Good Morning Aztlán [Limited Edition]
After 25 years together as a band, you'd expect Los Lobos to be spent creatively. Not so, though this East L.A. institution has settled into a perhaps too-comfortable groove with its past couple of albums. No longer the studio experimentalists ofKiko(still the group's best album), nor the Mexican roots-music purists ofLa Pistola y El Corazon, the band now offers a reliable mix of styles on each album--a smooth concoction that is equal parts roots-rock, blues, R&B;, and Latin dance music. Although paired with new producer John Leckie (Radiohead, XTC), the band doesn't venture into much new sonic territory withGood Morning Aztlán. The most distinctive tracks are the three Latin-spiked numbers--in particular "Malaqúe," which mergesvera cruzanoharp with what sounds like Brazilian carnival rhythms--and a pair of gorgeous, '70s-inflected soul songs, "Hearts of Stone" and "The Word." Overall,Good Morning Aztlánis a good album but not a great one, at least by the band's lofty standards.--Keith Moerer