Juan Luis Guerra y 440 - Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual

Beginning in 1989 with his breakthrough album Ojala Que Llueva Café, Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra shook the Latin pop world by writing music that was successful both artistically and commercially. Without losing sight of the dancers on the dance floor or of hook-driven radio, Guerra reworked Dominican merengue, and later the romantic, bolero-like bachata, with sophisticated jazz harmonies, poetic lyrics, and top-shelf pop-style production. He even made some astute connections between modern Caribbean and West African pop. But in 1994 he disappeared from view. Ni Es lo Mismo ni Es Igual shows an artist finding his way back, looking for the markers he left behind but not wanting to simply re-create the past. He has a couple of potential hits in "Mi PC," a catchy merengue in which Guerra romances using the imagery and language of our computer world, and "El Primo," a witty, crisp merengue about a cousin who "knows Michael Jordan and is an actor / Breathes underwater and is a painter / Is a sociologist and pilot planes...." The highlight of the disc is "El Niagara en Bicicleta," a merengue-rap that deals with the tragicomic miseries of health care in the contemporary Dominican Republic and shows Guerra at his very best: a devastating social critic with a fine-tuned pop sensibility. No Es lo Mismo is solid rather than impressive. But still, solid, for Guerra, is already better than most anything else on the Latin music charts. --Fernando Gonzalez Amazon.com

Excelente!!! Dios te ha premiado con un don, Juan Luis

Es un gran Disco, Juan Luis Guerra es un genio para componer canciones, sus melodías son hermosas, sus letras te llegan al corazón. Este disco tiene por lo menos 8 canciones buenas y una de ellas es una de mis canciones favoritas de todos los tiempos, géneros e idiomas. April 30, 2008

pura alegría

Somewhere along the musical pathway that leads up to a splendid, blue-skied Autumn day in America's midwest, I may have stumbled upon an album that contained more pure joy than Juan Luís Guerra's NI ES LO MISMO NI ES IGUAL.

But I can't for the life of me think what that might have been.

Let's just say that, at least for the moment, this 1998 release stands atop that particular league table.

And how it stands! In truth, it dances! It twirls! It grins!

It triumphs.

It is alleged that the title of JLG's band '440' is a musical term that corresponds to precision and crispness. If that's the case, they might need to add yet another zero to get the superlatives aligned as they should be. JLG and the band are breathtaking in their ability to take the merengue to scientific levels of up-tempo accuracy without for one second tilting at losing the soul of it all.

It's a marvel. You've got to hear it.

JLG's writing is full of the kind of wit and self-deprecating humor that most artists fail to achieve in a lifetime. JGL tosses it off, album by album, as though it were the artistic equivalent of rolling out of bed and hitting 'off' on the aesthetic alarm clock. From the loving lyrics of 'Mi PC" to the unforgettable social criticism (or is he just having a good time?) of El Niágara en Bicicleta' to the existential tonal resolution of 'Testimonio' and everything in between, this is exceptional writing, superlative performance, and high-quality production that allows its listener to drift far from Santo Domingo not once in eleven tracks.

'Palomita blanca' easily places JLG among the ranks of, say, Sting and Paul Simon, with regard to smooth, heart-hooking love song writing. 'El primo' picks up a hilarious lyric strain of merengue songsmanship whereby a primo ('cousin') is celebrated with outlandish claims of achievement and notoriety. I must have listened to this track a hundred times and I cannot do so on the one hundred and first without grinning, again. One of the principle virtues of JLG's music is that it does not weary its repeat listener. How could it. The sweetness and joy in it can be squeezed for a few more drops on each return.

Juan Luís Guerra joins Ricardo Arjona on the pantheon of thoughtful Latin musians who keep churning out the good stuff album after album without sounding mass-produced. JGL in particular goes from strength to strength, warming hearts and elevating minds with his incomparable and world-aware artistry. November 3, 2007

No es lo mismo ni es igual

The item was received fast and in good condition....Excellent buyer....(Import CD specialist) I recomend them for quick shipments. February 24, 2007

O melhor álbum de JLG!

"Ni es lo Mismo, Ni es Igual" é, sem dúvida, o melhor álbum de Juan Luis Guerra. Cada uma das 11 faixas do CD prova o seu perfeccionismo quando ele faz música.
Os 4 merengues (1, 2, 5 e 9) são dos melhores que já compôs (destaque para "El Niágara en bicicleta"). A salsa "Quisiera" (faixa 4) é deliciosa (veja também a versão balada dela em "Colección Romantica" de 2001).
As bachatas aqui ("La hormiguita" e "Palomita blanca") são as melhores e mais românticas dele. Falando em romantismo, completam o CD as lindas faixas 7, 8 e 10 ("Testimonio", "Amapola" e "Sobremesa", respectivamente) e a última música, uma versão de "Amor de conuco", apenas violão e voz, ótima!
Juan Luis Guerra é um músico de primeira qualidade. Suas composições são harmoniosas, perfeitas e toca nossos corações profundamente - seja com merengues, bachatas, salsas, baladas... Não deixe de apreciar seus outros trabalhos ("Para Ti" de 2004, por exemplo, tem ótimos merengues), nos quais NÃO vejo músicas que pudesse descartar, jogar fora, ou seja, não tem música-lixo (e tem muuuuita música assim em nossos dias... em espanhol, português, inglês... arghh!). February 21, 2005

Juan Luis Guerra is a wonderful performer!

I waited weeks for this album to come in from the library and it was well worth the wait. Juan Luis Guerra is truly in a class by himself. He has a clean and beautiful style. It is a great combination of clean percussion and a beautiful, romantic voice. Mr. Guerra also has a great sense of humor and a beautiful poetic style as a songwriter.

I love "Mi PC" (a song that juxtaposes computer lingo with a man's love for his lover), "Hormiguita" (a beautiful ballad), "Niagara en Bicicleta" (a merengue rap that takes a humourous and tongue-in-cheek look at the health care system of the Dominican Republic), the romantic "Testimonio", "Sobremesa", "Amor de Conuco" and the lively and humour "Primo."

If you are tired of all of the techno-based merengue and want to hear lyrics from a sincere and beautiful poet and melodies that compliment them oh so well this is definitely an album for you! What a great introduction to the music of the Dominican Republic. (This is only the tip of the iceberg, of course!) July 11, 2004

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