Ni el Diablo Te Va a Querer

Album Review

One of norteño music's longest-lived and most reliable acts, Los Rieleros del Norte are a regional Mexican institution whose career spans several decades and includes too many albums and singles to count. Ni el Diablo Te Va a Querer, one of the Texas-based group's many releases on Fonovisa Records, is typical of their output in recent years. It includes ten songs, three of which are performed in both norteño and banda versions. The banda versions of "No Volveré," "Ni el Diablo Te Va a Querer," and "Estaré Mejor" are included at the end of the album, making it seem longer than it really is. The brevity of Ni el Diablo Te Va a Querer is the only significant strike against it. Then again, it's not uncommon for a norteño album to run for a half-hour's time, so fans of the style should be accustomed to the brief running time. On song after song on Ni el Diablo Te Va a Querer, the ever-reliable Rieleros del Norte stick to their signature style of norteño, which is notable for its inclusion of saxophone as well as accordion and bajo sexto. Highlights of the album include "No Volveré" and the hit single "Ni el Diablo Te Va a Querer," a song of "desamor" about a woman whose soul is so black ("un alma tan negra"), not even the Devil would want her.