Album Review Friday
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#10 Couldn’t Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan
#9 Let It Be - The Replacements
#8 Learning To Crawl - The Pretenders
#7 The Smiths
#6 Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen
#5 Reckoning - REM
#4 The Unforgettable Fire - U2
#3 How Will The Wolf Survive? - Los Lobos
If someone were asked to build a band that would make one of the best rock albums of the eighties, it would be unlikely their answer would be four Mexican Americans from California and a Jewish saxophonist from Philadelphia. But that is exactly who Los Lobos were in 1984 when they released one of the finest albums of the year if not the decade. How Will The Wolf Survive? was an unexpected breath of fresh air that swept in from Los Angeles and caught the popular music world off guard. While the LA scene was certainly alive with groups such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Minutemen and Fishbone, it was the music of Los Lobos that rose above them all in 1984. Their sound combined Americana country and blues, traditional rural Mexican folk, and just enough rock that made every song on How Will The Wolf Survive? sound fresh, original and classic.
Los Lobos was originally formed in the early 1970s, and quickly began experimenting with rock and roll intertwined with the traditional Mexican music of their youth. David Hidalgo and Louie Perez started it all after meeting in high school in East Los Angeles, and enlisted Cesar Rosas and Conrad Lozano to complete the band. They took off slowly, but by the early ‘80s had attracted some attention in LA with their unique rock sound influenced by Mexican roots. Eventually they hooked up with Steve Berlin, a saxophonist from Philadelphia, and the band created one of the finest collections of music heard in 1984.
Famously inspired by a National Geographic article on the survival of the North American wolf, How Will The Wolf Survive? explodes out of the speakers with the hard edged “Don’t Worry Baby”. Not a band to hind behind too much metaphor, they make it clear that they want to tell their story, the story of how difficult life’s struggle can be for Mexican-Americans. Rosas minces no words when he snarls –
Don’t worry baby
What the world will bring
Don’t worry baby
Wouldn’t change a thing
Life is a fight
And then you die
And by track two, you already witness the flexibility of their talent, as they quickly pivot into a softer, country blues song to tell the story of a man trying to find the best for his family. “A Matter Of Time” has some of the most beautiful music on the album, and the sincerity of the vocals only serve to drive home the story’s message. But though they wanted to show their rock and country talents, they take every necessary opportunity to flex their traditional Mexican folk muscles. “Corrido #1” is probably the tightest mix of rock n roll with Mexican folk. Its relentless beat, driven by Hidalgo’s accordion, turns it into the song to turn up loud whenever a party starts to drag and you need everyone dancing. “Serenata Nortena” continues the folk tradition, with more accordion and Rojas’ Spanish lyrics creating a tune that slows down and speeds up with the rhythm of a locomotive chugging down the tracks. They roll this train into “Evangeline” which is two minutes of rockabilly that is instantly fun, danceable and shows off the guitar chops of Hidalgo. Following “Lil’ King Of Everything”, a pretty Mexican roots instrumental, we reach the final and maybe best song on the album. “Will The Wolf Survive?” captures the essence of why this album is so wonderful. The songwriting hits all the marks, telling the story of the Mexican immigrants’ determination to preserve their family and heritage in a world that always seems to be against them. The lyrics are poignant and the music strengthens what is an apt finish to an almost perfect album.
Los Lobos would reach higher public acclaim later in the 1980s when their version of “La Bamba” , off of the movie’s soundtrack, reached number one. But creatively their work would never exceed that of How Will The Wolf Survive?. This album succeeded on all levels, with crisp songwriting and accomplished musicianship creating songs that remain a joy to listen to over thirty years later.