The Neighborhood (album)

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]

For the album by the band The Neighbourhood, see The Neighbourhood (album).
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 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. Himes, Geoffrey (September 26, 1990). "Los Lobos Music As Melting Pot". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  2. 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. 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. McLeese, Don (September 3, 1990). "Los Lobos move beyond 'La Bamba'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  11. Kot, Greg (September 6, 1990). "Los Lobos: The Neighborhood (Slash)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  12. Robbins, Ira (September 7, 1990). "The Neighborhood". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  13. Willman, Chris (September 2, 1990). "Los Lobos 'The Neighborhood' Slash/Warner Bros". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  14. 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. 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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