Street Songs of Love

An exhilarating, life-affirming blast of no-bullshit rock'n'roll, Street Songs of Love features Escovedo reteaming with famed David Bowie/T. Rex producer Tony Visconti, who also manned the boards for his arresting 2008 album, "Real Animal."

Street Songs of Love is the most raucous, rawest, and finest album Escovedo's yet released.

The wonderful Street Songs of Love brightens slightly without losing intensity.

He may be feeling wounded by love, but Escovedo's follow-up to 2008's career-defining Real Animals is an almost equally strong testament to his durability.

Now pushing 60, he's making some of the fiercest music of his career.

Backing band the Sensitive Boys provide some ear-catching guitar tweaks to upbeat numbers Silver Cloud and This Bed Is Getting Crowded, but the pace slows halfway through, at which point it gets hard to beat the feeling that Street Songs is decent, assured and confident, but pretty unexceptional.

Real Animal tamer Tony Visconti (Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Thin Lizzy) again harnesses Escovedo considerably more effectively than Stephen Bruton, Chris Stamey, and John Cale at a juncture in the local rocker's four-decade career when he enjoys a stable national profile. Street Songs of Love continues that instinctive trend, though profits are down.

Hints of glam and punk inform the rootsy proceedings, giving these alternately gritty and lyrical songs a satisfying glow.

Street Songs of Love is among his very best and a worthy successor to 2008's "Real Animal."

In an ideal world, Street Songs of Love would be topping the charts. Sadly, it's not all that likely, but with the management magic of Jon Landau behind him and songs as good as those on Street Songs of Love, Alejandro Escovedo may finally be recognized as one of America's finest musical treasures.

What makes it work is the sheer exuberance of the performances, the roar coming from the speakers. This is an album about the heart, but it hits below the belt--it wants to make you move.

The rush of Escovedo's ecstasy and agony proves frustratingly one-sided on the stale, hard-to-embrace Street Songs Of Love, which reduces all the unruly feelings that go with rough-and-tumble romantic relationships down to a series of blustery, MOR power ballads.

Escovedo is as reflective as he is melodic. [Juul 2010, p.116]