Train Ride

Zaida Alfaro | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 17, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: MixWave
• ASIN: B000056V9I
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,496,673 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant and promising, but unambitious, March 2, 2002

By 

John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Train Ride (Audio CD)

...

This is a pleasant collection of acoustic-guitar-based folk-pop. I listened to it with my ten-year-old daughter and we both enjoyed it.

It's not much of a musical stretch, though. Zaida Alfaro writes nice songs, she has a lovely singing voice, her backing band is tight and professional, and the guitar arrangements (by Leo Quintero, who played all the guitars) are competently done. But so far nothing has reached out and grabbed me, and I don't think it's supposed to.

Partly it's that the production is fairly formulaic ("Hey, I've got it! We'll start with just Zaida and the guitars; on the second verse the bass and drums and keyboard will come in! How about _that_?"), with the result that the songs aren't always easy to tell apart. And partly it's that Alfaro's songs themselves are rather more sincere than deep. (All the lyrics are hers, but producer Rudy Ibarra wrote the music to four of the songs.) At any rate, nobody seems to have reached too far or tried too hard for this first effort; everybody has played pretty safe throughout.

Alfaro has talent, though, and I'm not at all suggesting that the CD is _bad_. On the contrary, it's an excellent first effort. If/when she releases another, I'll check it out in the hope and expectation that she'll have developed her lyrical voice and found something more to say.

Anyway, it's good to know that somebody under the age of thirty has even _heard_ of the acoustic guitar. And this stuff really _is_ pleasant enough to listen to. It's also nice to hear from a female singer-songwriter I can share with my kids: on this CD nobody's going down on anybody in a theater or sacrificing boys to a volcano goddess or anything.

So when Alfaro releases that next CD, I'll be waiting for it with interest (and I'll be giving this one to my daughters). In the meantime, Joni Mitchell's reputation and status still haven't been seriously threatened...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Take A"TrainRide"JourneyThroughLove, February 13, 2002

By 

Bob Waskiewicz (Wintersville, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Train Ride (Audio CD)

Zaida Alfaro's CD is a Diary of what happens after we lost the love of our life,and rebound to a new one.My favorite track is "Wherever You go." I could really hear this song being played on the radio with some changes.Zaida has a voice like Jewl,and the style of the artist from the 70's."Don't turn around," is a heart breaker,and the first track,"Falling," really opens up the tale of Zaida's journey through love lost,accepting the lost,and finding a new one.I really enjoyed "Train Ride." I think this Artist has a bright future,and we will be hearing alot of her music over the years to come.Take a "TrainRide" with Zaida Alfaro.

5.0 out of 5 stars Promising Debut, July 1, 2007

By 

Neil Parille - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Train Ride (Audio CD)

Train Ride was a promising debut by Cuban-American singer Zaida Alfaro who seems to have left the music scence. Yes, some of the songs are formulaic and the lyrics are a bit trite, but there are a couple of gems in this CD. Train Ride and This Morning in particular show Alfaro's versatility. There isn't enough good soft rock written these days and it's sad that we haven't seen a follow up disc.