The Ride

The Town and the City After variously celebrating their 30th anniversary with the star-studded The Ride, documenting their bracing live shows on Live at the Fillmore and doing a little intimate musical retrenchment on the self-released Acoustic En Vivo, Los Lobos returned to the studio with creative ...	Kiko After their hit remake of "La Bamba," Los Lobos could easily have settled into the lazy, provincial groove of hometown heroes. But with producer Mitchell Froom's encouragement, the pride of East L.A. exploded all conventions on their one true masterwork. Their Latin roots are obv...	Good Morning Aztlán [Limited Edition] After 25 years together as a band, you'd expect Los Lobos to be spent creatively. Not so, though this East L.A. institution has settled into a perhaps too-comfortable groove with its past couple of albums. No longer the studio experimentalists of Kiko (still the group's best albu...	This Time The gents in Los Lobos refuse to go gentle into the good night. This Time (like the 1999 Los Lobos spin-off projects Houndog and the Latin Playboys) is rife with an adventurous spirit that belies the lengthy recording history these guys have behind them. No one can accuse Los Lob...	Colossal Head If Kiko was Los Lobos' unanticipated definitive statement, as in "You've got to hear this!" Colossal Head is its less focused addendum. It says: "Oh, yeah, and furthermore. The title track, a multi-textured grinder with a Middle Eastern string arrangement mixed in with baritone s...
The Neighborhood The Neighborhood continues Los Lobos' gift for melding American musics--R&B, conjunto, C&W, rock, and the rest--into a sound that's entirely its own. The longing swing of "Emily" is kick-started by driving fiddle, the delicate "Little John of God" features the Arkansas drawl of L...	Ride This: The Covers EP	By the Light of the Moon Los Lobos's second full-length album was a transitional affair for East L.A.'s favorite musical sons. On their debut EP, ...And a Time to Dance, and especially on How Will the Wolf Survive?, Hidalgo, Rosas, and crew proved themselves to be Mexican American roots rockers nonpareil...	How Will the Wolf Survive? Los Lobos's ability to wade through disparate musical styles isn't the stuff of Elvis and the Beatles, but Los Lobos did it on their debut album. And, unlike much of the material Los Lobos cut their teeth on as a Los Angeles Top 40 cover band, there is nothing lowest-common-denom...	La Pistola y El Corazon

Los Lobos Hits the Mark Alone and with Great Guest
Excellent CD by the band featuring great songs and music that matches some of their best. Included are writing and singing collaborations by great artists like Mavis Staples, Elvis Costello, Tom Waites, Bobby Womack, Willie G., Richard Thompson, Ruben Blades, Martha Gonzalez and Cafe Tucuba. Elvis Costello sounds so rich in blusey in the appropriate "Matter of Time" he ought to give Perry Como a rest and hang with Los Lobos. My favorite is the poignant "Somewhere in Time" with the deep baritone voice of Dave Alvin alternating with David Hildago's crystal clear high tenor voice. It works extraordinary well and the lyrics are both haunting while gleaming with hope as indicated in the same below: Another night, on a highway somewhere in time Darkness plays those tricks on me Far down the road in the shadows somewhere in time Am I the man I'm supposed to be? Hildago's vocal on "Rita" is just plainly beautiful along with Womacks soulful "wicked Rain". Wonderful with songs played and sung by just Perez, Rosas, Lozano, Hildago and Berlin but the collaborations with their guests make this an even deeper experience.

This C.D. is one of my " all time favorites"
This might be one of "Los Lobos" BEST C.D.'s. The song, "Somewhere In Time", is an incredible musical arrangement and the vocals are "supreme". I highly recommend this C.D.

one of the most uniquely original bands....ever!
I must confess that I've been having one hell of a time trying to figure out which cd by these guys I should review. I own them all, and I find them all wonderful. I might be enjoying a distinct advantage over most people who don't own everything by Los Lobos, and I realize I'm also a bit biased because I love their material so much. To truly appreciate what these five guys do, have done, and are capable of, you'd simply have to be familiar with the band's entire catalog. Nobody is this diverse, and I'll stick my neck out here and make a brazenly heartfelt statement for the record.....Los Lobos is the most talented and engaging band in America. They are also, at the same time, the most sadly underappreciated band of note that I can think of. You mention Los Lobos to most people and you'll either receive a blank stare in return, or get a response to the effect of, "oh yeah.....those guys who did "La Bamba" way back when....are they still around?" Makes my blood boil sometimes..... But I digress. For those of us who are "in the know" concerning this fine band, we can take some solace in our enjoyment of one of the best kept secrets in music today. Based purely upon musical diversity, these guys are hella talented. Everything from traditional Mexican folk, blues, jazz, soul, rock, r&b, zydeco, middle eastern, to gospel is covered within The Wolves body of recorded music. These brilliant musicians have the heart, soul, and conviction to deliver all of the above with utmost style and unflinching adherence to what they ably achieve as a band, having performed together for the past thirty-plus years. It's obvious that David, Cesar, Conrad, Louie, and Steve have much respect for eachother on many levels, accomplishing what they have, and they still seem to love working together.... truly top-class professionals! The reason I chose "The Ride", I suppose, is that it's basically their most recent release, and the one I've probably listened to the most over the past year. The boys saw fit to honor their respected musical contemporaries and influences alike with "The Ride", resulting in yet another totally unique piece to add to their catalog. I'll venture a guess that Los Lobos enjoyed making this record more than any other they've done. The talents and vocals of Ruben Blades, Bobby Womack, Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, Tom Waits, and Mexico's Cafe Tacuba all feature prominently throughout "The Ride", and, in and of itself, lend this particular cd even more varied styles and sounds than we are accustomed to with a "typical" Los Lobos release. What's more, the band clearly had lots of fun with this experience and it comes through vibrantly in the end results. Personal highlights on this disc, for me anyway, include the gospel-tinged beauty "Matter Of Time", which showcases fine vocal harmonizing by Elvis Costello and David Hidalgo. Richard Thompson figures in with "The Wreck Of The Carlos Rey", which for some reason reminds me of something from Fleetwood Mac's old "Bare Trees" album. It's catchy, bouncy and bluesy all at the same time......rather hard to describe. The drumming on this track is insanely good, really driving the entire thing. The track, "Is This All There Is?" is one of two Los Lobos compositions reworked from earlier records. This one had orginally appeared on 1987's "By The Light Of The Moon", and while I like the original a bit better(it's catchy as hell!), this new version features Little Willy G belting out a soulful reading of a new arrangement of the song. 1992's "Kiko" gets represented by Bobby Womack basically going crazy in a good way on "Wicked Rain", paired up with his own "Across 110th Street". These two songs really got a great treatment, as they blended very very well into a new arrangement. The original "Wicked Rain" was a great blues rocker, to be sure, but Womack's influence gives the song new life with a sensational blend of r&b and jazz. Guaranteed to get your toe tapping when cranked up! As I said, a good time was obviously had between all musicians, and I'm sure Los Lobos will always treasure the experience of making this record with such great company. My personal favorite moments, however, come in the four tracks on "The Ride" in which the five Wolves did their own thing, sans guest appearances. Cesar Rosas' down and dirty blues, "Charmed", just plain rocks out. Man these guys are tight! Steve Berlin's sax intertwines with wicked blues guitar and piano, and Cesar's voice is just incredible for this type of song. Wow! I've got it blasting as I'm writing this, so forgive me for my pedestrian attempts at trying to convey this song's power through words. "Rita", the final song I'll mention, is for me, quite literally the title track to "The Ride". It is a gentle, somewhat brooding cut, with perhaps the best lap steel playing I've ever heard. The reason I consider this the title track is simply due to the imagery the music, and especially the steel guitar, seem to emulate, in likeness to the beautiful sleeve photograph of the guys walking in procession with their instruments in tow through the arid landscape of what I'm assuming is a Southern California desert. Hidalgo's vocals are emotive as ever here, and the song conveys a warmth and open air feel to it that's just stunning! It would be hard for me to singularly recommend any one Los Lobos cd for one's first purchase. They are so diverse, coupled with my glaringly obvious appreciation of everything they do, that my only suggestion would be to sample what you can, album by album. See what strikes you first and try it out. These little snippets of songs that we have at our disposal, courtesy of Amazon, are a good start. I'm not certain "The Ride" would be the best album to start with to become familiar with these guys, but for those Lobos fans out there who haven't heard this yet.....go get er! "The Ride" is a blast of an album from a truly original American band!

Appreciation
Is it possible Cesar, Conrad, David, Louie and Steve keep getting better? Or is it just our growing appreciation for 30 years of sharing their music with us? Perhaps a little of both. How many other groups have been intact for three straight decades? No breakups or reunion tours or artistic lulls. Remarkable. Think of the artists who have done that and remained relevant. It's a short list. "The Ride" again demonstrates how consistently great Los Lobos is. The album is an eclectic mix of song styles performed by a cadre of like-minded and equally talented collaborators. The playing is instinctually symbiotic like only 30 years together can provide. You must see them live for a better understanding of the joy. These are masters crafting beautiful art for our pleasure. A worthy addition to their already legendary catalogue. Buy the album and share the joy. Los Lobos is an American treasure. Appreciate them, I do.

Go For The Ride
I heard of the los lobos from a friend recently, I really didnt think much of buying a record of los lobos until I sampled some of their music at fye. I really enjoyed the guitar playing David Hidalgo, who I discovered on the crossroads festival DVD, and he truely blew me away. He is pure talent in my opion. I really recomend this one to anybody looking for a great album. Their are some cool beats on this one. Hope you sample some of the music before you buy it. My favorites are Charmed, Somewhere In Time, and Chains Of Love. I think all of the songs are great to be honest. So dont wait go for the los lobos The Ride. Highly Recomened!