Search - Soda Stereo :: El Ultimo Concierto Pt.2

A piece of musical heaven

Sebastian | Chicago, USA | 02/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"(This review is for the set of 2 cds, A and B, that by all means should be considered toguether. Soda had to release 2 cd's for contractual reasons but we forgive them for this..)



Set yourself in Buanos Aires, at the packed River Plate stadium, August 1997. It is the last concert of what is without any doubt the greatest rock band to ever have come from latin-american soil. The unforgetable music of La Ciudad de la Furia, a song about the darker side of Buenos Aires itself, blares into the stadium and penetrates deep into the collective conciousness of the thousands of adoring fans. Now fast forward to the last song, De Musica Lijera, pure rock and roll bliss, fans screaming the lyrics like mad and amazing gutar riffs roaring for the last time. Everybody in the stadium knows that is to be the end of it. Soda Stereo is to be no more. They can put the sadness aside, in between these two moments all those present had been treated to an unadultaretad piece of music heaven. It is precisely that what this pair of cd's try to capture.



To overstate the importance of Soda Stereo to latin-american music is impossible. This band which fused elements of ska, new-wave, pure rock and others into music that was remarkably progressive for its time and place has influenced so many others that it effectively has placed itself at the top of the latin rock world. In the 80's they opened doors for what would later become a musical revival not seen in Argentina since the time of the tango. If you have not listened to their music yet, take some time to do it. Listen repeatedly to these cd's and pick up all of their subtlelties, for the music created by Soda is just plain great. Even if you do not understand a word of Spanish you will apreciate what you will be listening to.



Soda has always delivered better performances live than in the studio, feeding off the crowd's energy. The performances in these cd's are no exeption. Listen to classics like La ciudad de la furia, Persiana americana, Zoom, El temblor, Ella uso mi cabeza como un revolver, Cancion Animal, Musica lijera among others and understand what this band was all about.



It pains me to see some of the trash that inundated the american and world markets coming from latin-america and at the same time for there to be no difussion of some great music like the one Soda created. Some gems from latin-america are known worldwide such as Brazilian music, salsa, merengue and other colorful examples. It is time for the rocker side to be known too.



Sell all of your other music if you have to, but get these cd's."