The Neighborhood
Studio album by
Los Lobos
ReleasedSeptember 4, 1990 (1990-09-04)
StudioOcean Way, Los Angeles, California
Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California
GenreRoots rock
Chicano rock
R&B
Tex-Mex
Heartland rock
Length44:52
LabelSlash Records, WB Records[1]
ProducerLarry Hirsch, Los Lobos[2]
Los Lobos chronology
La pistola y el corazón
(1988)		 The Neighborhood
(1990)		 Kiko
(1992)

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

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Chicago Sun-Times[10]
Chicago Tribune[11]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[12]
Los Angeles Times[13]
NME7/10[14]
Orlando Sentinel[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[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.TitleWriter(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

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

  1. 1 2 3 Himes, Geoffrey (September 26, 1990). "Los Lobos Music As Melting Pot". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Deming, Mark. "The Neighborhood – Los Lobos". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  3. ↑ Buckley, Peter (November 2, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Los Lobos". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Wolf Pack". The New Yorker. April 15, 2001. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Los Lobos". Billboard.
  7. ↑ Washburn, Jim (October 17, 1990). "Seeds Yield Album for Los Lobos". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  8. ↑ Holden, Stephen (November 6, 1990). "Los Lobos' Latino Blues". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 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.
  10. 1 2 McLeese, Don (September 3, 1990). "Los Lobos move beyond 'La Bamba'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  11. 1 2 Kot, Greg (September 6, 1990). "Los Lobos: The Neighborhood (Slash)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  12. 1 2 Robbins, Ira (September 7, 1990). "The Neighborhood". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  13. 1 2 Willman, Chris (September 2, 1990). "Los Lobos 'The Neighborhood' Slash/Warner Bros". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Martin, Gavin (September 15, 1990). "Los Lobos: The Neighbourhood". NME. p. 38.
  15. ↑ Gettelman, Parry (October 26, 1990). "Los Lobos". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  16. 1 2 McLeese, Don (October 4, 1990). "The Neighborhood". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ Robbins, Ira; Levine, Robert. "Los Lobos". Trouser Press. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
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