Maricela left us.
I saw the greatest rock band of the last thirty years last night. Sure, many albums are better than Kiko, Los Lobos' defining release, and on any given night there are a few dozen bands that might be more immediately relevant, but none have sustained the high quality over three decades like Los Lobos. Disagree? I suppose you could make a case for The Isley Brothers or The Red Hot Chili Peppers. But no other band- I'm not counting solo artists like Prince or Neil Young- have been consistently better. They were a little creaky at their casino gig last night, and only a few moments were trancendent. "Maricela" provided one of the spine-tinglers. It's from their reviled album Colossal Head. While not one song from Head made the cut for the band's new Rhino compilation, the 1996 release is filled with soulful brilliance.
3 comments:
No disagreement about the worthiness of Los Lobos from this end, but the Isley's?, which are basically reduced to Ronald and Ernie and some of their crapola with R. Kelly! And one time at Parody Hall in its River Market days I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers put on an absolutely dreadful performance. Sorry to hear that Los Lobos was not in tip top form last night, but they must be good even on a bad night. I've been lucky to have met the guys a few times and they are real decent chaps. Wish I had gone.
m&s
m&s- Oh man, I'm thrilled every time I hear a new Isleys song on the radio. I haven't picked up the new Baby Makin' Music yet, but 2001's Eternal is fantastic.
Agreed on the 'greatest band' tag; I'd say one of the greatest AMERICAN bands. Along with Yo La Tengo, NRBQ, and Wilco, they can do no wrong, and do so always diversely.
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