El Cancionero: Mas y Mas

Disc 1
1	Guantanamera 4:52
2	Sabor A Mi 3:50
3	We're Gonna Rock 2:13
4	Let's Say Goodnight 2:35
5	Anselma 3:11
6	Why Do You Do 2:40
7	How Much Can I Do? 2:21
8	I'm Sorry Live / previously unreleased 2:30
9	Los Ojos De Pancha Live / previously unreleased 2:25
10	Don't Worry Baby 2:47
11	I Got Loaded 3:18
12	A Matter Of Time 3:49
13	Corrido #1 2:41
14	Evangeline 2:42
15	Lil' King Of Everything 1:19
16	Will The Wolf Survive? 3:42
17	Quatro Vicios 3:30
18	I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday 2:09
19	One Time One Night 4:49
20	Shakin' Shakin' Shakes 4:12
21	Is This All There Is? 3:58
22	My Baby's Gone 3:41
23	River Of Fools 2:55
24	Set Me Free (Rosa Lee) 3:39
25	Tears Of God 3:43
Disc 2
1	La Bamba 2:55
2	Come on, Let's Go 2:12
3	Goodnight My Love 3:16
4	Rip It Up previously unreleased 1:40
5	Volver, Volver Live 3:47
6	I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song) 3:37
7	Estoy Sentado Aquí 2:28
8	La Pistola Y El Corazón 3:30
9	I Can't Understand 4:00
10	Someday 3:43
11	I Walk Alone 3:00
12	Angel Dance 3:13
13	Little John Of God 2:20
14	Down On The Riverbed 4:06
15	Till The Hands Fall Off the Clock previously unreleased 3:55
16	Be Still 3:34
17	The Neighborhood 4:10
18	Bertha 5:18
19	Beautiful Maria Of My Soul 4:29
20	The Christmas Song Live / previously unreleased 2:39
Disc 3
1	Dream In Blue 3:34
2	Wicked Rain 3:04
3	Angels With Dirty Faces 4:03
4	That Train Don't Stop Here 3:52
5	Kiko And The Lavender Moon 3:37
6	Saint Behind The Glass 3:19
7	When The Circus Comes 3:16
8	Peace previously unreleased / Demo Version 4:19
9	Rio De Tenampa previously unreleased / Demo Version 5:07
10	Try Me previously unreleased 2:33
11	Alone In A Crowd 3:00
12	Tomorrow Never Knows Live / previously unreleased 5:14
13	Forever Night Shade Mary 3:05
14	Same Brown Earth 3:45
15	Down Where The Drunkards Roll 3:40
16	Route 90 3:22
17	Lonely Avenue 3:38
18	Midnight Shift 2:56
19	Mariachi Suite 4:22
20	She's About A Mover Live / previously unreleased 4:25
Disc 4
1	Revolution 3:07
2	Mas Y Mas 4:42
3	Maricela 3:50
4	Can't Stop The Rain 3:35
5	This Bird's Gonna Fly 4:16
6	Pepe & Irene 3:33
7	Lonesome Tears In My Eyes 3:51
8	Me Estas Matando 3:48
9	El Canoero 3:19
10	La Sirena 2:53
11	El Pescador 4:29
12	Little Heaven 3:39
13	Soul Disguise 3:19
14	Angelito 4:25
15	Lemon 'N Ice 3:51
16	I'll Change My Style 3:49
17	Cumbia Raza Version 2:52
18	Oh Yeah 3:48
19	Viking 3:32
20	This Time 5:18
21	What's Going On Live / previously unreleased 3:33

Barnes & Noble

Chicano rock legends Los Lobos pay frequent homage to traditional Mexican styles such as norteño and conjunto, but their music is ultimately a melting pot of influences most aptly described as 20th-century American. This four-disc, 85-track box set presents the group's synthesis of American roots styles in a fascinating light. The set proceeds chronologically, with the Cuban folk of "Guantanamera" from Los Lobos' 1977 indie debut giving way to the rockabilly and R&B of their first pop efforts in the early '80s ("We're Gonna Rock," "I Got Loaded"). In short order, the group is heard mastering its syncretic style, incorporating roadhouse blues and soul along the way ("Shakin' Shakin' Shakes," "Set Me Free Rosa Lee"). By the early '90s, Los Lobos seemed to have taken roots-rock as far as they could, and they burst out of an impending stylistic rut with left-field production techniques and impressionistic song structures ("Dream in Blue"). The band was aided in this endeavor by producers Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, with whom singer/guitarist David Hidalgo and drummer/lyricist Louie Perez went on to form the Latin Playboys, whose even quirkier excursions are also represented here. With splendid visual and verbal documentation of the group's history -- the four CDs are housed in a hardcover book with 76 pages of text -- and a wealth of previously unreleased cuts and rarities from soundtracks and tribute albums, El Cancionero is truly a fan's paradise. Special highlights include an eclectic batch of covers ranging from the Beatles' psych-fest "Tomorrow Never Knows" to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" featuring Sheryl Crow, and of course, "La Bamba." Add a raft of side-project selections (Los Super Seven, Cesar Rosas solo, Houndog), and you've got as definitive a box set as any Los Lobos diehard could want. Jim Allen

All Music Guide

A multi-disc, authoritative box set usually arrives toward the end of an artist's career, which is what made the appearance of Los Lobos' four-disc retrospective El Cancionero: Mas y Mas in 2000 a little surprising. They weren't selling as many records, nor were they quite as hip as they were ten years earlier, yet they retained a devoted cult and critical following -- they were still in the prime of their career, not ready to be enshrined. Fortunately, the band and Rhino went ahead and assembled a box, which winds up capturing a band at the height of its powers. The set smartly spends a lot of time on side projects, including the Latin Playboys, Los Super Seven, Houndog, and selections from Cesar Rosas' solo album, plus a healthy number of live songs, B-sides, tribute album tracks, and 11 previously unreleased tracks. These tracks deepen the already rich musical tapestry Los Lobos weaves, and the end result is pretty impressive. As the set winds from the authentic Mexican folk music of 1977 through the gutsy roots rock of 1987 and the dreamy soundscapes of 1992 to the daring music of the mid-'90s and then the consolidation of their strengths on 1999's This Time, it's hard not to be astonished not just by the band's range, but the fact that they do it all really well. This is the definitive portrait of Los Lobos, highlighting everything that they can do and containing almost all of their greatest songs; this is one of the rare times that a four-disc box set summarizes all of an artist's strengths, while telling a great musical story, as well. Stephen Thomas Erlewine