Bachata Rosa

Juan Luis Guerra

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 25, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Karen
• ASIN: B000003MZU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,272 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Dominican Republic
  #4 in	Music > Latin Music > Tropical > Bachata
  #6 in	Music > Latin Music > Tropical > Merengue

Track Listings

1. Rosalia

2. Como Abeja Al Panal

3. Carta de Amor

4. Estrellitas y Duendes

5. Pedir Su Mano

6. Bilirrubina

7. Burbujas de Amor

8. Bachata Rosa

9. Reforestame

10. Acompaneme Civil

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dominican singer, composer, and bandleader Juan Luis Guerra is one of the few true innovators in contemporary Latin music. He created a revolution when he reinvented traditional merengue with smart, poetic lyrics, jazz harmonies, and higher production values. In Bachata Rosa he similarly updated the lowly bachata, the rural, Dominican down-home version of the romantic ballad. Songs such as "Estrellitas y Duendes (Little Stars and Goblins)," "Como Abeja al Panal (Like a Bee to the Beehive)," "Burbujas de Amor (Love Bubbles)," and the title track revisit the old love themes with rare grace and subtle poetic flair. Meanwhile "Rosalia," "Cartas de Amor," and "A Pedir Su Mano" (in which Guerra hints at the connections between Dominican and African music which he pursued in subsequent albums) provide superb dance floor tracks. The result was a commercial and artistic success and with good reason. --Fernando Gonzalez

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Catchy tunes, witty lyrics, great arrangements  a must-have, February 24, 2001

By	Mr. Stuart Robert Harris "Vivir Con Arte" (Bradford-on-Avon, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Juan Luis Guerra and his group 440 were one of the biggest acts in Latin music throughout the nineties. Listen to this album and you'll understand why. It's little short of perfect. Juan Luis is a native of the Dominican Republic but honed his musical skills at Berklee and Columbia. He achieves a great mix of local energy and authenticity with polished accessibility.

The lyrics are infinitely imaginative. Okay they're in Spanish, but they handsomely reward a little dictionary work and they're a great way to learn the language. The catchy Bilirrubina hilariously hijacks a bunch of medical terminology to describe feverish feelings of unrequited love, while Burbujas de Amor (Bubbles of Love) sketches some outrageous but touching imagery - "I wish I were a fish . so I could blow bubbles of love wherever you want."

The tunes on Bachata Rosa are all excellent, from a variety of upbeat danceables to some sweet, poetic ballads. The arrangements are no less inventive than the lyrics - all that study certainly paid off.

If you like contemporary Latin music, then you're virtually guaranteed to like this one. Highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, November 27, 2001

By	Jose R. Perez "Jose" (Yonkers, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like another glowing album of Guerra's - "Arieto" - "Batacha Rosa" is a slice of pure genius from the Dominican Republic's Simon-Garfunkle-Lennon-McCartney singer-songwriter extraordinaire. A brilliant stylist, composer and vocalist, Guerra delivers some of his most passionate tracks and warmest moments on record, including the incandescent "Burbujas De Amor" - a story about fish in love that transcends its humor to become a soaring love song, and "Como Abeja Al Panal" - a song about unrequited passions with an unforgettable hook. At once thought-provoking and melodious, "Batacha Rosa" is yet another chapter in this brilliant stylists' repertoire, and perhaps overall, his very best album. As with other Guerra 440 albums, this is a must have collection of songs that will touch your heart, warm your soul, and deliver countless pleasures.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius work of music: dance, sing and fall in love to it, May 30, 2004

By	Manny Hernandez "Author of Ning For Dummies" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

It is not easy for an album to garner so many awards and recognition, but Juan Luis Guerra's 'Bachata Rosa' changed Latin music so much that it deserves every single one of them.

If you only considered that the album is 100% danceable with its catchy tunes ("Rosalia," "Carta De Amor," "A Pedir Su Mano," "La Bilirrubina"), its clever lyrics that still make songs easy to sing along and be merry or fall in love to (such as the case with "Como Abeja Al Panal", "Estrelliatas Y Duendes", "Burbujas De Amor" and the title track), you could say that the album is brilliant already.

But if you go beyond that, and realize that the album brought about a transformation to Merengue and Latin music at large, by bringing Bachata (a sort of tropical ballad) to the forefront of collective awareness, you start to realize that the giant from Dominican Republic (Juan Luis Guerra, in case you're wondering) is no average musician, but close to a musical genius. 'Bachata Rosa' stops being your album of typical Merengue music, and takes on a level of brilliance that is not common.

Do yourself a favor, and begin your Juan Luis Guerra collection here.