los lonely boys MW Home
I first heard the "Lonely Boys" on radio, when their song " Heaven" started being played on Light Rock radio stations. I did like the song, a rather catchy melody with the intriguing title line “How far is Heaven”, but my interest was sparked when a DJ called them the "Mexican Beatles"..(of course, any mention of my all-time favorite band is bound to catch my attention).. enough to buy the album... a decision I do not regret.  Los Lonely Boys ("The" Lonely Boys, for the Spanish-challenged) are a trio of brothers of Mexican heritage. They were a local (read Texas) phenomenon at first, but caught the attention of the record labels and musical greats such as Willie Nelson. Their self titled album stands out with its "raw sound", an interesting amalgam of the Mexican and Texan rock n roll sounds of their major influences, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ritchie Valens and Santana. To reiterate, this album is all about sound, not a "message". Other than the signature line, "How far is heaven", the lyrics don't really matter . As a matter of fact, most of the lyrics on the album have about twenty lines or less. But when you have a combination of catchy melodies, latin rhythms and great guitar work, you don't really notice. The songs.  "Heaven" is by far the most popular tune from the album, a deserving little melody with an interesting rhythm and a lyric that looks at a seemingly desperate situation with a little bit of humor. If I understand correctly, it spent a significant amount of time at #1 on the American Top 10.  As I was listening to the first track on the album, it came to me that Los Lonely Boys might by influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan , but through the second song, I was moving away from the theory. However, "Crazy Dream" put the debate to rest with the guitar producing licks reminding me of the Texan great. At about the same time, I read the write-up on the album cover, and guess what, Stevie Ray is mentioned under a list of influences under the heading "Sainthood". I should have known !  "More than Love" is probably a tribute to another "infuential saint" mentioned in the credits.. Ritchie Valens. It evokes the same feeling as "Donna" and "We belong together" by Valens.  "Onda" is a 9-minute gem with a heavily Afro-Cuban inspired rhythm and guitar so reminiscent of Santana. It is short on lyrics, but the wild latin rhythm and the intoxicating guitar riff make you forget that it is.  "Real Emotions" takes us through a powerful melody in the familiar Latin chord progression of signature-minor/dominant 7th, also used by Santana in the 2000 hit "Smooth". Latin musical pioneers have created this format to be duplicated ad infinitum, and it still retains its freshness and capacity to get your feet (and hips) moving.  To sum up, the album has a great sound throughout that few albums in recent history can brag about. It relies on the simple format of catchy beat, melody and guitar that have immortalized so many bands in the "classic rock" era of rock-n-roll. No surprise that it earned them a nomination for Best New Artist at the Grammys.
Moody Blue