Search - Mana :: Amar Es Combatir

Solid Effort from Mana!

Chris Keenan | Kennewick, Washington | 08/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, I waited long and hard for a new Mana album and it took me many times through it to be able to rate it. In my opinion, Suenos Liquidos and Revolucion de Amor were more complete albums, and I would rate those albums MORE than 5 stars. Amar Es Combatir gets a solid 5 stars from me. This one has less of a "Rock" sound than Revolucion in my opinion, although a few songs don't disappoint in that category. This to me is more of an "easy listening" sound but worth the money. I couldn't really pinpoint a theme to this one. "Donde Jugaran" from years ago had a sort of environmental theme, as did "Cuando Los Angeles Lloran", which I also call the "Dark" album. "Suenos" was water and dreams and sirenas, and "Revolucion" to me really was a revolution in their sound compared to prior albums. This one flows along and is easy to listen to, with four or five songs that REALLY stand out and the rest are "good". Only thing I'd change is I'd make it a little harder. That being said, I have noticed that all of the songs I like the least (tracks 6, 9 11,12) are other people's favorites, which makes sense and is evidence that Mana really does appeal to a large audience with different tastes. For that reason alone a person should buy this album - at least half of the songs will appeal to you, which is more than can be said for a lot of albums released these days that have only one or two really good songs...



One thing about this album is that it seems more crisp, more digitally mastered, or engineered, than past albums. You can hear more computerized or synthesized sounds throughout the songs, which isn't a bad thing, just a little more than they've done in the past.



Of note on this album is the repeat appearance by Sergio's brother Fernando. He is credited with bass arrangements on most of the songs. He has been with Mana since at least the Unplugged days, and it seems he is an unofficial member. It makes me wonder what's up with Juan, who I really like and who in fact I met in Monterrey a few years ago and is a VERY polite and accommodating down to earth person. I suspect that Fernando has a lot more formal training in bass arrangement and composition than Juan, but Juan will always be one of the COOLEST bass players around.



I like the appearance of Juan Luis Guerra on this album, and like that Sergio and Alex played a visible part in the music and lyrics as they did on Revolucion. It's also cool that Gus Orozco(one of the original members of Sombrero Verde 25 years ago, which became Mana. Gus also stood in at guitar for the Mana En Vivo album and world tour)contributes some talent on one of the songs.



Overall: A- / B+ BUY IT!



Some thoughts on each track:



1 - Manda Una Senal...Classic Mana sound. Good harmony, toe tapping, soothing. It has a Huele a Tristeza (Donde Jugaran...) feel...one of the best songs on the disc.



2 - Labios Compartidos - lead single. Again, good classic Mana



3 - Ojala Pudiera Borrarte - It has the same effect on me that "Como Dueles en Los Labios" (Suenos Liquidos) did when I first heard it. I'm not sure why it had the effect on me that it did, but it brought a tear to my eye about halfway through the first two times I listened to it. "Oh, if I could erase you from my dreams... if I could drown you in a pool of roses and love, if even your name could be forgotten, drowned within the sea, oh if your summer smile could be erased..."



4 - Arrancame el Corazon - First of three songs with music written by Alex (lyrics by Fher). I can always tell his composition style - it's always a little bit more raw (in a good way) and hard charging. Also one of the best songs on this album...



5 - Tengo Muchas Alas - A song by Fher about a person who is rejected and discarded after giving everything, but he still has hope that the wind will help spread his wings and carry him above it all...this song would end up on the adult contemporary charts if it were in English



6 - Dime Luna - A sort of whimsical song, more or less floats along. In the song he is singing to the moon, asking why he can never hide from it no matter what he does, which is an analogy for not being able to hide from the memory of someone who is gone from his life. This is the token "harmonica" song on the disc...not my favorite, although the harmonica is one of Fher's trademarks and I like to see him continue with it....



7 - Bendita Tu Luz - Music by Sergio, with special guest Juan Luis Guerra. I have found Sergios music to be especially introspective, detailed, and perfectionistic. Coupled with JLG on lead voice and Fher on harmony, there is no way this song can go wrong. For those who do not know Guerra or his band 4.40, CHECK HIM OUT. He is a Grammy winning Bachata and Merengue artist from the Dominican Republic who has never done less than outstanding work. As far as collaborations go, this is one of their best in my opinion due to Guerra's caliber (however, past collaborations with Santana, Ruben Blades, etc were great too...).



8 - Tu me Salvaste - Words, Music and lead voice by Alex. Again, has his "sound" to it...No Mana album is complete without a few tracks with Alex on lead vocal...



9 - Combatiente - Solid song, not one of the best on the album (in my opinion). Again, another hard charging song with music by Alex. It reminds me of Nada Que Perder from Revolucion, but with Fher on lead vocal this time.



10 - El Viaje - This is a cool song! Words, Music and Voice by Alex. It has a "Rage Against the Machine" sound to it with a little bit of what feels like Led Zeppelin to me. There is a guitar riff in the middle of the song that sounds eerily like the now defunct "Rage". It's a step out for Alex from some of his other stuff as far as the "sound" but not bad at all. Awesome percussion throughout and cool guitar from Sergio.



11 - El Rey Tiburon - This song took a long time to grow on me. I had to listen to the album at least 10 times for me to stop skipping over it. It's one of those less serious songs with Fher singing about how he's the King Shark swimming around looking for hotties, and he'll shower them with tons of love and kisses and eat `em up if he catches them. "Careful, beauties, now I'm here and there's no stopping me. Now the shark is here." This takes after the "Perdido en un Barco" (Falta Amor) style of song from the early days that has a really good, danceable latin beat but is just silly as far as lyrics go.



12 - Somos Mar Y Arena - another song that just kind of floats along. One of Fher's flowing songs about the earth and how we should let all of the cares, fears, etc. just roll off of our backs, since we are just sand and sea after all...



13 - Relax - Awesome song! Words and Music by Sergio. As mentioned already, Sergio's stuff is always very crisp and cool. The only thing I wish is that the few guitar bridges towards the end of the song were longer.



Overall, worth the money. I would put it at third best of all their studio albums, just behind Cuando Los Angeles Lloran and Revolucion de Amor.

"

Buen trabajo

gabsterzz | California | 09/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"La cancion 'mandame una señal' es probablemente la mejor cancion de todo el album.. es absolutamente bellisima.. Despues de varios años Mana regresa con otro album lleno de calidad, sentimiento, y sobretodo con mucho amor!! Por eso es que nos encanta tanto.. El amor es lo mas importante que el ser humano puede tener no?.. Bien hecho."

Ama el Amor, Love the love

Barbara Schwartz Brus | 08/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've been awaiting this album for years. Mana is my favorite band in the whole world and this album, while it wasn't the mind-blowing CD I had built up in my mind, is still a great album that was worth the wait. Yes, 85 percent of the album is all about having loved and lost and loved and lost again, but really, isn't that why we love these guys? They fill their music with real emotion that anyone who's ever been in love can identify with.



What I liked about this album -- solid production -- I vote they keep recording in Miami! -- strong, incredibly well-crafted lyrics full of real feeling and the further evolution of the band's sound while still retaining its style. When you hear a Mana song, you know it, and yet it keeps developing into a higher level. What I didn't like -- I agree with the reviewer who said they couldn't find a solid cohesive theme on this one like in past albums. Maybe it's because we have three prolific songwriters now instead of just the two, but there's a greater mix of music style and lyric themes, which can be good but it makes me a little nostalgic for the work they did on Suenos Liquidos (my favorite)and Cuando Los Angeles Lloran. I also miss the socially and environmentally conscious songs on past albums such as Me Voy a Convertir en Un Ave and Selva Negra. Even Revolucion de Amor, which was heavy on the love and light on the revolution, had Pobre Juan and Angel del Amor. The two songs on Amar Es Combatir that stray from the love-loss-love, Combatiente and Relax, are great, but they're more along the lines of Nada Que Perder than they are Donde Jugaran Los Ninos. I miss that and hope they return with a few more like that on the next one.



In the mean time, I'm going to keep enjoying Amar Es Combatir, because it is a good album, very listenable, with enough tunes taht really make you rock out and dance, preferably with someone you love.



My favorites:

Labios Compartidos -- a Mana song through and through, very well crafted.

Ojala pudiera borrarte -- very bittersweet song that'll make you cry even if you don't understand a word of Spanish. It's really beautiful and anyone who's ever had a bad breakup would identify with this one.

Bendita La Luz -- another lovely song with Juan Luis Guerra, beautiful guitar work by Sergio and filled with lovely metaphor and sentiment.

El Rey Tiburon -- a guaranteed hip-shaker, this one had me dancing from the first listen. Yeah, it's silly, but it's also a lot of fun.

Somos Mar y Arena -- this one's very poppy but still a lot of fun and good to the ear.

Combatiente -- I like the lyrics and the thought behind this song more than I like the music, which is the first Mana song I've ever heard that sounded kind of repeated. But it's still good.

Relax -- Powerhouse desperation, great and strong.

Tengo Muchas Alas -- I don't love this song for the music because it's very much adult contemporary sounding, but the lyrics are really inspiring and uplifting.

Arrancame el Corazon -- I always like it when Fher and Alex work together with such great results, and this is a good, hard-rocking song. It's the angry breakup song. Ouch.



But it's all good. I highly recommend it."