Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 06/29/2004
In Spanish, the word
veintisiete means
27, and this 2004 release is a way of celebrating
los Temerarios' 27th anniversary -- it was in 1977 that
Adolfo and
Gustavo Ángel Alba first joined forces as
la Brisa (a name they gave up after becoming
los Temerarios). The Alba brothers were hardly an overnight success; they had been paying dues for over a decade when they finally started making some commercial headway. But those years of struggle must seem like a distant memory for the Albas, whose pleasantly good-natured, if less than challenging,
grupero has sold a lot of CDs in the '90s and 2000s.
Veintisiete, it turns out, is one of
los Temerarios' more traditional contributions to regional Mexican music -- traditional to a point, anyway. The Albas haven't abandoned
grupero and
Latin pop by any means, but the
mariachi elements are much more prominent than usual on arrangements of well known gems such as
Antonio Valdez Herrera's
"Reunciación," Martin Urieta Salano's
"Qué de Raro Tiene," and
Vincente Fernández's
"Las Llaves de Mi Alma." Of course, the very nature of the songs lends themselves to a more traditionally Mexican approach; anyone who is seriously into classic
mariachi and
ranchero will recognize names like
Antonio Valdez Herrera and
Vincente Fernández. And it's great to see
los Temerarios showing this side of themselves -- even though they don't do it on all of the tracks.
"Caminando Voy," for example, is more typical of the sleek, polished
grupero/
Latin pop that the Albas are best known for. It's hard to imagine that
los Temerarios will ever become a hardcore
mariachi group; they have way too much invested in
grupero. But
Veintisiete is a rewarding departure from the Albas' norm, and it is also one of the most memorable albums in their catalog.
~Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
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