The follow-up album to Juan Luis Guerra's international breakthrough with Ojalá Que Llueva Café, Bachata Rosa is a milestone effort that spawned seven hit singles, garnered critical acclaim from all corners, and popularized bachata on an international scale. Generally considered Guerra's masterwork, Bachata Rosa is a departure from his previous four albums and sets the template for subsequent efforts with its mix of rousing merengues and romantic bachatas. In the case of Bachata Rosa, each side of the ten-song album opens and closes with an uptempo song, and three of the four are extraordinary ("Rosalia," "A Pedir Su Mano," "La Bilirrubina"). The middle of each five-song album side (and remember that Bachata Rosa was released at a time when there were separate A- and B-sides) is reserved for slow, romantic songs in a bachata style. Five of these six songs were released as singles ("Como Abeja al Panal," "Carta de Amor," "Estrellitas y Duendes," "Burbujas de Amor," "Bachata Rosa"). As some critics have noted, these songs aren't bachatas in a strict sense; rather, they fuse bachata with the bolero and ballad styles in the same way that Guerra's merengues are often fusions of other uptempo tropical styles like soca and salsa. In any event, Guerra is credited with popularizing bachata in the early '90s and rightfully so. Both "Burbujas de Amor" and "Estrellitas y Duendes" reached the Top Five of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, and Guerra won a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Performance. Anyone looking to explore his back catalog should look no further than Bachata Rosa. Not only is it his career-defining work, it's also one of the finest tropical albums of its era, or any other, for that matter. ~ Jason Birchmeier
Recorded at 440 Studio, New York, New York; Audio Proceso, Midilab & Estudios EMCA, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Engineers include: John Fausty, Marco Felix, Carlos Molina.
Personnel: Robert Jeandor (bajo sexto, maracas); Osvaldo Cesa, Hector Santana (bajo sexto); Juan De La Cruz (tamboura, bata, timbales); Luisín del Rosario, Daniel Pena (saxophone); Fermin Crúz, Armando Beltre (trumpet); Roberto Olea (trombone); Elvis Cabrera, Manuel Tejada (piano, synthesizer); Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Yanina Rosado (piano); Marcos Hernandez (synthesizer); Roger Zayas-Bazan, Guy Frometa (drums); Gadwin Vargas, Pedro Tene Peralta (congas); Alberto Machuca (bongos); Pichi Perez (guiro, maracas); Henry Garcia (guiro); Santiago "Chago" Martínez (timbales); Isidro Bobadillo (percussion).
Recording information: 440 Studio, New York, NY; Audio Proceso, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Estudios EMCA, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Midilab, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Ochoa Recor.
Juan Luis Guerra Y 4.40: Juan Luis Guerra (vocals, guitar); Daniel Pena (saxophone); Armando Beltre (trumpet); Roberto Olea (trombone); Elvis Cabrera (piano, synthesizer); Marco Hernandez (synthesizer); Osvaldo Cesa (bass); Roger Zayas (drums); Pedro Peralta (congas); Rafael Guzman (guira); Isidro Bobadilla (percussion); Adalgisa Pantaleon.
Additional personnel: Luis Del Rosario (saxophone); Femin Cruz (trumpet); Manuel Tejada (piano, synthesizer); Yanino Rosada, Gonzalo Rubalcaba (piano); Robert Jeandor (bass, maracas); Hector Santana (bass); Guy Frometa (drums); Alberto Machuca (bongos, cencerro); Gadwin Vargas (congas); Pichi Perez (guiro, maracas); Henry Garcia (guiro, background vocals); Santiago Martinez (timbal); Mariela Mercado, Sonia Silvestre, Victor Victor, Robert Jeandor (background vocals).
Marvelous!! Juan Luis Guerra is a master and a genius. I love this CD. Submitted by digna_baez (Marlborough, MA, USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Buenisimo!! Me encanta su primera producion creo que fue la mejor y la mas exitosa de su carrera Submitted by Melissa (Springfield, MA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Nice Surprise This is a great cd. I'm not a hugh fan of bachata, but this cd still forces me to dance. Submitted by Kay (All over, USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
The Best! Amazing music from Juan Luis Guerra!! My favorite song is "Burbujas de Amor". Excellent for a party. Submitted by ialvar (Montreal, Canada) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
A Gem! This is a must have for all salsa merengue lovers...don't have this in your collection, RUN, get your butt to the shop and buy it, You'll never regret this! Submitted by Sunil (Netherlands) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 0 of 1 found this helpful.
Marvelous!!
Nice Surprise
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