Before the advent of cars, busses and trains, horses were more than a form of recreation -- they were an absolute necessity if you needed to get around on land and had a long commute. In those days, horses weren't just for country people; they were the best option if you were an urbanite who needed to get from London to Glasgow or from Madrid to Barcelona. But thanks to technology, horses have become a symbol of those who celebrate a more rural way of life; that is true in country & western, and it is equally true in regional Mexican music -- which honors vaqueros y rancheros (cowboys and ranchers) in much the same way that salsa honors guajiros (people from rural parts of Cuba). Horses, in fact, are the dominant theme of
Corridos de Caballos Famosos, an excellent album celebrating the role that los caballos (horses) have played in Mexican folklore. Over the years,
los Huracanes del Norte have built a huge catalog -- and while the norteño veterans have some truly hardcore fans who will buy anything they record, those who have a more casual interest in their legacy need to know which albums are excellent and which ones are merely decent. This 2004 release is superb, and
los Huracanes are in fine form whether they are providing original material or covering familiar caballo-related songs by
Luis Pérez Meza ("El Alazán y el Rocío"),
Emilio Lara Brob ("Caballo Prieto Afamado") and
Jose Albarrán ("Caballo Alazán Lucero," "El Potro Lobo Gateado"). If you were teaching a Spanish-language course on rural Mexican folklore, this very thematic effort should be required listening; the album really does capture, without hesitation, the essence of what norteño/Tex-Mex music is all about. Most of
los Huracanes' '90s and 2000s recordings have been respectable, but
Corridos de Caballos Famosos is beyond respectable -- it is quite possibly the best album they provided in the first-half of the 2000s.