Customer Reviews

Train Ride

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

 

 

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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...

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.

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.

Alfaro's album Train Ride won't knock your socks off BUT...it's great to listen to. VERY nice guitar, gutsy vocals. The songs themselves are not earthshaking for lyrics but they are very listenable indeed. This is an excellent album, even though it won't be burning up the charts yet. However, Alfaro has some GREAT stuff there and I really enjoyed this for good pop music. Looking forward to more. If you like female vocalists in the realm of Sheryl Crowe, etc, Alfaro will please you if not rock your world.

Zaida Alfaro's robust voice makes the country-rock genre a natural direction for her. Train Ride suffers from a general lack of surprises, a reluctance to take more risks both songwriting-wise and arrangement-wise. It does make for a nice enough listen, well performed, and a good calling card for Alfaro.

As with so many young artists, Alfaro has some songs that are pronouncedly strong, and not all her material is on the same level. She excels at letting the husky side of her voice sensualize a good melody. On the ballad "Third Day", a dreamy, understated acoustic-guitar melody over a waltz beat allows Alfaro's quiet voice room to breathe, evoking the lovely mood of a night spent alone, though when the band breaks in, it turns into a more standard country ballad. "Without You" begins with beautiful, grand 12-string-guitar pickings that deteriorate into a completely ordinary country number. "Train Ride" is stronger, weaving more complex melodies around melancholic chord changes, and "This Morning" wins by means of a subtler percussive performance and Alfaro's yearning, sweet lead vocal. My ears perked up immediately when I heard the mandolin accents on the song. Finally, something different-sounding!

No surprise that it's the slower tracks that stand out, for the uptempo numbers all rely on the same tricks -- heavy backbeat, harmonized country choruses, acoustic strummings. However professionally performed, it's frustrating when track after track goes back to the same big-beat, mid-to-up-tempo country-rock styling: Opening with acoustic chords, bass enter somewhere around the third bar, and then drums. How often can you repeat the same pattern? The overall effect is that it hides Alfaro's personality via stylistic and structural monotony. The performances also play it too safe; I don't know if Alfaro has a band of her own, but the instrumentation on this record sounds like that of a pro studio band, lacking that bit of spark and fire that come of individual expression. As for Alfaro herself, I wish there were more numbers that would show us how far she can take her voice. For it is a good one, soulful and sensual, yet none of the songs really challenges her to soar to the heights or plunge to the depths. The melodies often hover around the same range, with few peaks and valleys.

Final verdict? Alfaro could probably benefit from an approach that's less formulaic. Just nixing the full-band arrangement on a song or two, for example (a la Bob Dylan on the Desire album), probably would've helped vary up her sound on the record. More ambitious songwriting, lyrics and instrumentation would also help. For the time, Alfaro is a pleasant enough addition to the genre.

Upon a recommendation, I listened to samples of a few songs from this album on Zaida's website. I have to admit it was better than what I expected. While there is definitely room for improvement (though there is with any artist), it's not bad for a beginning effort. The country flair to the pop/rock style isn't a bad mix at all in her case.

I found this CD in a used bin and bought it just for fun and because the name was catchy. It is pretty clear that the artist is not a professional musician, nor are the lyrics memorable. Her voice is best on the softer tracks, namely This Morning and Third Day, but she comes off as forced and untrained in most of the others. She is a bit overpowered by her studio musicians' accompanyment. She seems to be aiming for every genere in hopes that a producer, be it rock, country, or pop, will like what they hear. This is not a great album as the other posts here would suggest, but a ok effort by someone who seems to have recorded one and only one album. I give it two stars for two decent songs.

I found this album to be quite inspirational, since I also am a musician by heart. Many times, I wanted to start a band and record an album, but time and the lack of organization always tended to work against me. For a while, I had lost interest in such an ambition. Then I received a message from MixWave Music, telling me about this album. After listening to this album, I wanted to start a band all over again.

Zaida Alfaro is an excelent and talented musician, and I can tell that she really has the potential for producing extraordinarily powerful music. She already has amazing capabilities in lyric writing. However, the mood of the music is not always consistent with the lyrics. For example, the song "Without You" could move a listener to tears, if the music and the lyrics were more consistent with each other. The lyrics are dramatic and passionate, but the upbeat tempo suggests a happy and spirited mood. Zaida is thinking about a lover she once had, long ago - and she just wants to be able to reach out and touch him once again.

Even though the music and lyrics may not always fit together, this album is well worth buying and listening to. Zaida has a good singing voice, and her band plays very well, also. Someday, Zaida will release a new album - a masterpiece that will earn her fame around the world. Of course, people could say, "Dream on," to such a thought; but I say, "Keep on dreaming, and don't ever stop dreaming." Our dreams are what make us creative.

Avoid this album. Every track is medicore at best. Spend your money on something else, as there are far more talented artists out there. 1 album wonder? No wonder why...