MALO — Malo (review)

MALO — Malo album cover Album · 1972 · Latin Rock/Soul Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
dreadpirateroberts
Latin rock with some samba and a bit of Santana too.

San Franciscan band 'Malo' released this great album in 1972, and rode the single 'Suavecito' up the pop charts.

While it is accessible music, with a mixture of English and Spanish vocals, there is a lot going on in this collection of songs. No piece runs shorter than six minutes, allowing the band to stretch out. And with over ten members there's a full sound delivered when the standard rock instruments are joined by brass, keys and percussion. This set up works with the samba-rock of opener 'Pana' and the catchy 'Cafe' or the jam-closer 'Peace' but is applied more sparingly elsewhere. 'Peace' actually provides the biggest riff on the album, rounded out by a chubby bass line and a fun tempo change in the middle. This track is probably mostly reminiscent of Santana in some ways.

As can be expected, Carlos Santana's younger brother Jorge provides some red-hot lead throughout and some nice riffs on the closer, but Malo isn't a band that tries to showcase but a single player. Elsewhere on the album you get a great rocker in 'Just Say Goodbye' and more pop-influence tracks with 'Nena' and 'Suavecito' which has a chorus catchy enough to climb the charts once for Malo and then again years later for Sugar Ray.

Fans of Santana will find much to enjoy here, as there are certainly similarities that go beyond the guitar and percussion, but probably more enjoyable will be discovering the differences. Not at essential album, but good stuff nonetheless.
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