world-class musicians who write, sing, and play brilliantly, have been doing it for close to 30 years -- and don't appear to feel compelled to make a big show of it. Lack of flash should never be confused with a lack of creativity, of course, and their best album, 1992's Kiko, showed they could bend traditional structures and play with the possibilities of the studio as well as any hipsters half their age. But straightforward meat-and-potatoes rock and soul have always been their strongest calling card, and their post-Kiko work with producer Mitchell Froom found them struggling to balance their more experimental instincts with their gifts as straight-ahead players, often with uneven results. Good Morning Aztlán finds Los Lobos working with a new producer, John Leckie, whose work with Radiohead, the Fall, and Kula Shaker confirms his credentials in helping to craft intelligent, creative music. But Leckie has also worked with Dr. John and Roy Harper, and knows the importance of letting a great musician simply play; as a result, Good Morning Aztlán sounds like Los Lobos' strongest album since Kiko. Leckie has replaced Froom's banks of tape-loop keyboards and webs of audio trickery with a solid, straightforward sound that reflects the band's skills as one of rock's most consistently impressive live acts, but he's also caught them on tape with a batch of especially impressive songs, many of which deal with the nuts and bolts of life in the Hispanic community. Good Morning Aztlán swings from high-octane rock & roll ("Done Gone Blue"), soulful R&B ("Hearts of Stone"), passionate Latin grooves ( "Luz de Mi Vida"), and any number of combinations thereof, such as "Malaque"'s slinky Latin melody set to a neo-hip-hop beat, or "Get to This," which blends an old-school funk bottom with crunching rock guitars. And if Los Lobos prefer to write about small-p personal politics rather than Large-P Global Politics, their take on the sometimes funny, sometimes troubling stakes of life in Hispanic America makes it clear that they know what goes on in their neighborhood, and they have plenty of compelling things to say about it. Good Morning Aztlán isn't hip, revolutionary, or groundbreaking -- it's just a superb album from one of America's great rock bands. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Del Este de Los Angeles (Just Another Band from East L.A.)'
Release Date 9/12/2000
Tracks 12
Label Hollywood
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
In 1978, when Los Lobos were paying their bills by playing weddings and Mexican restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area, they put out an independent album of their traditional Tex-Mex songs with a pumped-up rock & roll feel. The album, Del Este de Los Angeles, established their sound and provided a jumping-off point for David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez to start writing their own material. The LP has since been released by Hollywood Records on CD (not to be confused with their similarly titled box set Just Another Band from East L.A.) and is an interesting glimpse into the band on the verge of breaking away from their traditional roots and pushing into creating their own influential style. ~ Zac Johnson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Given all the extracurricular projects members of Los Lobos pursued during the three years separating Colossal Head and its followup, it's not surprising that they've decided to show off what they've learned on This Time, resulting in a record that vacillates between songcraft and sonic sculptures. It could be said that Kiko and Colassal Head were like this as well, but the difference is that This Time has the structure of a straight-ahead rock & roll record, clocking in at 38 minutes with 11 short tracks. While that conciseness is welcome, it also points out the flaws in the post-Latin Playboys Los Lobos -- Cesar Rosas' fine rockers are obscured by a layer of studio gauze, and David Hidalgo's songs can seem like excuses to run wild in the studio. If the production was truly evocative or innovative, that wouldn't be a problem, but This Time is another in a long line of murky, self-conscious productions from Froom, Blake, and Hidalgo, where creating sound is more important than making music. This is especially frustrating, since This Time has elements of a very good record -- it's paced well and boasts strong moments from both Hidalgo ("This Time," "Turn Around") and Rosas ("Oh Yeah," "Cumbia Raza"). As it stands, it is Los Lobos' tightest record since The Neighborhood, but it's hard not to feel that it could have been better if Los Lobos saved the "explorations" for their side-projects. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Unlike most bands in their second decade of recording, Los Lobos gets more daring and diverse as they get older, creating sonic landscapes that are based in their justly celebrated roots rock but twisting off into wild, unexpected directions. Colossal Head is their most adventurous work to date, building on the moody, atmospheric Kiko without losing sight of their gritty blues roots. While it certainly shows signs of David Hidalgo's lo-fi, experimental Latin Playboys project, the album isn't merely an exercise in sound. Los Lobos applies their broad musical palette to a set of tightly written, inventive songs that may not be as immediate as their past work, but are no less melodic and rewarding. Instead of running through a number of different genres on each individual song, they make a dream-like sonic collage that draws from jazz, funk, and avant-garde as much as their traditional rock, R&B, Latin, and blues. What keeps Colossal Head from drifting off into space is Los Lobos' love of American musical traditions. Not only have they mastered their influences, they have fully assimilated them into their sound, creating their own, unique music. And that's far more interesting than simply regurgitating the same blues, rock, Mexican, and country licks. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Papa's Dream'
Release Date 1/1/1995
Tracks 31
Label Music For Little People
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Los Lobos accompany Papa Lalo Guerrero and some children on a trip to Mexico to celebrate his birthday, finding time along the way to sing everything from "La Bamba" to "Wooly Bully." A delightful children's tale with some typically eclectic folk, rock and Mexican traditional music from Los Lobos. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Los Lobos had earned a reputation as one of the most intelligent and creative roots rock acts in America with the albums By the Light of the Moon and The Neighborhood, but it was with 1992's Kiko that they really demonstrated the breadth of their sonic ambitions. Produced in collaboration with Mitchell Froom, Kiko exchanged the more straightforward approach of Los Lobos' previous sessions for a uniquely textured sound, with the group's guitars thrown into sharp relief against Froom's collection of vintage tape-loop keyboards, and the arrangements are often unusually spare, most powerfully in the ghostly spaciousness of "Kiko and the Lavender Moon" and "Wake Up Delores." Even the more full-bodied cuts, such as the rollicking "That Train Don't Stop Here" and the hard-rocking "Whiskey Trail," boast a different personality than in Los Lobos' previous work, with the guitars clean but cutting like a switchblade and the drums snapping hard, and the more contemplative selections drip with a mysterious, otherworldly ambience that's matched by the impressionistic imagery of David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez's superb songs. At its best, Kiko sounds like the musical equivalent of a Luis Buñuel dream sequence, balancing beauty and menace with intelligence and a skill that's little short of dazzling; it's a brilliant, singular achievement, and the most rewarding album in the group's catalog. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
