Cons: Remixed pop tunes done to a banda or mariachi beat just don't do it...
The Bottom Line: Thalia has a wonderful voice and a great talent for performing pop masterpieces, but that translates poorly to the regional banda sound. Skip this one...
mrkstvns's Full Review: Con Banda Grandes Exitos by Thal!a
What would you think if Madonna suddenly decided that she was interested in Cajun Zydeco and Appalachian Bluegrass and released a CD of remixed versions of Material Girl and Like a Virgin so that they sounded vaguely like Clifton Chenier...what would you think of such a thing?
I'll bet you'd feel sort of the way I feel towards Thalia Con Banda Grandes Exitos.
On the one hand it's great that Thalia is paying attention to traditional regional Mexican musical genres, but on the other hand, she's a pop star. She has her own distinctive sound. A sound that is at home in trendy urban discos. She's got a pile of uber-platinum discs. What the heck is she doing trying to sound like a mariachi??
There aren't a heck of a lot of musicians who can successfully cross genre lines, but there are some. There also aren't a heck of a lot of songs that can be successfully remixed so that they sound good and so they work well across different genres. People who are real masters of a genre tend to work in that genre for a reason -- because they have a feel for it and because their heart is in it.
I can think of a couple musicians who seem to be able to successfully walk in two musical worlds, but not many. When they do, they're usually smart enough not to just do all their stuff in one genre and then press the "Bossanova" button on their Yamaha keyboard to have it spit out the tune in a different genre. No, they would develop songs (or entire CDs) that work well in one genre, then go back to the drawing board when working in the other genre so that they're able to really architect their work so that it is truly a work that fits in its genre.
Sure, you can probably dredge up a few exceptions. Maybe you're aware of some old Irving Berlin show tunes that have been great hits as rap singles, or maybe you'll throw Walter Murphy's ridiculous 1976 hit Fifth of Beethoven in my face. For the most part though, I'll bet the exceptions prove the rule.
The rule I'm talking about is "stick to what you do best." The real geniuses of the musical world know what they're good at, and they work at it so hard that they make it seem effortless. I've never heard John Lee Hooker making his soulful blues tunes sound like country-western ballads. I've never heard Nine Inch Nails pretending to be Perry Como (though it might be an improvement). And I've certainly never heard Van Halen trying to break into the piano bar circuit.
But enough of the analogies and big picture widi-widi, let's hit the "Play" button and give Thalia's Con Banda CD a listen, shall we...
Outtakes
I've always liked Thalia. I like the freshness of her voice, I like her fast-paced dance tunes, I like her high-energy brand of international pop. I've written reviews here of some of her earlier CDs, and I think I've probably rated them all as 5-star CDs. There's a reason for that: Thalia has an incredible talent when it comes to pop tunes.
Almost every song on this CD was a hit -- at least it was a hit in its pop form when it came off of one of Thalia's earlier CDs. Some of the tunes, like Arrasando, Piel Morena, and Amor a la Mexicana were huge hits -- just huge! I love these songs! But I love them as pop songs.
It seems to me that I should absolutely love Thalia's Con Banda CD, after all, I not only love her pop hits, I also absolutely love the traditional sounds of the norteno, banda, and mariachi genres. I love listening to the masters of norteno music -- people like Ramon Ayala or Los Tigres del Norte. I love listening to the strident bright sounds of banda masters like El Recodo. I love listening to the heartfelt sounds of old Mexico from masters like Vargas de Tecalitlan, or the rancheras of singers like Vicente Fernandez. These are the kinds of sounds that Thalia is trying to retrofit into her pop hits. Why, then, don't I like this album??
I'll tell you why I don't like it. I don't like it because it does not work!
Norteno music is about themes that affect the desparately working poor. It's about underdogs who occasionally luck out. It's about people who live close to the earth around them. Rancheras, ballads, corridos, cumbias -- these are the kinds of things that norteno music is about. It is not about pop ditties of falling in love with a Mexicana with a few tinny trumpet blasts thrown in for effect.
Listen to a few of the tunes on this CD. Rosalinda adds some deep tubas and some trumpets to Thalia's runaway hit soap opera theme song, but this version doesn't work nearly as well as the cleaner sound of the original hit.
Try as they might to capture the vitality and energy of the original Arrasando, Thalia's banda just can't hope to keep up, and the song comes off sounding to me like a weak step-child.
I've heard so many versions of the K. Santandar Piel Morena that one more can't help but fit into the mix -- and I absolutely loved Thalia's version as it was done on the En Extasis CD -- but all the brass on this version makes it sound like a cover tune done by the house band at a low-budget dance hall.
The last couple tracks on this CD are labeled as "Emilio Remix". These have a vaguely Cuban salsa sound to them that is totally disjointed and disconnected from the rest of the CD, which is theoretically paying homage to traditional Mexican genres. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good salsa tune -- in the hands of Gloria Estefan. I most certainly do not want to hear Mexican pop ditties with a few tamboras thrown in.
Tracks
Here's what you get on this CD -- heard 'em all before, haven't you?
1. Amor a la Mexicana 2. Piel Morena 3. Rosalinda 4. Quiero Hacerte el Amor 5. Arrasando 6. Cuco Pena 7. Por Amor 8. Entre el Mar y una Estrella 9. Maria la del Barrio 10. Noches sin Luna 11. La Revancha 12. Gracias a Dios 13. Amor a la Mexicana (Emilio Remix) 14. Piel Morena (Emilio Remix)
Bottom Line
As much as I normally love listening to Thalia CDs, I've got to level with you folks. I don't like this Con Banda CD. Not at all. It lacks the energy and vitality of her pure pop studio CDs, the themes and sound of her pop hits meld poorly when retrofitted to the regional sounds of banda or norteno, and it just comes off as being a phony nod to the hardworking bands who really make regional genres something special to listen to. If Thalia brings some attention to other genres, then great, this CD will have had some redeeming value, but otherwise I'd avoid it and try listening to her earlier CDs instead.
If you want to hear an album with a rock-solid regional banda sound, I recommend Banda el Recodo's Contigo Para Siempre, or maybe one of Graciela Beltran's earlier CDs.
Until next time, see you in the music store. As always, I'll be the gringo browsing around in the latin music aisle...
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