When I first heard about this album's release two months ago, I was very psyched, as I have been a big fan of Raul Malo and the Mavericks for ages. Raul Malo's voice is absolutely top notch and is probably the best sounding male voice in all of Americana. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the album overall, as I felt that the song selection could have been stronger. Some of the songs performed are just too plain sweet sounding (Moon River; Sentimental Reasons) and were possibly chosen to play up the sweet quality of Malo's voice. I feel that the two strongest performances were where the songs have acoustic roots and the entire group comes together (Early Morning Rain/Lightfoot and You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go/Dylan). The album was OK ... a solid 3 out of 5.
Regards, Rich
Regards, Rich