Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Music

All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

70 AFI
65 Air
71 Alice In Chains
77 Amerie
70 Anjulie
85 The Antlers
75 Arctic Monkeys
68 As Tall As Lions
82 Atlas Sound
75 The Avett Brothers
67 Backstreet Boys
56 Bad Lieutenant
68 Devendra Banhart
72 Lou Barlow
88 Baroness
69 Basement Jaxx
81 David Bazan
72 Brendan Benson
72 The Big Pink
96 Big Star
46 Billy Talent
75 The Black Crowes
51 Black Mold
59 Amanda Blank
68 Blitzen Trapper
75 BLK JKS
77 A.A. Bondy
73 The Bottle Rockets
63 Box Elders
65 Boys Like Girls
76 Brand New
73 Tyondai Braxton
87 Brother Ali
70 Ian Brown
75 Michael Buble
78 Built To Spill
61 Colbie Caillat
79 Califone
68 Mariah Carey
84 Brandi Carlile
73 Julian Casablancas
83 Rosanne Cash
69 Castanets
65 The Cave Singers
84 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
79 Vic Chesnutt
75 Choir Of Young Believers
81 Circulatory System
68 The Clean
84 The Clientele
71 Cobra Starship
85 Converge
71 Eric Copeland
80 Cymbals Eat Guitars
71 Datarock
59 Dead By Sunrise
76 Dead Man's Bones
64 Desolation Wilderness
88 Destroyer
63 The Dodos
77 Drive-By Truckers
74 The Duke & The King
66 Bob Dylan
44 The Entrance Band
67 Esser
69 Fanfarlo
63 Felix Da Housecat
68 Fink
78 The Flaming Lips
66 Flight Of The Conchords
79 Florence And The Machine
67 John Fogerty
77 Fruit Bats
83 Fuck Buttons
71 Nelly Furtado
47 Gary Go
68 Ghostface Killah
79 Girls
59 Gloriana
69 Gossip
62 David Gray
66 David Guetta
79 Richard Hawley
74 Mayer Hawthorne
66 Headlights
79 HEALTH
77 Joe Henry
66 Hockey
69 Whitney Houston
68 Imogen Heap
59 Jack Ingram
79 Islands
73 Jessie James
74 Jamie T
83 Japandroids
65 Jay-Z
51 Jet
69 Daniel Johnston
76 Karen O And The Kids
72 Toby Keith
69 Kid Cudi
65 Kings Of Convenience
62 Sean Kingston
64 KISS
76 Kris Kristofferson
68 KRS-One & Buckshot
76 La Roux
84 Miranda Lambert
72 Ledisi
75 Sondre Lerche
56 Juliette Lewis
82 Lightning Bolt
76 Lightning Dust
73 Little Dragon
44 Pixie Lott
73 Lyle Lovett
66 Lovvers
75 Baaba Maal
77 Madness
84 Madonna
85 Manic Street Preachers
62 Maps
55 Massive Attack
57 Matisyahu
67 Reba McEntire
66 Tim McGraw
65 Brian McKnight
79 Mew
77 Malcolm Middleton
77 Mika
68 Amy Millan
76 Mission Of Burma
73 Modest Mouse
76 Molina And Johnson
80 Monsters Of Folk
62 Morrissey
85 Mount Eerie
78 The Mountain Goats
62 Múm
72 Muse
66 Willie Nelson
78 Nirvana
97 Nirvana
72 Nisennenmondai
80 No Age
71 Noah And The Whale
75 Noisettes
79 Nudge
68 Nurses
47 Dolores O'Riordan
74 Os Mutantes
73 Osso
81 Owen
76 Paramore
76 Pastels And Tenniscoats
51 Sean Paul
80 Pearl Jam
66 Jemina Pearl
72 Jack Penate
65 Phish
82 Pissed Jeans
61 Pitbull
79 A Place To Bury Strangers
63 Julian Plenti
66 Robert Pollard
79 Polvo
72 Porcupine Tree
80 Q-Tip
80 R.E.M.
89 Raekwon
69 Rain Machine
70 Ramona Falls
75 Dizzee Rascal
75 The Raveonettes
76 Jay Reatard
82 Reigning Sound
81 Rodrigo Y Gabriela
79 Russian Circles
69 Buffy Sainte-Marie
73 Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61 Sally Shapiro
78 Shudder To Think
75 Sian Alice Group
70 Simian Mobile Disco
58 Simple Minds
72 Six Organs Of Admittance
69 Slaughterhouse
80 Slayer
61 The Slits
62 Mindy Smith
83 Solillaquists Of Sound
78 Soulsavers
77 Speech Debelle
58 Spiral Stairs
58 Squarepusher
55 Steel Panther
73 Sufjan Stevens
52 Rod Stewart
65 Joss Stone
75 George Strait
83 Barbra Streisand
76 A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74 Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78 The Swell Season
76 David Sylvian
83 Taken By Trees
78 Tegan And Sara
68 The Temper Trap
72 Themselves
82 They Might Be Giants
67 Third Eye Blind
68 Throw Me The Statue
66 J Tillman
69 Times New Viking
57 Tokio Hotel
67 Trey Songz
71 The Twilight Sad
58 Carrie Underwood
56 The Used
68 Various Artists
70 Various Artists
74 Various Artists
77 The Very Best
71 Kurt Vile
67 Vivian Girls
71 Volcano Choir
76 Rufus Wainwright
59 Weezer
80 White Denim
76 Why?
83 Wild Beasts
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59 Andrew W.K.
71 Patrick Wolf
67 Wolfmother
84 The xx
70 YACHT
75 Yim Yames
79 Yo La Tengo
83 Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
51 Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59 Zero 7

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Chavez Ravine

EMAILPRINTby Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder reviews
86
8.9 User Score:

Album Info

Label: Nonesuch

Release Date: 14 June 2005

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Rock, Singer-Songwriter, World

Summary

The guitarist's latest is a concept album about the residents of 1940's Chavez Ravine, a Mexican-American community near downtown Los Angeles that was famously bulldozed to make way for Dodger Stadium.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

95

Neumu.net

Chávez Ravine works because, ultimately, it isn't a history lesson or museum piece. It's the sound of musicians, now on the periphery, playing and singing the music they love.

Read Full Review >
91

Entertainment Weekly

A ghostly meditation on the culture of forgetting. [8 Jul 2005, p.68]

90

Paste Magazine

What makes the album so amazing is its ability to balance poignancy and fun.

Read Full Review >
90

All Music Guide

Chavez Ravine is easily the most ambitious thing in Cooder's catalog, and it just may be the grand opus of his career.

Read Full Review >
90

Billboard

A masterwork of insight and delight.

Read Full Review >
90

Tiny Mix Tapes

It hits very close to musical documentary with very few of the abstraction perils that usually haunt artists in converting ideas to their medium.

Read Full Review >
88

Los Angeles Times

Cooder manages to make his work both cynical and idealistic. But most importantly, it's authentic. [12 Jun 2005]

80

musicOMH.com

Though it might not be as rewarding a listening experience as Cooder's Cuban albums, this is still a set that demands repeated hearing, and I doubt there'll be another record as lovingly crafted as this all year.

Read Full Review >
80

The Guardian

It's a very clever album, and at times easier to admire than to simply enjoy because there is so much going on.

Read Full Review >
80

Uncut

With Chavez Ravine he has performed another ethnomusicological miracle, opening a can of worms while drawing us deep into the musical heart of a lost community. [Jul 2005, p.90]

80

Mojo

Conjunto, corrido and jazz emerge from and mingle with R&B and pop as the band follow the story from innocent beginnings to the tragic, bitter end. [Jul 2005, p.98]

80

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Chávez Ravine never romanticizes its subject. It simply makes it seem unnatural that any place where people lived, dreamed, died, and formed a neighborhood could be made to disappear.

Read Full Review >
80

Q Magazine

A self-contained gem. [Jul 2005, p.112]

80

The New York Times

Its seriousness never makes it earthbound. Mr. Cooder brings to it all he has learned from a career delving into odd corners of American and world music. [13 Jun 2005]

78

ShakingThrough.net

Chávez Ravine suffers from an uneven flow due to the varying quality of the material.

Read Full Review >
75

Stylus Magazine

Chavez Ravine drags occasionally, the result of too many serious narratives, but the stories that do work are jaw-droppingly simple and painfully familiar.

Read Full Review >
70

Amazon.com

The result is an CD that sounds like it's aspiring to be something far more ambitious: a DVD, a theatrical production, even a time machine.

Read Full Review >
70

Rolling Stone

Cooder has delivered a remarkable song cycle that tells the story -- a sort of brilliant and flavorful film-noir history lesson that samples the past freely.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bill W gave it a10:
Cooder does not disappoint.....great music and a great story.....one of the best "unknown" guitar composer and picker going

Hein gave it a10:
Masterpiece great concept-album!

Daniel G gave it a4:
I'm interested to know what this sudden interest in Chavez Ravine (the place) came from, not that this story doesn't deserve the attention it's getting. First the photo book published by Chronicle Books, then the play by Culture Clash and now, the album by Ry Cooder. I was impressed with the collection of talent used for the production of this album, but hugely dissappointed when I bought it and took a listen, it's an overrated album and downright obnoxious sometimes. I agree with David M, the worst tracks are his compostions. Good intentions, bad music...

Armando G F gave it a10:
You got to acknowledge that Mr. Cooder came home to his roots of Los Angeles. Not just for himself, but for all of us growing up here in Los Angeles and in the latino community. The mixture of of styles in the music is what the average latino listened to. I was not born at the time of these political crimes till 1961, I did grow up here in Los Angeles in the middle of a city with different nationalities listening to all different styles of music. Me especially because I was into music because on my mother and father. But I went further listening to Blues,Rock,Jazz,Swing,Classical,the different Latinos styles,acoustic and electric. Latinos in Los Angeles listened to all styles of music. So the mixture on the recordings for that time period is appropriate for the subject matter. I'm regular joe who grew up in Los Angeles at the end of the old and the beginning of the most ugly changes to our communities.

Matt A gave it a6:
I have to agree with David M, although I would also put Sleater-kinney in that severely overrated category as well. A decent enough listen but I think that it is getting alot of kudos just because the guy is somewhat of a legend in the world music scene. It was the same with "Smile." It was a good album, but not 97 on metacritic good, and even critics that initially gave it a really high score realized that in retrospect, as was evident by the fact that it only appeared on no more than half of the end of year lists and was number one on only a few.

David M gave it a6:
Right now only Lookaftering ranks ahead of it as most overrated album in Metacritic top 30... This album has been way overrated on account of it's well meaning political intentions, but as music...I am really unimpressed, and I've given it a solid 8 or 9 listens now. Only closing track is fantastic, and only one or two others (ie. Muy Fifi) memorable. Worst, all of the weakest tracks are Cooders own compositions. Despite the unique ethnic and historical appeal, end result is Bland and undynamic.

Chris O gave it a10:
Simply breathtaking

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use