dtobias's Full Review: Vientos en Libertad by Tatiana
Update: On repeated listenings, some of the songs on this album are starting to grow on me, despite their initial lack of catchiness, so I'm bumping this up to four stars instead of the three stars I originally gave it.
So far I've reviewed one of Tatiana's albums from her current phase (1995-present) as children's entertainer, and one from her early phase (1984-89) as a teen pop star. This still leaves those "middle years" (1990-94), and she was hardly absent then. In fact, this Mexican singer has released 16 albums so far over a 16-year singing career, so unlike so many former teen pop stars, she's never had to make a "comeback": she never went away in the first place. She has re-invented herself several times, though, starting with the beginning of her singing career itself - prior to that, she had been a medal-winning gymnast in Mexican competition, and was set to train for the Olympics, when she decided she wanted to be a singer instead. Since then, she's transformed her style as an entertainer, from teen pop to adult pop to her current career as a children's TV host and singer of songs for kids. This latter career has been her most successful one, yielding more gold, platinum, and diamond albums in Mexico than her earlier pop albums did.
The album I'm reviewing now, though, is from her preceding phase, that of adult pop. It's a little strange that adulthood was just a phase she went through, but that's kind of how things worked out. Vientos en Libertad (Winds in Liberty; it's mistakenly listed in her official Web site as "Vientos de Libertad," Winds of Liberty, which seems to make more sense, but the actual title has en instead) is the first of her "adult" albums, with liner notes entitled "Ayer la niña, hoy la mujer" (Yesterday the child, today the woman) announcing the new stage in her life. It was followed by two more albums, Leyes del Corazon (Laws of the Heart) and Un Alma Desnuda (A Naked Soul). The adult nature of these albums was announced via increasingly risqué cover pictures. Vientos en Libertad had an inside picture in the CD liner with big holes in her jeans (is that red thing you see at a usually-covered part of her upper leg a birthmark?); Leyes del Corazon had her in the process of shedding an overcoat to reveal a lacy fishnet costume while apparently standing out on a street at night; and, in the raciest shot of all, Un Alma Desnuda had more "desnuda" than just her soul; only a strategically-placed tree limb kept this album from having to be kept behind the counter with the girlie magazines. And she went straight from there to become a totally-wholesome children's TV host, on a program given the "TV-Y" (Children of All Ages) rating, in which she doesn't even bare her belly-button (though her dancers sometimes do). Only in Latin America...
Unfortunately, I can't review those latter two albums here, since they're not in the Epinions list (even the expanded one you can bring up to add things). The gaps in this list are inexplicable and infuriating. So I'll have to content myself for now (unless and until they can finally be convinced to add them) to making a few mentions of the missing albums in my other reviews. I'll say that if you find any of these "adult-phase" Tatiana albums at a used CD store (they're all out of print) for a reasonable price, they're almost worth getting for the cover pictures alone, not even considering the music. Well, if you're a straight male (or gay female), at least. I'll also note that Leyes del Corazon features a particular rarity for Tatiana: two songs in English. (I think they're just on the CD version.) While many Latin singers have taken advantage of the periodic American "Latin-pop" crazes by putting out English albums alongside their Spanish ones, Tatiana has stayed away from this, but those tracks show that she's entirely capable of singing in both languages.
But back to the album I'm really supposed to be reviewing here. Vientos en Libertad doesn't quite have the catchiness (what the music industry calls "hooks") that either her earlier or later albums do. Perhaps this is because she was trying for a more mature style, less geared to simplistic pop. This means that the songs haven't quite "clicked" with me as much as some of her others. However, her voice is very good; by this stage it has matured enough that there is no trace of the "brattiness" of her early sound. She has the adult voice she has continued to develop and improve ever since. On the other hand, she does seem to sing the songs on this album with a relatively restrained style, not quite as strongly energetic as she usually is. This was probably an intentional decision as part of her attempt at a more mature style, since she never has any shortage of energy when she wants it.
I'll also note that this is one of the rare Tatiana albums that actually has a lyric sheet. All singers should insist that their record companies provide this; it's a useful thing for understanding the songs (especially when they're in a foreign language to me and I need to look some of the words up). The accountants always want to pinch a few pennies in printing costs, and the graphical artists want to fill whatever space remains with artwork instead of words, but please find room for lyrics anyway.
Here are the tracks:
1) No Vuelvas a Besarme: (You don't turn to kiss me) She's complaining that her lover doesn't kiss her the way he used to do; she still wants him, but is very afraid that he doesn't feel the same any more. Or something like that, anyway. Reasonably nice sound, but no real hook.
2) Debo Hacerlo -- Should I Do It: A Spanish translation of the Pointer Sisters song. Probably the catchiest song on the album, though that might be due in part to the fact that I knew the tune already. However, the Pointer Sisters version seems more energetic; the relatively restrained style Tatiana took on for this album (as I noted earlier) doesn't quite suit this song as well.
3) Vientos en Libertad: (Winds in Liberty) The title track. I'm not really sure what it's about; running the lyrics through the AltaVista Babelfish translator yielded this rather incoherent mess: "Neighboring one of silence dies the time near the ten and fleets your, I keep the secret from a gray photo and nothing but, detras of algun memory if it could congeal the hours and to recover your voice, your crazy shade the dejaria distance of being between your and I to touch but two near the sun amandonos winds to us in freedom January four, two weeks but the solitude painted in the mirror and I double the sea for guardatero in a paper, dateless nor mail if it could congeal the hours and to recover your voice, your crazy shade the dejaria distance of being between your and I to touch but two near the sun amandonos winds to us in freedom between your and I to touch but two near the sun amandonos winds to us in freedom." OK, automated translators still have a very long way to go, and are especially bad at trying to make sense of something that's highly poetic and metaphorical to begin with.
4) Quisiera -- Water: A Martika song, translated to Spanish. I don't actually remember the Martika original, but the tune was slightly familiar-sounding, so I've probably heard it at some point. The Spanish song title is the first-person singular subjunctive imperfect tense of "querer," to want. Does that mean "I would be wanting," or "I would have wanted," or what? I can't recall, and I used to do so well on grammar tests, too. But those tests were in English, which doesn't have quite the bewildering array of tenses that Spanish does. (I think "imperfect," "perfect," and "pluperfect" go in increasing order of perfection.)
5) Eterna Confusion: (Eternal Confusion) It's about how love is very confusing. Actually has a bit of a hook to it, though not one that's really memorable.
6) Si Estoy Cerca de Ti -- When I Look In Your Eyes: Another song translated from English, but not one I'm familiar with. The Spanish title means "If I am near you."
7) Un Amor Distinto: (A Different Love) A nice sounding song, one that suits the vocal style she is using on this album. But still no really good hooks.
8) Aire de Paz: (Air of Peace) This has more of a beat than most of the songs on this album, though not really a heavy dance beat.
9) Por Ultima Vez: (For the Last Time) Another one with some beat to it, and probably her most energetic vocals on the album. The repetitive lyrics can get on your nerves, though; she sings "Por Ultima Vez" quite a few times before it finally is said for the last time. This song was written by Aleks Syntek, who seems to be an old friend of Tatiana's; he's appeared as a musical guest on her TV show, singing and playing keyboards for songs with a rap flavor.
10) El Ritmo De Tu Corazon: (The Rhythm of Your Heart) The most "Mexican-sounding" of the songs on this album. That's a stereotype, isn't it? When a singer is from Mexico, you expect him/her to sing Mexican-sounding music (and probably wear one of those sombreros with a huge brim, too). Some Mexican performers do these things (Tatiana has had musical guests on her TV show that fit the stereotype perfectly), but they're all individuals who sometimes have a very different look and sound. Usually, the music on Tatiana's albums doesn't sound very "Mexican" (I think U.S. pop music has had a greater influence on her sound than anything traditional to her country), but this song has more of a south-of-the-border sound.
11) Un Avion, Un Hotel y Un Escenario: (An Airplane, A Hotel, and A Stage) She's singing about her touring schedule and how, while it can be rough to be traveling all over the place constantly, it's a life she finds meaningful because her performances are a major part of her life. A nice song, with a mild degree of catchiness (some slight hook there).
OK… that's the end of the album. While she never sings badly on any of her albums that I've heard, this one didn't really "click" with me too much, which is why it only got three stars. But the songs are of the sort that might grow on you if you listen to them enough. Maybe my own tastes aren't "mature" enough to appreciate songs that aren't so immediately catchy, which was the style she was going for here.
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