#431 Los Lobos, 'How Will the Wolf Survive?' (1984)

Previously #455

Apparently I’ve listened to this album before. I seriously have no recollection of it from the last list. One of the main reasons for that is that last time I only started writing reviews from #300 onwards, so while I listened to every song on every album before that, I might not have necessarily been listening as intently as I would when having to write about it afterwards.

The album starts off with the rockabilly song, ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ (not a Beach Boys cover). I like me some rockabilly, so good start. ‘A Matter Of Time’ is a slower ballad that wouldn’t be out of place by a teen band from the 1950s. And then comes ‘Corrido #1.’ Holy shit, this song drove me crazy. It kinda turned me off the album, to be honest. That said, there are some alright songs following it. I really enjoyed ‘The Breakdown.’

The album is a mix of genres, mostly influenced by rockabilly, Chicago blues, traditional Mexican music, even a bit of Heartland Rock ala Springsteen. And while it is diverse, I did feel like it jumped around a bit too much. Felt to me like they were quite sure what album they wanted to make, so they made them all. It wasn’t my favourite album in the challenge, but they can’t all be.

#rs500albums