Just Another Band From East L.A.: A Collection

Description

Even the title of this terrific two-disc compilation--a play on the title of an early-'70s recording by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention--displays just how clever and hip this great L.A. band has always been. Just Another Band is everything an anthology should be, touching on all the best-known moments ("Don't Worry Baby," "Will the Wolf Survive?," "One Time One Night," "La Bamba," etc.), spanning their career from its origins through Kiko (six tracks from which are featured here), arguably their finest hour. Musically, you get hard R&B, Tex-Mex, pure traditional Mexican music, pop-rock, gorgeous ballads, and pure, raucous rock & roll. Actually, pure is the operative word here--and fans who already own all the albums proper will probably still want this for the soundtrack cuts, live versions (including a performance of their great "Let's Say Goodnight"), unreleased outtakes, cool live cover versions (from both Marvin Gaye and Cream!), and even their terrific "I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song)," originally performed by Louis Prima in The Jungle Book, from the late-1980s, Hal Wilner-produced Disney tribute, Stay Awake. How will the wolves survive? Damn well, from every indication on this fine collection. --Bill Holdship