Customer Reviews

Live

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If I were stuck on a desert island with only one CD, this would be it. Blades is most commonly known in the U.S. as a screen actor, but he's best known everywhere else in the world as an incredibly mature, phenomenal, and politically meaningful singer and songwriter. This album contains the best performances of his 30-plus album career. There's no one else quite like him. One warning for Blades-novice gringos: all of the songs on this album are sung in Spanish, and for once, there are no English translations in the accompanying material. Still, and even if you don't speak Spanish, this is the best and most meaningful salsa music on the planet, hands down. The melodies and and rhythms are amazingly complex. After literally hundreds of listenings, it still moves my soul like no other music ever has. Also, at a full 74 minutes long, you definitely get your money's worth in terms of length. My only gripe about the CD is that two songs that are on the cassette version ("Patria" and "Claro Oscuro"), were omitted from the CD due to space limitations, and I would have happily paid more for a longer two-CD set. Still, it's the finest album I've ever owned. !Se puede!

El poder de la letra de las canciones de Ruben Blades es reconocido en todo el mundo. Muchas canciones de salsa tienen textos obsoletos; afortunadamente tenemos a Ruben Blades que compone canciones que siempre llevan en significado, ya sea social, político o hasta económico. Ruben Blades se hizo famoso con Pedro Navaja, una canción muy larga que uno no quiere que termine.
Éste CD contiene otras canciones como El Padre Antonio, Decisiones o Buscando América que son inolvidables. Qué suerte que tuvo Latinoamérica cuando Ruben perdió las elecciones en Panamá. Haz música Ruben que allí eres el primero.

Virgilio Krumbacher

Ruben Blades is the consumate artiste...actor, singer/songwriter, politician. This CD absolutely FLAMES, and my only question is...how in the world did they ever keep that club from disintegrating when he finished up with "Muevete" ("Move yourself!" for those who might not catch the political/social reference)?? I make a lot of tapes for friends, and this is one song EVERYONE demands on each tape...sometimes on both sides!

A pesar de que el concierto no fue malo, me di cuenta que no hay metales en las canciones (trombones y trompetas). Esto es inconcebible para mi, los metales eran imitados por el tecladista, lo cual suena horrible. Si Ruben hubiese incluido una seccion de metales en este concierto no hay duda de que hubiese sido un excelente CD.

This one's simply a masterpiece by Rubén Blades and his Son del Solar band. Probably the most hooking and cheerful recording out from all his discography, capable of making the whole latin music to sound like the finest symphony.

The entire show record captured not only the feeling on the music, the virtue on the performance and Ruben's catchy vocals, but it also captured faithfully the audience mood that night. There's some passages that even sound like a comedy stand-up show, highlighting the communion between the artist and his fans.

Not a greatest hits collection, as not all of his best songs are included but, however, still one of his personal best, and perhaps also one of the best salsa albums recorded ever.

A must in any latin music collection.

I have not been put on this planet to celebrate pan-Hispanic culture, but what can I say? This collection of toons makes my teeth sweat. The power of the vibe here is nuclear, I kid you not.

Ruben's output over the years has been patchy from where I sit, but he makes not a wrong move in this collection. The Son del Solar are gods one and all.

Buy this platter and feel the power.

ALTHOUGH NOT THE FIRST ALBUM I OWNED OF RUBEN, CERTAINLY THIS ONE COMBINES HIS POWERFUL MESSAGES WITH ONE HELL OF A PERFORMANCE BY THE BAND. THE ADRENALINE STARTS PUMPING FROM THE FIRST SONG AND LEAVES YOU DANCING AND WANTING MORE BY THE END OF THE NIGHT. IF YOU OWN JUST ONE RUBEN BLADES CD, THIS ONE IS IT. BTW, the first time I bought this cd, some of the tracks didn't play well on ANY cd player. I noticed that only a partial album is available at i-Tunes and that the same songs that gave me trouble are the ones missing from their list too... maybe mine wasn't the only bad copy out there

Ruben Blades and Son de Solar's Live! is a refulgent live album. I have the tape version containing an extra track on it-Patria. Son de Solar sounded remarkably well. It is not surprising since Son de Solar is one of the best concomitant bands Blades can have: Marc Quiñones and Izbarra-I misspelled his name but nevertheless one of the best timbaleros in Latin jazz-taking care of the rhythm section.

Live! segues through most of Blades' Elektra -post- FANIA days repertoire starting with Decisiones and with the denouement of laudatory live renditions of Patria- cassette version only- and Muevete. The latter is a Los Van Van song showing Blades' openness to the seemingly modern and `electric' Cuban rumba. Blades' sonero voice is timeless as usual. The downside is that Live! seems to come up short and that might be explained because it is missing FANIA classics- except for Pedro Navaja. Notwithstanding, even without the FANIA classics, this album is filled with worth post-FANIA exemplars.

Realmente fantástico, una creación con una vitalidad y fuerza increible. La interpretación y el sonido de "Son del Solar" son excelentes, tomando en cuenta que es una presentación en vivo, asimismo con Rubén Blades. Es un orgullo para los latinoamericanos poder disfrutar de nuestra música.

THE FIRST TIME I HEARD REUBEN BLADES "LIVE" WAS FROM A PUERTO RICAN FRIEND IN COLLEGE. SHE WAS LISTENING TO THE "LIVE" CD. THE MINUTE I HEARD THIS CD I WAS CAUGHT..HOOK, LINE AND SINKER...I WENT DOWN THE STREET TO THE MUSIC STORE AND BROUGHT IT. I'VE BEEN A FAN OF REUBEN BLADES EVERY SINCE. ALTHOUGH I OWN SEVERAL OF HIS CD'S THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE, NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE GREAT MUSIC BUT BECAUSE YOU CAN FEEL THAT THE AUDIENCE IS INTO AS WELL. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CD...ARMEKA