Trampoline

1	Dance the Night Away 4:22
2	Tell Me Why 3:47
3	I Should Know 3:07
4	Someone Should Tell Her 3:05
5	To Be with You 3:50
6	I've Got This Feeling 3:45
7	Fool #1 5:45
8	I Don't Even Know Your Name 3:08
9	I Hope You Want Me Too 4:53
10	Melbourne Mambo 4:13
11	Dolores 3:48
12	Save a Prayer 5:06
13	Dream River 3:47

Barnes & Noble

A rich mélange of country, Latin-tinged sounds, pop-rock, Stax-style R&B, and classic American popular music, Trampoline is a towering work. Led by the breathtaking vocal prowess of alt-country sensation Raul Malo, who has dashed early Roy Orbison comparisons and staked out his own singular turf as a singer, songwriter, and bandleader, the Mavericks combine bravura soloing with production flourishes of epic grandeur. The band's sophisticated arrangements pack swelling horns, multitracked vocals, tight ensemble playing, and blistering into Malo's emotionally charged and classically constructed songs. The multitalented Malo sings of love and yearning (the devastating rocker "I Should Know," the swoon-inducing ballad "Dream River"), of heartbreak and devotion, of love lost and then renewed ("I've Got This Feeling," with its devastating coda and key shift at the close). On the jazzy saloon song, "Fool # 1", Malo chronicles heartbreaking loneliness, slipping into a persuasive Sinatra-style croon as he laments his romantic mishaps. Trampoline reveals its secrets incrementally, its riches becoming more apparent with each new listening. More important, its message is to live life to the hilt, take the sour with the sweet and then press on, remembering that to love unconditionally is the only way to love. The sum of the parts equals a major event. David McGee

All Music Guide

As their career progresses, the Mavericks are becoming more of a showcase for vocalist/frontman Raul Malo, both for better and for worse. They may be losing their band identity, but that may have been inevitable, considering that Malo is such a gifted, powerful musician. He is the driving force behind all of the group's stylistic fusions, their blend of honky tonk with country-rock, classic rock & roll, pop, and Latin. On Music for All Occasions, the stylistic blends sounded a little gimmicky, but the band sounds revitalized on Trampoline -- even the vaudevillian "Dolores" rings as true as the shuffling, cha-cha "I Should Know." If anything, the album is the least "country" album the Mavericks have ever done, but that's primarily because all of their influences have blended seamlessly together, creating an original, altogether intoxicating sound. Furthermore, they're not simply surface -- Malo's songs are clever constructions, ranking among the most imaginative roots songwriting of the '90s. His writing, combined with his band's musical panache, makes Trampoline a ride worth taking. Thom Owens