The Ride

Los Lobos have skirted the edges of mainstream success for two decades, but the East L.A. quintet are unlikely to get any closer to it. That’s not for any lack of talent, ideas, or songwriting chops, but rather an overabundance of all three. Take their 12th album, The Ride. They spring easily from exuberant Latin shuffles (“Ya Se Va”) to gritty, bluesy rockers (“Is This All There Is?”) to passionate old-school soul (the Bobby Womack–sung “Wicked Rain/Across 110th Street” medley), without ever sounding lost. Celebrity guest stars abound, but unlike, say, Santana’s Supernatural, in which every guest is overwhelmed by the record’s homogeneous pop sheen, Los Lobos do some genuine collaborating here. Just when you’re warming up to Elvis Costello’s heart-wrenching vocal on the re-recording of the band’s 1984 tune “Matter of Time,” they switch gears to “Someday,” a horn-leavened gospel rave-up featuring the legendary Mavis Staples. The band’s wandering spirit may not help them sell any records, but it certainly makes the records they do sell more interesting to hear.