Euforia
The highly organized and former Tejano outfit La Mafia continues its musical evolution toward romantic ballad merchants. Veterans of the Tejano scene, they're not content to stay within the stylistically limited genre. Starting in 1991 with the CDEstás Tocando Fuego, the Houston band has steadily reduced their earthy polkas in favor of keyboard-driven pop ballads, with mixed success. High points here include the echoey "Pido," driven by its thumpy piano chords, and "Ayer y Hoy," a rhythmiccumbia. Producer Mando Lichtenberger Jr. seems to have found the right balance of guitars and keyboards. But beyond the aforementioned tunes, the rest of the CD is nonimpacting material. The band needs solid melodic hits to complement their already superior organizational skills.--Ramiro Burr