Customer Reviews

Love & Liberte

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

 

 

These gitanos(gypsies) are the originals that spawned a whole movement and many imitators. I was blessed to have seen them perform live three times over the years and they never dissapointed. I was even lucky enough to mingle with them at the Cafe Sevilla and watch the women swoon over their presence after the concert. This CD is eight years old and an exceptional release. Long after it's inception I continue to play this CD because it is just that good. Los Reyes were at the apex of their careers when this was recorded. The new flamenco that they introduced globally is just the right mixture of flamenco and pop. My favorite cuts are those that are pure instrumental bliss like "Ritmo de la Noche", "Michael", Guitarra Negra" and the title track "Love and Liberte". I find that these show there true skills as they play like true gitanos. The songs that feature vocals are quite beautiful as well as they harmonize and sing with great inflection and passion. The innate beauty is in the soft and lyrical Spanish language that lends itself poetically to these gitanos. "Madre Mia" is a beautiful lament that in essence is a prayer to the Virgin Mary, "Without you I can't live". Lot's of great love songs are on this CD as Los Reyes sing of broken hearts and not being able to live sin ti(without you). Nearly every song is magnificent but another fave is "Montana" where a rarely featured Canut Reyes excells as the soloist. The song is made up of simple lyrics that praise the earth and the mountain where he was born. "Yo voy caminando ala montana donde naci"(I go walking to the mountain where I was born) is a repeated chorus that can have deeper meaning or taken for it's simplicity. In either case it is a marvelous use of language that conjures imagery nearly everyone can relate to. Reyes, the family name of these gitanos means kings and no doubt they are the kings of their genre. If you can't afford one of the "greatest hits" packages available by these guys be sure to pick this classic CD up as it is very represenative of their vast body of work. They are the "Gipsy Kings", the originals, without peers, the best at what they do. Nuevo Falmenco at it's best.

I have only about half of the Gipsy Kings albums, but of these I have to say that I favor this one the most. I recommend this album to those who like downbeat, soothing Spanish-guitar music. It sets an extraordinary mood in the room which it is being played in. Of all the music I own (aprox. 300 CD's), this is one of my favorite albums. Two thumbs up!

Love and Liberte is another great Album, containing great tracks. Standout Tracks are: Escucha Me, Navidad, No Vivere, and the beautiful instrumental Love and Liberte. Again, the Euro release is different from the US release. On the Euro release, they added the song La Quiero, witch is a pretty good one. The version of Escucha Me is also much better on the Euro release. The order of tracks is also different. Both releases are however very recommended.

This album is one of my favorites and has been for five years now. I don't speak Spanish (especially not the version that's on this album) but the quality of this music voids such considerations. The Gipsy Kings are masters of the guitar especially. They sing with passion that transcends language and culture. Standout tracks are "Pedir a tu corazon" and "Montana." Absolutely love instrumentals such as "Guitarra negra" round out the album. I highly recommend this CD to any music lover, regardless of your mother tongue!

I heard a tiny clip of the title track, Love & Liberte, and I was hooked. Now, it looks like I want the entire CD. This music will instantly transform a ho-hum work day into a warm, Latin night. Glad I found it.

The music was ok . . . I prefer the instrumentals to the vocal pieces. The reason for the low rating is only that the expected version of Liberte is not included on the CD, and you can't really tell that from the online preview.

Reading the previous reviews I thought this would be a super CD. Nothing better than average.

There are only a few songs that I like in this album, and they are el ritmo de la noche, no vivire, and love & liberte. It's not as good as Bamboleo or Mosaique, but still worth getting IMHO.