As Alejandro Escovedo uses Real Animal to trace almost 50 years of personal experiences in rock’n’roll, the album becomes a reaffirmation of his faith in the art form he fell in love with all those decades ago. A lifelong glam rock fanboy, Escovedo fulfilled a personal dream by bringing on Tony Visconti (T. Rex, David Bowie) to produce. The album is lined with references to real people, places, and events, from the Golden Bear (the Huntington Beach, California, club where Escovedo witnessed some of his first rock shows in the Sixties) to “Chip N’ Tony,” which memorializes Escovedo’s bandmates in Rank & File with an anthemic shout-out: “All I ever wanted was a four-piece band!” The album uses the guitar rock of Bowie, Mott the Hoople, and the Stooges as a touchstone, and “People (We’re Only Gonna Live So Long)” and “Real As an Animal” aren’t just the most down-and-dirty tunes of Escovedo’s career, they are some of the best straight-ahead rock’n’roll you will find in 2008. And “”Sister Lost Soul,” “Hollywood Hills,” and “Slow Down” are some of the most poignant and nostalgic works of Escovedo’s career. Real Animal is a life-affirming reminder of how rock’n’roll is more than a genre. It’s the book in which its disciples write their life stories.