How Will the Wolf Survive?

How Will the Wolf Survive? is the first major label album of Los Lobos, released in 1984.

How Will the Wolf Survive?
Studio album by
Los Lobos
ReleasedOctober 1984
Genre
Length33:11
LabelSlash/Warner Bros.
ProducerT-Bone Burnett, Steve Berlin
Los Lobos chronology
...And a Time to Dance
(1983)		 How Will the Wolf Survive?
(1984)		 By the Light of the Moon
(1987)

In 1989, How Will the Wolf Survive? was ranked at number 30 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. It was ranked at number 461 on the magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[1] and also placed on updates of the list in 2012 (at number 455)[2] and 2020 (at number 431).[3]

Background

Though they had performed together around Los Angeles for over a decade, Los Lobos had previously released only one full length album, the self-produced Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles, in 1977. In 1983, they released an extended play entitled ...And a Time to Dance, which was well received by critics but only sold about 50,000 copies.[4] However, the sales of the EP earned the band enough money to purchase a Dodge van, enabling them to tour throughout the United States for the first time.[4] Los Lobos began composing How Will the Wolf Survive? at the home of drummer Louie Pérez's brother-in-law, a time in which several songs, including "A Matter of Time", were written. Pérez explained, "We'd sit down with a guitar, a tape recorder and a jar of Taster's Choice, and we were coffee achievers all afternoon."[4]

The album's title and the song "Will the Wolf Survive?" were inspired by a National Geographic article entitled "Where Can the Wolf Survive", which the band members related to their own struggle to gain success in the United States while maintaining their Mexican roots.[4] Pérez recalled, "It was like our group, our story: What is this beast, this animal that the record companies can't figure out? Will we be given the opportunity to make it or not?"[4]

Music

On How Will the Wolf Survive?, Los Lobos experimented with various genres, including styles reflective of the group's traditional Mexican roots.[5] "I Got Loaded" features influences of R&B, while "A Matter of Time" blends country and blues sensibilities.[5]

Both "A Matter of Time" and "Will the Wolf Survive?" discuss the lives of immigrants in the United States.[5] "A Matter of Time" is about a Mexican crossing the border in search of a better life.[4]

Chart performance

In the United States, How Will the Wolf Survive? spent 34 weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart, reaching its peak position of number 47 in early March 1985.[6]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Boston Phoenix[7]
CD Review[8]
Daily News[9]
Orlando Sentinel[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[13]
Tallahassee Democrat[14]
The Village VoiceA[15]

Critical reaction to the album was favorable. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice praised the group's originality: "Their debut LP makes it sound as if they invented the style. Who did the original of that one, you wonder, only to discover that you're listening to the original."[15] Mark Deming's retrospective review for AllMusic gushed, "While rarely flashy, even a casual listen offers all the proof you might need that Los Lobos were a band of world-class musicians, with David Hidalgo's guitar work especially impressive throughout."[5]

Track listing
  1. "Don't Worry Baby" (Cesar Rosas, Louie Pérez, T-Bone Burnett) – 2:43
  2. "A Matter of Time" (David Hidalgo, Pérez) – 3:55
  3. "Corrido #1" (Rosas) – 2:42
  4. "Our Last Night" (Hidalgo, Pérez) – 3:08
  5. "The Breakdown" (Hidalgo, Pérez, Burnett) – 4:12
  6. "I Got Loaded" (Camille Bob) – 3:20
  7. "Serenata Norteña" – 2:53
  8. "Evangeline" (Hidalgo, Pérez) – 2:43
  9. "I Got to Let You Know" (Rosas) – 2:35
  10. "Lil' King of Everything" (Hidalgo, Pérez) – 1:19
  11. "Will the Wolf Survive?" (Hidalgo, Pérez) – 3:41

Personnel

Additional personnel

References
  1. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: How Will the Wolf Survive? – Los Lobos". Rolling Stone. December 11, 2003. Archived from the original on December 20, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  2. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 31, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  3. "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  4. "100 Best Albums of the Eighties". Rolling Stone. November 16, 1989. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  5. Deming, Mark. "How Will the Wolf Survive? – Los Lobos". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  6. "Billboard 200". Billboard. March 9, 1985. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  7. Moses, Mark (December 25, 1984). "Off the record". The Boston Phoenix. Vol. 13, no. 52. sec. 3, p. 29. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  8. Morden, Darryl (September 1992). "This Ain't No 'La Bamba'". CD Review. Vol. 9, no. 1. pp. 28–29.
  9. Hinckley, David (November 25, 1984). "Turntable Bids". Daily News.
  10. Defendorf, Richard (November 21, 1984). "Los Lobos, How Will the Wolf Survive? (Slash/Warner Bros. 25177-1)". Orlando Sentinel.
  11. Miller, Debby (January 17, 1985). "How Will The Wolf Survive?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. MacQueen, Steve (April 22, 1994). "These guys have made some stellar discs over the years". Tallahassee Democrat.
  15. Christgau, Robert (December 25, 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  16. "Los Lobos - How Will The Wolf Survive?". Discogs. 1984.
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