Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 12/31/2002
When Germans visit Mexico or the southwestern part of the United States, they're likely to hear something that reminds them of home: the
polka beat. They may not hear it played exactly like it's played at a traditional Oktoberfest gathering in Berlin or Munich, but they are likely to come across a variation that is incredibly popular among people of Mexican descent -- they'll hear the unmistakable
norteño/
Tex-Mex beat, which was created when Mexican-Americans living in Texas combined Mexican
ranchero music with the
polka that German immigrants brought to the Lone Star State. That
norteño/
Tex-Mex beat can be used in a variety of ways; there are hardcore
norteño groups as well as smooth, sleek
Tejano/
Mexican pop artists who play "
norteño light."
Industria del Amor is somewhere in between;
Raices, like many of their previous releases, favors a softer approach than
los Tigres del Norte or
los Rieleros del Norte but isn't as sleek as
La Movida or the late
Selena (two major names in
Tejano music). Nonetheless,
Raices is unmistakably Mexican -- it's impossible to miss the infectious
norteño/
Tex-Mex beat, which is truly omnipresent in any place that has a large Mexican population (just as
salsa/
Afro-Cuban music is inescapable in any place that has a lot of Cubans or Puerto Ricans).
Raices doesn't break any new ground for
Industria del Amor; anyone who already has a lot of their previous
Fonovisa releases will find that
romantic tracks like
"Lucio Vasquez," "La Que Se Fue," and
"Por Una Mujer Casada" don't take the Los Angeles-based group into any uncharted territory. Nonetheless, all of the material is solid -- and
Industria del Amor's hardcore fans will find
Raices to be a pleasing, if somewhat predictable, addition to their sizable catalog.
~Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
Cart 0 items
Listen
