The Mavericks
The Mavericks

(Sanctuary)

T.J. Simon's #10 album for 2003

First Appeared at The Music Box, November 2003, Volume 10, #11

Written by T.J. Simon

With each album, The Mavericks’ music strays further and further from the straightforward country style that made the band semi-famous. On its latest self-titled release, the band opts for a 1970s AM pop sound with a very slight country edge. The 11 jangly toe-tappers are elegant in their simplicity as band leader Raul Malo’s rich baritone recalls the golden pipes of Roy Orbison, Dwight Yoakam, and Vegas-era Elvis Presley. Malo waxes philosophical on the album’s shining original number Would You Believe, a tune that just as easily could have been recorded by The Turtles or Herman’s Hermits more than 30 years ago. A mammoth horn section adds punctuation on the up-tempo bossa nova number Shine Your Light as well as on Because of You. Finally, this no-miss album concludes with a better-than-the-original cover of Air that I Breathe ("All I need is the air that I breathe and to love you..."), the Albert Hammond-penned tune that became a hit for The Hollies in 1974. It all amounts to The Mavericks being one of the most fulfilling, yet undemanding, listens of 2003. ½

The Mavericks is available from Barnes & Noble.
To order, Click Here!

Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2003 The Music Box