CafA© Tacuba - Avalancha de A‰xitos

A quite enjoyable surprise

I have never been a fan of cover albums, and I must say that in 1996 when I heard that Café Tacvba's next album would be full of covers, I was quite disappointed. Especially when a couple of years ago this same band criticized other bands for doing covers, now they were releasing an album full of those!

I am not sure but I believe that for this album the vocalist changed his name to `Anonimo', the album includes covers from Flans (an 80's pop band), Botellita de Jerez (another mexican rock band) and Leo Dan among others. It has only 8 tracks, but the eight of them are quite enjoyable.

Even though the songs were not new, what I never considered was that they changed the original music to the Café Tacvba style, which is totally unpredictable. Their version of `Chilanga Banda' made me buy this album, very different from the original, you basically know is the same song because of the title and the lyrics, everything else is totally café Tacvba. Their rendition of `No controles' was another pleasant surprise, especially when I never liked Flans, there's also an instrumental version of `Perfidia' which is one of my favorites, but the song that is really worth of mentioning is `Ojala que llueva café' (original by Juan Luis Guerra), the arrangement they made I promise you no one saw it coming, the last part of the song is now a classic thing an cheered in every concert they give.

If you can buy the special edition they released I would recommend it, it is a carton paper case with a very interesting work of design (as most of their albums)

Maybe not their best album, but a very rare and interesting piece of music that should be a guide to other bands on how to do a cover song, the only thing you need to do is adapt it to your style to make it different from the original and unique, and that's what Café Tacvba did in this album.
May 6, 2005

"No Manches Dice La Changa"

I usually stay away from cover albums, but this one isn't like all the others. "No Controles" sounds nothing like the original version and it features David Byrne (Talking Heads) siging backing vocals. "Chilanga Banda" is hilarious and "Como Te Extrano Mi Amor" reminds me of my childhood. I think my parents used to listen to the original version a lot. All the other songs are great too, but I usually skip the instrumental. I wouldn't recommend this album to newcomers though. The best of album or Re would be the best places to start. After that you'll end up wanting everything by Cafe Tacuba. April 24, 2005

Extraordinaria producción

Café Tacuba tomó ocho temas de otros compositores, versionándolos con su estilo y logrando una colección realmente brillante. Es indudable el talento y la inteligencia con que cuenta la banda dados los arreglos que hicieron de los temas.

-Chilanga Banda: es la canción de 'ch' por el uso exagerado de esa letra. Un tema de Juan Jaime López, muy divertido.
-Metamorfosis: un tema muy suave.
-No controles: una versión bastante más violenta de este tema de Nacho Cano que la que cantaban las chicas de Flans. La considero incluso mejor que la original.
-No me comprendes: una hermosa pieza, melancólica.
-Alármala de tos: el tema más acelerado del disco, muy, muy Tacuba.
-Perfidia: una pieza instrumental, original de Alberto Domínguez.
-Ojalá que llueva café: una versión del conocido tema de Juan Luis Guerra...simplemente brillante.
-Como te extraño mi amor: del argentino Leo Dan, es probablemente la mejor canción del disco (o solo superada por Ojalá que llueva café). May 17, 2003

Cool covers

Cafe tacuba is one of the most interesting bands along with aterciepolados on the modern rock en español scene. These covers are very cool. Cafe tacubas style is hard to describe, I would say they are a ska rock band mixed with ranchera, industrial, pop, punk....They really have a unique sound. You only get 8 tunes here, but it is still worth it, the cover of "No Controles" absolutly rocks, as does "chilanga Banda" and the instrumental "perfidia" is neat as is "metamorfosis".

If you are sick of the normal "alternative rock" bands on the north american scene, then definitly check out groups like cafe tacuba whom are putting out some refreshing, original work. February 27, 2002

Avalancha De Exitos - Cafe Tacuba

This is probably one of the best albums as far as cover albums go. They covered a few recent hits such as Botellita de Jerez's Alarmala de Toz, which actually sounds better than the original. They also cover the girl band Flan's No Controles in such a way that you would never imagine a male band to cover. They also bring back the popular classic Como te Extrano by Leo Dan. Overall this has to be a very enjoyable album by one of today's most entertaining and best of the spanish rock bands. Cafe Tacuba Rules. April 1, 2001

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