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(More customer reviews)It feels like a century ago when Juan Luis Guerra threatened the world and his millions of fans with a semi-retirement of sorts, and just a few tours now and then, without the elaborated and complicated productions of other tours like "Areito".
Well, whatever has changed in the mind of the most accomplished Dominican musician of all time, we're the winners. "A Son de Guerra" is the third studio album of Guerra and his 4 40 band in six years, a pretty good average considering the time he used to spend between new productions in the past. To the surprise of nobody, this new album reaches the heights of an almost instant classic, and will undoubtedly satisfy fans, critics and even casual listeners. In perhaps his most varied album in styles, Guerra mixes very well a combination that give us an array of Latin rhythms that includes Son, Guaracha, Mambo, Salsa and his well-known specialty, Merengue and Bachata. Guerra also explores the regions of American Blues and modern Latin pop-rock with the help of Colombian superstar Juanes.
The album opens with "No Aparecen" a fresh merengue with the Juan Luis patented lyrics, using a lot of metaphors related to love and nature. At the beginning you sort of sense the style of previous jobs like "El Beso de la Ciguatera", where African patterns influenced Guerra. Next is "La Guagua" a Guaracha with funny and witty lyrics, where suddenly, in the middle of the song, Guerra improvises "rap/raggae-style" to add a different twist to the song. The song talks about unfulfilled promises, in a not so subtle direct reference to politicians. Dominicans call buses "guaguas" and in this case, the bus is going backwards instead of forward:
Tira la palanca y endereza
Que la guagua va en reversa
Maybe I'm wrong, but this could be a hidden message to the actual Dominican government, whose campaign slogan is "E' Pa'lante que vamos" or "We're goin' forward" in English and Juan Luis definitely thinks that we're not going precisely that way.
The third track is "Mi Bendicion" one of two bachatas in he album, very much in the tradition of recent jobs like "La Hormiguita" or "Que me des tu cariño". Following is "La Calle" a powerful pop-rock song with traces of Latin influences where Guerra teams up with Juanes - a perfect choice for the song, to the point that you'll think it was wrote for him - to give us one of the highlights of the album. The fifth track is "Bachata en Fukuoka" a sort of homage song from Juan Luis to his first tour to Japan. I may be biased, because the first time I listened - this was the first track of the album being promoted - I was totally unimpressed. The lyrics are kind of cheesy and the melody monotonous, but after you listen to it two or three times, you begin to hum along and like the song a bit. Guerra returns to talk about social and political matters in his unique way with "Apaga y Vamonos", an expression which translates to "Turn-off the lights and let's leave" that is used in the Dominican (and maybe other Latin countries) when a cause or endeavor has no hope, and it's a waste of a time to keep trying. Obviously, Juan Luis is talking directly to his country (or any other country, for that matter) politicians and political parties whom, after decades of empty promises and false commitments to change, have proved to be exactly the same people with different colors or initials. Guerra is at his best, and resumes almost to a T, what the men and women of principle of his country, feels every single day. It is a shame that the song didn't come out around February or March, in time for the Dominican mid-term elections campaign, because its message would've been incredibly powerful.
Apaga y vamonos
Que yo no sé
Los hombres nobles
Donde se ven
Things cool off a bit in the next track "Son Al Rey" one of two Christian songs in the album, this one with Cuban son rhythm, which music is very well done, and you'll enjoy it no matter what your religious beliefs. In "Cayo Arena" Guerra goes back in time again, and remind us his early work in albums like "Soplando" and "Mudanza y Acarreo". The song is a Merengue-Pambiche with jazzy trumpets, sax and chords, extremely well crafted, which isn't going to your local radio hits parade by any means, but will definitely give the listener a wonderful time. In the ninth track Guerra give us the salsa "Arregla los Papeles" which at first sight looks like a song with a social-political message, but promptly you find out the message, instead, it's a clear religious one. One could argue the message is dual, but no matter what, this is one of the weakest songs of the album albeit a neatly arranged one.
American trumpeter Chris Botti joins Juan Luis in "Lola's Mambo" a mainly instrumental piece which Guerra defines as a "musician's song" implying clearly that this was more an intellectual exercise in music, to be enjoyed for those with a more sophisticated sense. Finishing off is "Caribbean Blues" a piece that have a son base, with fantastic American Blues traces, voice arrangements and combination of acoustic and electric guitars.
I don't have the musical expertise to call "A Son de Guerra" another masterpiece like "Bachata Rosa" or "Ojala que llueva Café", but this is another solid effort from the always reliable Juan Luis Guerra. You can almost count on at least a couple of Grammy nominations, just based in the exquisite variety of sounds. One can only hope that next, Juan Luis finally gives the OK to a long awaited live album and DVD of one of his tours. As a fan of Juan Luis Guerra y 4-40 since 1984, I'm highly pleased with this album, and as always, happy to see the musical icon of the Dominican Republic shine again.
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A son de GuerraCapitol Latin Presents, Juan Luis Guerra's latest album, "A SON DE GUERRA," which will be released on June 8. An acclaimed singer, songwriter, musician and producer, Juan Luis Guerra is one of the most credible and respected names in the music Industry. A multiple award winning artist, Guerra, has proven that his music not only crosses oceans, but musical boundaries with accolades like: winning 2 Grammy Awards, 9 Latin Grammy Awards, 2 Billboard Awards and 10 Latin Billboard Music Awards. Right when the production was wrapping on "A Son de Guerra," the prodigious musician undertook the titanic labor of organizing the benefit concert "Song of Hope for Haiti" along with some of his famous colleagues to help raise funds for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The event was a complete success, as well as his historic participation a few days later in the New Orleans Jazz Festival. But if you ask him to account for all of his incredible achievements and honors, Juan Luis Guerra wastes no time reflecting on such things, preferring to concentrate on the now: "Every day is a new beginning," he affirms, "I'm always thinking that the best is yet to come." On this new album, "A SON DE GUERRA," we can expect Juan Luis' unique style as he self-produces the album. Highlights include special guest artists Colombian rocker, Juanes, and American trumpeter and composer, Chris Botti, adding more flavor to the mix that allows Juan Luis' music to easily cross genres and market boundaries worldwide.
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