The album opens with its sweeping, epic title track, replete with its hint of Flamenco melodies and undercurrent of California beach rock. He heads up the coast with the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Eagles on the sociopolitical tinged “Living For Today.” “We tried giving peace a chance,” he belts, “the only thing that's wrong with that, we've been at war since I was born.” He boosts up the Tejas sound for “San Antonio Girl,” with some lovely accordion work courtesy of The Tex-Mex Experiences' Michael Guerra. Malo's voice soars with obvious passion on the Rodney Crowell classic “Till I Can Gain Control Again.” However, his love for this song is a bit of a drag as he stretches it out to a full six and a half minutes, including a final chorus where he repeats every line at least twice. By contrast, “Staying Here” is a stand out track that is a reminder of how wonderful Malo can be in the quiet moments. Malo reigns in his vocal gymnastics, giving the most intimate vocal on the album, on a beguiling album about a man who is trying to keep a marriage together for the sake of the kids. “Superstar” is a full throttle Latin rocker of faded glory featuring friends from the Texas Tornados, Guerra and The Trisha's on harmony vocals. Malo unleashes his voice again, and sends it soaring on the Spanish classic “Sombras.” “I think that life is full of endless possibilities, but fools can only see what they can see,” he offers on “Matter Much To You,” a slyly biting song about the gossipy and polarized nature of our society. He closes out the album with a stunning rendition of Los Lobos' “The Saint Behind the Glass.”
Sinners and Saints is an album full of largely great songs that is almost a great album. It catches a good blend of Malo's musical influences, capturing everything that his fans are expecting from him over the years. It also mixes his soaring, romantic vocals with his subtle sarcasm, bringing humor and beauty in equal portions. Perhaps if it had been a slightly longer album with a few more tracks something would have emerged to tie all of these songs together into a great album. As it is, these are nine individual songs that can be added to highlight a really great playlist.
You can support Raul Malo by purchasing this album (Oct 5) at Amazon | iTunes.
If you prefer your music to be more than ones and zeroes you can buy the album at Amazon.
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