El Cancionero Mas Y Mas
The Los Lobos fan might reasonably ask what--besides length and a wonderful accompanying booklet--Más y Máshas over 1993's two-CDJust Another Band from East L.A.. The answer is longwinded: here are album tracks (anywhere from four to eight from each studio album), outtakes, demos, and live cuts, as well as selections from tribute albums, soundtracks, and side projects. Some highlights that weren't on the earlier collection include a 1983 rockabilly sizzler, "We're Gonna Rock," the similarly charged "Rip It Up" (an '87 outtake fromLa Bamba),Richard Thompson's "Down Where the Drunkards Roll" (from the '94 tributeBeat the Retreat), a live take on theBeatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" (from a '93 television tribute), "Route 90" (from the pristine Lobos children's collection,Papa's Dream), and a '97 live version ofMarvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" withSheryl Crowguesting on vocals. This doesn't even take into account the songs from six soundtracks and a personal fave, "Alone in a Crowd" (fromI Only Wrote This Song for You: A Tribute to Johnny Thunders) and a fab take onDoug Sahm's "She's About a Mover" from '96. This and more pushesMás y Másout of the group of multi-CD boxes devoted to defunct artists and into the camp of justly deserved career overviews created while the subjects are still in full flight.--Andrew Bartlett