Customer Reviews

The Bronx / Mariachi El Bronx

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

They have done a very good job with genre! Very well written/thought out lyrics. Horns are very crisp. I have always liked mariachi but my spanish is poor.

I haven't been keeping up with music news for some time now. I was completely unaware of The Bronx forming a mariachi band, I've simply enjoyed the three self titled albums they've put out, so when I saw this at Cheapo for $5, I just grabbed it without thinking. My first thought was: there's mariachi in the title, maybe this is just an intro and they'll kick it up after a minute or so. After the first song it became apparent that they really were making a mariachi album. Yet more surprising to me was the fact that I really don't take to mariachi music, yet I kept listening, and I never really felt disappointed that I wasn't getting the punk album I was expecting.

I don't know much of anything about this style of music, as I said I've never really taken to it before, I'd like to think I have a pretty vast range of taste in music but for some reason or another mariachi has always kinda turned me off. However they seem to really bring something to the table here that I haven't appreciated before. I've been enjoying it the past couple of days and I have no doubt they probably kill it live, it probably won't have a regular re-play value like their other CDs, but I think I'll probably come back to it now and then. So really it's a three star review, but it gets four for simply getting me to think differently about a genre I'd previously shrugged off.

I heard the musicans interviewed on NPR and loved their attitude -- an unabashed love of music -- so I decided to give the album a try. What luck! I'm not normally fond of either punk or mariachi, but these songs are captivating, engaging, and performed with spirit and art. The composer respects the traditions of mariachi, but somehow, perhaps because the lyrics are in English, it seems much more accessible. Unless you just hate horns, I think that you will find something to enjoy in Mariachi El Bronx.

As a white bread middle class, classical, jazz, rock and roll, funk, and blues fan, who grew up in Detroit in the 60s, my exposure to mariachi came when I moved to San Francisco in the 1970's. Along with Tito Puente live in the Mission, there was this Mexican Classical form called mariachi that I could not understand because the lyrics were in Spanish.
Mariachi just was filled with tradition, the lyric of which was undecipherable because of the language problem, but the musical construction and pathos apparent in the music itself reminded me of the sincerity of the Blues. With Mariachi El Bronx's version the true spirit of Mariachi is now available in its complete form to music lovers who can not speak Spanish. Than you thank you thank you....you have freed an art form and shared it with the English speaking world. I can see this as an educational blow to those who fear cultures that they do not understand, and practice hate as a result. You have brought understanding, the real purposes of musical communication other than just entertainment.

I had the pleasure of attending the Bronx/Mariachi El Bronx show when it rolled thru SLC in spring 2010. I was completely blown away by the Mariachi El Bronx part of the show. I decided to buy a copy of this record and remain completely impressed. This record is flat out awesome mariachi music with the words in English. Standout tracks are "cell mates" and "sleepwalking". I have playes some of this records to some of my mexican friends and they are even blown away by the music. only the Bronx have the cohones to pull this type of record off.

Wow. Mariachi El Bronx opened for The Killers last Thursday in Portland's HISTORIC Memorial Coliseum (right next to the MODERN Rose Garden) and they blew the crowd away with their traditional look and Brave New World sound. Truly original and yet authentic. A taste of Mexico with the spice of today's lyrics. TRY THEM, you'll like them ... IF you have an OPEN mind. Thanks for your attention to this humble review from the great OPEN MINDED state of Oregon USA.

He liked the band already, but this new Mariachi style is just too funny. I love it and im not even into this kind of music!

I got this album on a whim after reading a review of the best albums of 2009 online. From start to finish, the album is amazingly well done. Not only does it bring mariachi music to native English speakers, but the lyrics also explore the living situations of Mexicans dealing with the effect of the drug empires which have taken over their way of life (specifically in "Silver or Lead"). It truly has the spirit of the Mexican people. I am so impressed by this album. Great music, great lyrics and great chemistry from this band. It's definitely in my top 10 albums of 2009.