Cesar Rosas' first solo album, Soul Disguise makes no effort to move beyond the range of material he contributed to Los Lobos. In fact, Soul Disguise sounds positively conservative compared to Los Lobos albums like Kiko and Colossal Head. Full of blues, soul, RB and accordion-driven Mexican tunes, Soul Disguise takes Rosas back to the kind of sound that typified the first full-length Los Lobos LP, How Will the Wolf Survive? The blues pervade the album. The hard-driving title track could have originated in the Texas blues scene, with a guitar solo that conjures up the spirit of Jimi Hendrix. Ike Turner's You've Got to Lose is a brutal chunk of RB that Rosas makes his own. The slow and steamy E. Los Ballad #13 and the funky Treat Me Right are soul-inflected blues, with Rosas applying a touch of tenderness in his vocals. But the album is more than just modern blues. The opening track, Little Heaven, is a slice of love-ain't-what-it-used-to-be storytelling, and Racing the Moon is just the sort of rock-flavored song that could be covered by one of the new country hat acts. The two songs in Spanish feature accordion master Flaco Jimenez: Angelito is a polka that just won't quit, and Adios Mi Vida is a tender waltz. Throughout Soul Disguise, Rosas lets his influences show while at the same time sounding like nobody but himself. It's a fine album, entertaining in the best sense of the word, and essential for fans of Los Lobos. ~ Martin Monkman, Rovi

1		Little Heaven
2		You've Got to Lose
3		Tough to Handle
4		Angelito
5		Struck
6		Shack and Shamb
7		Better Way
8		Soul Disguise
9		Treat Me Right
10		Adiós Mi Vida
11		Racing the Moon
12		E. Los Ballad #13

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