| The Neighborhood | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 4, 1990 | |||
| Studio |
Ocean Way,
Los Angeles, California Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre |
Roots rock Chicano rock R&B Tex-Mex Heartland rock | |||
| Length | 44:52 | |||
| Label | Slash Records, WB Records [1] | |||
| Producer | Larry Hirsch, Los Lobos [2] | |||
| Los Lobos chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Neighborhood is the fifth album by the rock band Los Lobos. [3] [4] It was released in 1990 and includes contributions from, among others, Levon Helm and John Hiatt. [1] [5]
The album peaked at No. 103 on the Billboard 200 in September 1990. [6]
Production
The album followed a period of writer's block, brought on by the success of " La Bamba," and a confusion about what musical direction to go in. [7] The New York Times noted a more prominent blues influence, "in different moods and textures." [8] Some tracks employed session drummers in place of Louie F. Pérez, Jr. [9]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  
[2] |
| Chicago Sun-Times | 
[10] |
| Chicago Tribune |
[11] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ [12] |
| Los Angeles Times |
[13] |
| NME | 7/10 [14] |
| Orlando Sentinel |
[15] |
| Rolling Stone |
[16] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |
[9] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 7/10 [17] |
Reviewing The Neighborhood for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot said that Los Lobos had "translated" their mastery of blues, country, R&B and Mexican folk "into 13 songs of startling simplicity and power", describing the album as " East L.A. soul music, played and sung with utter conviction." [11] Chicago Sun-Times critic Don McLeese stated that it "confirms that the music of Los Lobos has deeper dimensions than the good-time revivalism of 'La Bamba'"; [10] in Rolling Stone, McLeese noted the album's "simplicity and understatement" and summarized it as "a bringing-it-all-back-home affair" which "finds a spiritual dimension, a sense of wonder in the course of everyday life." [16] For The Washington Post, Geoffrey Himes wrote that "the album is a bold claim by these second-generation immigrants that they are Americans, and that all of America's culture belongs to them." [1] Ira Robbins of Entertainment Weekly lauded the band's musical versatility and concluded that "despite the disconcerting lack of focus, what's in this musical melting pot is mighty tasty." [12]
Los Angeles Times journalist Chris Willman credited Los Lobos with maintaining their "edge" throughout The Neighborhood, even in moments that "are so outrightly sentimental that they would be sheer Capra-corn in almost any other group's hands". [13] While finding the band's songwriting not at par with "their stylistic mastery", Gavin Martin of NME deemed the album "Los Lobos' most successful collection to date". [14] Critic Robert Christgau, however, merely gave it a grade of " neither". [18]
Retrospectively, AllMusic's Mark Deming called The Neighborhood "a genuine step forward for a great band, as well as the jumping-off point to their most experimental period." [2] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide, J. D. Considine commented that the album showed Los Lobos sounding "reinvigorated" and "stronger than ever" with material that played to the band's musical strengths. [9] Trouser Press praised it as "exciting, evocative and highly satisfying." [19]
Track listing
All songs written by David K. Hidalgo and Louie F. Pérez, Jr., except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Down on the Riverbed" | 4:05 | |
| 2. | "Emily" | 3:49 | |
| 3. | "I Walk Alone" | 3:00 | |
| 4. | "Angel Dance" | 3:13 | |
| 5. | "Little John of God" | 2:19 | |
| 6. | "Deep Dark Hole" | 2:24 | |
| 7. | "Georgia Slop" | ( Jimmy McCracklin) | 2:45 |
| 8. | "I Can't Understand" | (Cesar J. Rosas, Willie Dixon) | 4:00 |
| 9. | "The Giving Tree" | 3:07 | |
| 10. | "Take My Hand" | 4:45 | |
| 11. | "Jenny's Got a Pony" | 4:03 | |
| 12. | "Be Still" | 3:34 | |
| 13. | "The Neighborhood" | 4:07 |
Personnel
- David K. Hidalgo - vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, 6-string bass, tiple, accordion, bajo sexto, violine, Hawaiian steel, koto guitar, drums, percussion
- Cesar J. Rosas - vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bajo-sexto, huapanguera
- Louie F. Pérez, Jr. - drums, percussion, guitars, jarana, hidalguer
- Conrad R. Lozano - vocals, fender precision and 5-string bass, guitarron, upright bass
- Steve M. Berlin - tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, organ, clavinet, percussion
Additional personnel
- Jerry Marotta - drums (track 1, 3)
- Danny Timms - organ, wurlitzer, piano (track 1, 12)
- Alex Acuña - percussion, shekere, hand drums (track 1, 3, 4)
- John Hiatt - vocals (track 1, 10)
- Jim Keltner - drums, percussion (track 2, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
- Levon Helm - vocals, mandolin (track 2, 5)
- Mitchell Froom - harmonium (track 4)
Production
- Larry Hirsch - producer, engineer, mixing
- Los Lobos - producer
- Mitchell Froom - producer (track 4)
- Clark Germain - engineer
- Stacy Baird - engineer
- Brian Soucy - assistant engineer
- Dan Bosworth - assistant engineer
- Eric Rudd - assistant engineer
- Joe Schiff - assistant engineer
- Neal Avron - assistant engineer
- Tom Nellen - assistant engineer
- Tchad Blake - engineer (track 4)
- Julie Last - assistant engineer (track 4)
- Stephen Marcussen - mastering
- Terry Robertson-Mota - art direction, design
- Louie Perez - art visions
- Carlos Almaraz - paintings
- Max Aguilera-Hellweg - photography
References
- ^ a b c Himes, Geoffrey (September 26, 1990). "Los Lobos Music As Melting Pot". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ a b c Deming, Mark. "The Neighborhood – Los Lobos". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ Buckley, Peter (November 2, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050 – via Google Books.
- ^ Deming, Mark. "Los Lobos". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ "Wolf Pack". The New Yorker. April 15, 2001. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ "Los Lobos". Billboard.
- ^ Washburn, Jim (October 17, 1990). "Seeds Yield Album for Los Lobos". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (November 6, 1990). "Los Lobos' Latino Blues". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ a b c Considine, J. D. (2004). "Los Lobos". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 495–496. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ a b McLeese, Don (September 3, 1990). "Los Lobos move beyond 'La Bamba'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ a b Kot, Greg (September 6, 1990). "Los Lobos: The Neighborhood (Slash)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ a b Robbins, Ira (September 7, 1990). "The Neighborhood". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ a b Willman, Chris (September 2, 1990). "Los Lobos 'The Neighborhood' Slash/Warner Bros". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ a b Martin, Gavin (September 15, 1990). "Los Lobos: The Neighbourhood". NME. p. 38.
- ^ Gettelman, Parry (October 26, 1990). "Los Lobos". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ a b McLeese, Don (October 4, 1990). "The Neighborhood". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ Weisbard, Eric (1995). "Los Lobos". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 228–229. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Los Lobos: The Neighborhood". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 182. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
- ^ Robbins, Ira; Levine, Robert. "Los Lobos". Trouser Press. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
