Pasajero

Gipsy Kings | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 23, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000KJTF2K
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,922 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #46 in Music > World Music > Europe > Eastern Europe > Gypsy
  • #85 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Flamenco

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With the feeling of an old-fashioned, locally produced radio show picked up accidentally while touring through the Andes, the Kings’ latest excursion into their patented high-spirited rumba-flamenca harbors a strong South American bias, complete with a chiming charango (armadillo-shell lute) and vintage-sounding squeezeboxes. They also send a big, wet smooch to the late, lamented original Buena Vista Social Club with a delightful cover of Chan Chan. Although less slick than much of their earlier catalog, the set list presented here is also far from rustic and still fairly restaurant-friendly, with kicking bass lines, applied echoes, rhythmic augmentation (as though these guys needed any!) and plenty of other tech-oriented touches; but happily, these don’t get in the way. The leather-lunged yet suavely romantic vocals are as soulful as ever, the guitars as round-toned yet insistent, and the handclaps as festive. But the real good news is that the band seems to have recovered both their primal chops and their sense of humor. Marred only by very occasional bits of over-production and a remarkably chintzy running-time of just over 45 minutes, the album is very nearly perfect, an effervescently virile project that continues and consolidates the career-reviving upswing begun with Roots, back in 2004. --Christina Roden

Product Description

With the same weathered charm and deep history as their Buena Vista bretheren, the Gipsy Kings use the simplest tools to make music that can move your feet, your heart and your soul.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Breezy., March 26, 2007

By 

G.Villan (travelling around the world) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pasajero (Audio CD)

With their infectious blend of wailing and strumming, so unfailingly evocative of poolsides and paella, the Gipsy Kings have notched up 18 million album sales since their 1980s smashes "Bamboleo" and "Volare".
While their last album, "Roots", was a highly acclaimed return to their all-acoustic origins, "Pasajero" takes a poppier turn with a sequence of breezy, radio-friendly numbers so dependent on their well-worn melodic tics that it could test the patience of even the most die-hard fan.

Nicolas Reyes's voice has lost none of its throaty charisma, and the transition from plaintive verse to shameless crowd-pleasing chorus will inevitably make you smile at some point during the proceedings.

The arrangements, meanwhile, throw in Cuban guitar, North African-style accordion and subtle touches of reggae. But, whichever way you dress it up, the Gipsy Kings keep coming back to the same few tunes with which they began their career over two decades ago.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gipsy Kings' Acoustic Sounding Sensations, February 25, 2007

By 

Ruben Moreno "music lover" (Calexico, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pasajero (Audio CD)

I've been a fan of the Gipsy Kings for almost twenty years and have enjoyed--and then other times--disappointed with past albums. This album is a keeper and true to their roots: rhythmic guitars, strong vocals, singable melodies (although somewhat repetitive--I'm sure this was done intentionally), traditional hand claps, and even incorporating some South American instruments. If ever the Gypsies came close to making an unplugged, acoustic album, this is the one. You won't be disappointed.

In my opinion, this is what flamenco pop should sound like...true flamenco purists will disagree with me, and Gipsy Kings have certainly created their own brand of Spanish Pop, but for my money this album is certainly a keeper, not one to be thrown away as some other reviewer suggested. The Kings have certainly mellowed, no doubt. There is no gitano-whaling-descending-scales on this album as in other past works of their younger years, but the rhythms are contagious, the melodies are singable and the album is unmistakably "Gipsy Kings".

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's a party in my car..., August 6, 2007

By 

Susan O'Neill (Andover, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pasajero (Audio CD)

I bought this CD when I needed some music to liven up a long drive. I'd bought a few others as well, but Pasajero's driving beats and hook-y melodies proved so entertaining that it spent far more time in the CD slot than any of its more mundane companions. What fun--it made me want to *bailar* and *cantar* at the wheel. It had been a long time since I'd listened to the Gypsy Kings, and I'd forgotten their fine party spirit. I am once again a Gypsy-jero.

Susan O'Neill
Author, Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam