Customer Reviews

De Ti Depende (It's Up To You)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hector was, is, and always will be "El Cantante de los Cantantes". This CD contains the phenomenal "Periodico de Ayer" which has become a timeless classic. " Hacha y Machete", another classic, is a powerhouse dance tune. There are other great dance numbers and a collection of Salsa Music is not complete without this CD. Buy it today and experience a tiny piece of history from the man whose name rings synonomous with Salsa.

As a long time Lavoe fan (since birth nearly 28 years ago) I had to respond to this review. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but are you kidding me? Hector Lavoe is the greatest Salsa singer of all time. Punto! Final! Se acabo! His vocals are legendary. Today's singers strive to mimic la voz de Lavoe. No offense, but maybe you need to listen to more salsa in general or more Lavoe in particular to truly grasp the greatness of this man's voice, passion, and improvisational talent. You cannot listen to Calle Luna Calle Sol, Triste y Vacia, Todo Tiene Su Final, or Sonando Despierto, and not recognize how gifted Lavoe is vocally. It just doesn't get any better than Hector.

The remastering process hasn't been kind to this classic recording. It sounds muffled and tiny - nothing like the vinyl or, sad to say, its first cd reincarnation. Obviously, the folks at quality control let this one get by. Whatever source material Emusica used for this reissue still does not exculpate the remaster engineer for doing such a lousy job.
Informed sources tell me that there was talk of giving this cd a "face-lift" sometime in the future. But don't hold your breath. Until then, this is all we have.

The person that wrote that heard Hector Lavoe and called his tunes "catchy". Come on.......not a true Salsa Fan. No one ever does it the way Hector does it and not only Hector but every orquesta he ever worked with. I truly hope that Jlo and Anthony do a good job and do him justice in the movie that is in the making. Yo Soy La Gringa con Sabor y yo se la salsa magnifica y este Señor es esto.

I took the time to write this review because I consider Hector Lavoe to have been one of the best soneros ever ("son" is the original Cuban name to what was later called salsa; therefore, salsa singers are most times called soneros). Lavoe was not much of a composer, but was an extremely versatile original singer with a voice and timbre hard to match. This combined with great composers, writers, and orchestras; meant that "most" of the productions Hector Lavoe was in were worth the time, there was a collaboration of talent from everyone.

Lavoe started and became famous under the Fania label as the singer for the famous trumpet player Willie Colon and his band, they started in the late 60s and separated in early 80s. All those Willie Colon records made with Lavoe around the 1970s are landmarks in salsa history as well as some of Lavoe's solo pieces in the 80s. The image created around this two was to make them the bad boys of salsa. They had like a mature streetwise tone to them, in terms of music and lyrics; some songs were danceable, sad, instrumental, etc. In other words, they had musical substance: and for such, they usually were the top sellers in the label.

Why the low score here? The Fania label did millions during its LP era but during the CD era this music was horribly marketed and packaged (just a picture of the album cover, no info, no back art, and hard to find outside niche markets). So in 2006 as soon as the Fania repackaged and re-mastered CDs started to come out this album was one I was waiting for, I was curious to hear "Periodico de Ayer" (yesterdays newspaper) one of Lavoe's most (if not the most) original, memorable, instrumental, and famous classic re-mastered after so long. I was waiting for a more vibrant and dispersed sound. Boy oh boy, was I disappointed and surprised. Not only did it sound noticeable worst than the one on the old CD "Hector's Gold", I was surprised that [...] would be released in the first place. This sounded horrible and I mean it. It sounded like something they took out of an 8-track cassette that was taking sun inside a Chevrolet since the 70s and then sold in a flea market for 25 cents, please get the picture because it's not an exaggeration. It sounded baaaddd and it is a farce to call such thing re-mastered, please.

If you have the original then there is not much point in this, aside the booklet, and if you don't then I strongly recommend trying to get the now out of print "Hecto's Gold" which is the only other album to date that contains "Periodico de Ayer" with its original acceptable quality. Hector's Gold leaves a lot out but has "El Cantante" and "Periodico de Ayer" and trust me, just for that, is worth it especially if you are going to have only one Lavoe CD. I have many of these new Fania re-mastered CDs including others from Lavoe and Willie Colon, I can tell you that the early ones they took out were very inconsistent, some sounded great and vibrant, some others were questionable in comparison to the original CDs of the early 90s, but this one sadly is the one that just takes it a higher label of mediocrity. It was later that they got their act together. They have been informed of this but who knows if they will do anything about it.

Sadly Hector died in 1993, Willie Colon is alive and kicking but his new music is not. There were people behind that music that are not around anymore. Most of the Salsa being done these days is not worth a cent. All this great Puerto Rican, Cuban & Dominican artists that created the Salsa movement of the 70s in N.Y. with the Fania label grew up in the era when Cuba was the #1 in tropical music and was extremely influential. Cuban culture is the real mother of "Salsa", but under its long(over due) tyrannical communist government Cuba is by now almost as dead and destroyed as Lavoe's flesh. If it was not for the Dominican Johnny Pacheco who started the Fania label, and the Puerto Ricans in N.Y. that took the music, elaborated, and prolonged its existence, this music would have died before it did: Right in Havana clubs in the early 60s instead of in N.Y.C. clubs in the early 80s. This Fania guys were for the 60s & 70s what the Grammy winner Buena Vista Social Club was for the 40s & 50s, just the best among their era. I also recommend everything Lavoe did along with Willie Colon and also the albums La Lupe- Es la Reina, Cheo Feliciano- Cheo, Joe Battan- Saint Latin's Day Massacre, Tito Puente, etc, you can go on from there. Check the Fania site and the Descarga site. Also the Hector Lavoe movie "El Cantante" due summer of 2007. It could be worth it, lets hope so.

Codigo did a terrible job on this remastered CD. Fania should really get it together and solve this issue. This is the third time being remastered and each time it gets worst. They cant seem to get it right.

This such a beautiful album, but the sound quality is horrible. I peronally had to transfer from vinyl to digital to get the right sound. And everyone know how much of a pain in the tail it is to filter out a vinyl record.

I dont know if they are using a tape to do the job, maybe a vinyl i dont know. one this is for sure its not from the master disc. I can tell immediately from the poor sound quality.

For anyone looking to just have it and collectors go ahead. But it wont meet your demands if you have great ears.

This is a classic salsa album, but it's not Hector's best... that goes to Comedia. But it does have the greatest salsa song of all time "Periodico de Ayer" and for that alone you need to have it.

On the remastering... it is well known that Massucci/Pacheco did not take great care of the master tapes when the empire collapsed. I would imagine that they were not able to get the master tapes in good condition or if at all. As such I highly recommend that you get the LP from the 70's. I have a copy I purchased in great condition and it sounds amazing on my decent sound system. Just an alternative. Also, I highly recommend that you steer away from LP reissues of 70's salsa albums because i've done comparisons and the sound just isn't up there with the originals.

Also, to say Hector Lavoe is the greatest sonero of all time is up for debate. Would you seriously suggest that Ismael Rivera and Cheo Feliciano should not be considered? I too love Hector but I feel sometimes people get carried away. They all were distinct in their voices and musically. Sometimes I feel Hector more, sometimes Rivera, sometimes Cheo... just depends on my mood.

hi, i believe that Codigo Music finally fixed the problem with this outstanding album. the previous reissue from 2006 had some issues dealing with hiss in the tracks. most notably in Periodico de Ayer and Hache Y Machete.

im hoping that Codigo carefully handles the Fania Albums with more care. especially when Quality Control comes in the mix. because we want to hear these Gems all beautifully remastered with as much clarity as possible.

The immortal Hector LaVoe had an illustrious musical career, be it once with Willie Colon (El Malote) and his band or as a solo artist with his own orquesta. This was his second solo album, following in the footsteps of "La Voz" (recommended). The band members (some of them) were in Colon's orquesta, but proved with LaVoe they still had the muscle to back him up as he belted out such b-busters as "Vamos A Reir Un Poco", the original full version of "Periodico De Ayer" (Yesterday's Newspaper), "Hacha Y Machete" and "Felices Horas", as well as Boleritos like the title track that says "Esperando a un amor, que nunca llega" (Waiting for love that will never come). Unfortunately in some cases, that song rings true. The album ends with "Mentira" (Lie). Self-explanatory. LaVoe met his demise in 1993 from drug-related AIDS, possibly due to the accidental shooting death of his son. The speculation was that in Puerto Rico, LaVoe "jumped" out of a hotel window from despair over his son, but to this day it was never confirmed nor proven. Fame had its price and LaVoe lost control. Fania ruled the decades up to the watered down salsa (if I can call it the same) that we are all stuck with. These so-called performers have a lot to learn from the actual legends. Any or all of LaVoe's music will beat them, hands down! It's time to let the lesson begin! To these knuckleheads I say to learn from La Voz, dammit!

Todo las grabaciones de Hector Lavoe son buenas por la calidad de la música y por su ejecución como cantante. Quizas la calidad del sonido en esta edición no sea la mejor pero este disco no se debe escuchar por su sonido sino por su contenido. ¡Aprende nene!