Malo - Best of Malo (CD)

All Music Guide

The single-disc compilation The Best of Malo covers the brief recording career of a great Latin rock band. Grabbing tracks from a two-year period (which encompassed four albums), the disc sounds all of a piece, a mix of torrid salsa rockers from the band's first two albums with the soft balladry it often dipped into during its time together. The disc begins perfectly, with the smart, brassy, kinetic "Nena," boasting extended solos for Roy Murray on trombone, Jorge Santana on guitar, and Richard Kermode on keyboards. It's actually a better song than the band's only chart hit, "Suavecito," which is just as smooth a piece of summer-day Latin soul as the title indicates, though it doesn't pose much of a challenge to one of Latin rock's finest groups. Almost three-fourths of Malo's first two albums are collected here, along with about half from the last two. A pair of wise additions are the intense Latin workouts "Merengue" and "Dance to My Mambo," both from 1973's Evolution, as well as the... deep Santana groove of "Cafe." Though Malo's debut album is still a can't-miss for fans of Latin rock, this compilation does little wrong too. - John Bush, All Music Guide Read more Less