Search - Silvio Rodriguez :: Oh Melancolia

Silvio at his best...

06/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album made me realize, after years of listening and loving Silvio's music and poetry, that he is a genius. His depth, his understanding of human nature, of life's mysteries, never cease to amaze me. His incredible sense of humour is at its best in "El extrano caso de las damas de Africa". It is true that nowhere else, but in Cuba, a certain kind of chocolate covered cookie is called "africana" and this is exactly what this song is all about: not really about "ladies from Africa", but about these delicious chocolate cookies...His understanding of life's very nature are captured in Eva; Locuras; Oh melancolia; Bolero y Habaneras; Jerusalen ano cero. His eagerness to know everything there is between life and death, heaven and earth, make him the extraordinarily gifted poet he is, a true genius. No matter how far away I am from my motherland, his beautiful music and profound poetry follows me everywhere, as a reminder of how proud I should be to have witnessed his talent during my lifetime."

3.5 stars: Beautiful but far from his best

Manny Hernandez | Bay Area, CA | 12/04/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Silvio recorded this album in 1988 with a sound that grew somewhat distant from his traditional "basic" guitar work alongside his beautiful voice, but didn't quite make it with the entire album. The song "Locuras", besides being the best track in the album, is the exception to this, with its amazing acoustic guitar lines and uplifting lyrics. But in general, the album shows comes out as symphonic/classical in its overall orchestration."Entre El Espanto Y La Ternura" (sung by an impressive choir), "Oh Melancolia" (with a classic piano intro), "Eva" (with guitar with baroque keys and horns accompanying), "Hay Quien Precisa" (with strings as its backbone), and "En El Jardin De La Noche" (a piece with a bolero feel in its early moments) are the biggest highlights in terms of the classic sound of the album, yet they don't ever attain the level of exquisiteness that previous orchestrated Silvio works reached (such as the case with 'Causas y Azares') or the more intimate quitar/singer albums had before and continued to have after 'Oh Melancolia!'"

Silvio in his best,mood style

Enrique Muñoz Ortega | Mexico CIty Mexico | 08/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the best Silvio's albums you can get. It's a wonderful trip for his melancholic,softly mood of writing,with a few wondering songs like "La prisión","Bolero y habanera" and,of course,the title song of the disc.Rodriguez brings us the sensibility of a prime autor and you doesn't need to understand spanish to feel the great kindness of a human being always concearn with the world he lives.If you never hear Silvio this is also a nice introduction to his style and a fine example of his art"