Customer Reviews

Gusto

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

 

 

Maybe I am just a die-hard Charo fan, but I thought this album was a fun and exciting return to dance music for our gal Charo! She just keeps going and going! "Besame Mucho" is a beautiful love song while "Dance a Little Closer", "Me Gusta" and "Give Me Cuchi" are all fun, danceable and definitely Charo! While I did love the "Guitar Passion" CD, "Gusto" is a different flavor of Charo and I, for one, welcome it wholeheartedly. I am looking forward to the release of her new album "Caliente" and to seeing her live in concert here in Phoenix in January! I recommend this album!

Charo continues to live on, and has not changed a bit. Did you see her on "That 70's Show?" Different than Guitar Passion, but this CD is classic Charo, Excellent! If you bought Guitar Passion because you like Charo, you'll love this too, differently.

Charo's latest album after the gorgeous Flamenco-themed album, "Guitar Passion", is "Gusto". Charo is returning to her Disco roots in this album!

Pros of this album were the Dance theme. Cons were Charo doesn't sing much on a few tracks.

1. Besame Mucho (Sad, souful song, Charo sings very well in this one) 5/5 stars

2. Dance A Little Bit Closer (Re-recorded version of one of her biggest hits, only problem is the music may be similar and the lyrics are the same, the production and arrangement aren't very good and Charo's voice is cracking in certain spots and sometimes the backing vocalists drown her out.) 2/5 stars

3. Give Me Cuchi (Song is good, although Charo isn't singing in it at all, best I can tell, I only know that she says one line in Spanish and laughs at the end, if she is singing, the drum machine and backing vocalists are once again drowning her out.) 1/5 stars

4. El Amor (Me Ki Sa Ou Le) (Spanish Version) (Very Latin-esque song with wonderful lyrics.) 5/5 stars

5. Me Gusta (Dance song which has Charo singing about what she likes.) 5/5 stars

6. Serian Las Dos (English Version) (This song is in the same vein as her "El Reloj" song from her Cuchi Cuchi CD album, both songs are about love and clocks.) 5/5 stars

7. Dame Cuchi (Spanish Version of Give Me Cuchi. Song is good, although Charo isn't singing in it at all, best I can tell, I only know that she says one line in Spanish and laughs at the end, if she is singing, the drum machine and backing vocalists are once again drowning her out. Lyrics start out in Spanish and and more than halfway through the song turn to English, would've been nice if ALL the song was in Spanish!) 1/5 stars

8. El Amor (Me Ki Sa Ou Le) (English Version) (NOTE: The English and Spanish Versions are switched in the tracklisting, at least on my edition. Very Latin-esque song with wonderful lyrics.) 5/5 stars

9. Serian Las Dos (Spanish Version) (This song is in the same vein as her "El Reloj" song from her Cuchi Cuchi CD album, both songs are about love and clocks.) 5/5 stars

10. Caliente (Instrumental Version) (This song is just music. It's Charo playing the guitar. No version with vocals exist. This song is also on her Guitar Passion CD.) 5/5 stars

Charo has more albums on CD:

Cuchi Cuchi (1st Disco album)

Ole Ole (2nd Disco album)

Loca De Amor (I only know this one exists, nothing more. Sorry!)

Guitar Passion (Flamenco guitar inspired, very Latin-esque)

Balidando Con Charo (NOT on CD, but it should be recommend for Charo fans that don't have this vinyl-only album, contains an ABBA cover song, "Chiquitita".)

Several years ago, while channel surfing, I saw someone playing a guitar with great skill on a talk show. I stopped to watch and to my surprise it was Charo. She explained that she had taken years off and worked to hone her guitar skills. The result was a CD called Guitar Passion. I bought it and absolutely loved it. No longer the "guchi guchi" girl from The Love Boat, she seemed an impressive musician. I bought Gusto hoping it would include similar guitar work. To my disappointment, this CD seems to be a step back into the "guchi guchi" girl style of entertaining (one song even included the words "guchi guchi"). The only piece of guitar work on this CD is a song called Celiente, which is also on Guitar Passion.

If you are a fan of Charo as she was when she guest starred on The Love Boat, then you will probably enjoy some or all of this CD. If, on the other hand, you are a fan of Charo from the CD Guitar Passion, then there is nothing on this CD for you since you have Celiente on Guitar Passion already. Hopefully there will be a future CD for those of us who appreciated the guitar work done on Guitar Passion.

Charo, if you're watching, please record more guitar work for those of us who love the guitar.

After the excellent Guitar Passion, why would Charo go back to disco? This is such a disappointing CD. I'll give it a little credit for camp value, but she is capable of so much more, as her previous album proves. Gusto just sounds thrown together. Let's hope for a better effort next time.

After the great sales and fantastic public reaction to "Guitar Passion", it is beyond me why Charo and her producer-husband would release something as awful as this.