Willie Colón - Masterworks: El Juicio (1972)

Just this side of a classic, El Juicio is yet another frenetic volume in the continuing series of classics produced by Willie Colón and Hector Lavoe during one of the most fruitful partnerships in Latin music history. With Cosa Nuestra and La Gran Fuga (The Big Break) already under their belt, and a few years of honing their material on the road, Colón and Lavoe produced a pair of classics on El Juicio, the eight-minute "Timbalero," which approximates the sonic experience of a barnyard parade down 110th Street, and the six-minute "Aguanile," both of which should have come with caveats for all but the most conditioned salsa dancers. It may not equal Cosa Nuestra before it or Lo Mato just after of it, but El Juicio would be the best moment in any other salsa artist's catalog.~John Bush