Los Lobos, "By The Light Of The Moon," MOFI #0908, Ultrasonic Clean, Near Mint
$
60
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Description
Dr. John's Spin Factory brings you one of the best alternative, folk-rock albums of the late 1980s. It's Los Lobos with their 1987 entry, By The Light Of the Moon. The copy for sale is the 2012 Mobile Fidelity, gatefold version, with the limited edition number, 0908 (fairly low), and sounds fabulous, in part due to very quiet vinyl surfaces, in part due to MOFI's remastering magic, and in part thanks to thorough Kirmuss ultrasonic cleaning. (This cleaning device makes a huge difference in playback volume, punch, clarity, and musical believability.) This album, which I find bears one of the more alluring in all pop music, was produced by T-Bone Burnett, which pretty much guarantees at least one thing: This is a really good album. To tell you more about exactly why, here is AllMusic's Mark Deming:
On How Will the Wolf Survive?, Los Lobos seemed to be feeling out the boundaries of how much they could say about the hard realities of life within the framework of good-time R&B-flavored rock & roll, and on their next album, 1987's By the Light of the Moon, the group gently shifted their focus to favor their more contemplative side. While the band certainly hadn't lost the ability to rock out (check out "My Baby's Gone" or "Shakin' Shakin' Shakes" for proof), most of the album displayed a lighter touch musically, with David Hidalgo's deft lead guitar and Cesar Rosas' precise rhythm chords fueling lean but smoky R&B numbers like "Is That All There Is?" and "All I Wanted to Do Was Dance" and understated musical snapshots like "One Time, One Night" and "River of Fools." Lyrically, By the Light of the Moon is dominated by the sad mysteries of life and the less-than-generous nature of fate, as ordinary people try to come to terms with death ("One Time, One Night"), disappointment ("Is That All There Is?"), love that's faded into the shadows ("The Hardest Time"), and the mingled comfort and uncertainties of faith ("Tears of God"). While the soundtrack album to the movie La Bamba, released the same year, captured Los Lobos at their most carefree and high-spirited as they called up the spirit of Ritchie Valens, By the Light of the Moon showed the other side of the coin as the group looked into the hearts and souls of themselves and the community around them, and if it's a harder album to enjoy than those that preceded it, its depth rewards repeated listenings.
Indeed, I predict that when you fall in love with this music as I did, it will be on the third or fourth listen
As I do with all used vinyl, this disc will be packed in a plastic slipcover outside of its jacket, which prevents the (heavy) disc from damaging the edges of the jacket. One note about the jacket, while it looks largely like new, or Near Mint, the inside center seam (along the gatefold) is slightly funky looking, as if the paper didn't adhere to the cardboard or settle in quite properly when it was made (see photo). FWIW, the album came new that way and has never bothered me (at least). Call it one of those oddities of making things out of paper and cardboard that fold.
Good luck! And remember to play music as often as possible, especially in your head where the only person you need to please is you... Best, Dr. John
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