Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 11/01/2005
The success of
Flores de Alquiler (2004) was a little slow to build for
la Quinta Estación, but the success certainly came, particularly with the release of the album's second and third singles,
"Daría" and
"Algo Más," and it carried over well into 2005. So the
rock en español trio regrouped that year for a stopgap release that would tide over their growing fan base while they continued to ride out the steadily continuing success of
Flores de Alquiler. The CD/DVD
Acustico is that stopgap release. Essentially, it's an "unplugged" performance of
Flores de Alquiler, reprising most of the album, including all of the hits. There is enough of a difference between this understated acoustic performance and the radio-ready slickness of
Flores de Alquiler that fans will want both. In particular, frontwoman
Natalia Jiménez shines here. Without question, she's the focal point of the band, and her voice absolutely steals the show on
Acustico. Discounting a two-song plugged-in encore,
"Algo Más" is saved for last, and it's just plain striking. What a beautiful song, no matter the version.
"Niña" also shines within this context, as it's also a showcase for the vocal strength of
Jiménez. As pleasing as this performance is, however, there's no denying that it's slight relative to its primary source,
Flores de Alquiler.
Jiménez may indeed shine here, but a lot of the studio-crafted vibrancy that made
Flores de Alquiler such an exceptional album is missing in the sparseness of this setting. Moreover,
Acustico is slight because of its limited contents: just ten songs total, eight of them from
Flores de Alquiler and the other two from the band's largely unknown debut,
Primera Toma (2002). Then again, the video component does add a certain additional value, but overall,
Acustico is the province of devoted fans. Anyone less than wholeheartedly devoted to
la Quinta Estación will be perfectly content with
Flores de Alquiler and the band's other studio efforts.
~Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
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