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Los Lobos' Ambitious 1992 Album Stands as a Peak Moment in a Career Filled With High-Water Marks: Rollicking Blues, Cabaret Jazz, Snarling Rock, and More Inform the Music

Multidimensional Sonics Yield Colorful Quilts of Textures and Subtleties: Mobile Fidelity's Hybrid SACD Reissue Exposes Use of Studio as Instrument

Only a few years removed from breaking through with their cover ofRitchie ValensLa Bamba,Los Lobosturned even more heads withKiko, a beautifully textured and flawlessly executed musical statement that reveals the group taking on ambitious musical challenges and surmounting every one.In pairing with producer Mitchell Froom, the band yielded this critically acclaimed 1992 set that remains the apex of its distinguished career.

Mastered from original master tapes, Mobile Fidelitys hybrid SACD ofKikopresents the record in previously unimaginable fidelity. In particular,Frooms exquisite production can now be experienced in full relief, with the vintage tape-loop keyboards and spare arrangements yielding an ethereal feel, otherworldly ambience, and colorful finish that complement the ace playing. The subtleties of the richly detailed backdropssplashed with distortion, feedback, random sound effects, sonorous horns, ominous chants, delicately plucked harpsare greatly enhanced, turning the multifacetedKikointo the aural equivalent of a sensational IMAX presentation.

The material, too, ravishes the senses. InRolling Stones original review ofKiko, David Okamoto remarks the music sounds more created than contrived, thanks to the compassionate touch of the group's main songwriters, singer-guitaristDavid Hidalgoand drummerLouis Prez. Indeed, the Los Angeles ensemble tackles tough-minded social issues such as alcoholism, suicide, abuse, homelessness, death, and rape without coming across as preachy or melodramatic.The records power relates to that possessed by the most timeless albumsthe emotional and metaphysical capacities to transcend problems, overcome adversity, and deliver catharsis.

Spanning rollicking blues and dreamy pop balladry to snarling rock and traditional Mexican-inspired waltzes,Kikoseemingly knows no bounds.Lullabies such as Saint Behind the Glass claim mellifluous elegance while the cabaret-laced jazz of work like Kiko and the Lavender Moon glows with a dark majesty, thanks to both the skilled performance andFroomsilluminating production.Los Lobosseldom, if ever, drifted so far outside of the roots-rock box as they do onKiko. And yet, the collectives binding connection to folklore remains in tact. Native American, Hispanic, and Catholic elements surface in the lyrics and arrangements, the characteristics expressing a multicultural reach that parallels the songs multidimensional construction.

And still, it remains impossible to ignore the use of the studio as the records secret-weapon instrument.Imaginative tricks such as noise gates, filters, and psychedelic devices help establish a surrealism that never lets up. Neither doesKiko.