mrkstvns's Full Review: Querer es... by El Poder Del Norte
As many Norteño albums as I've reviewed, you'd think I would have hit at least all the big names by now, but I haven't. Case in point: El Poder del Norte. The group's got a huge loyal following in Northern Mexico and parts of South Texas, and their music's been played out the ying-yang on border radio for at least a decade, yet I've never popped one of their discs into the changer on review-writing day. Today that changes.
I should probably do them more justice by reviewing one of their best studio releases (like A Ellas), but I think I'll start off with more of an overview kind of review, so let's slide one of their "best of" compilations into the changer instead...let's do the 2003 release, Querer Es㐊 Poderosos Exitos (22 Powerful Hits).
The Power and Hits...
The album kicks off with the group's huge 2000-era hit, A Ellas, which is a great norteña style cumbia filled with rolling accordian solos, great hooks, catchy lyrics, and a haunting chorus that sticks in your head so that, weeks later, you're still humming along and singing along in your mind "...sin anillos, ni flores desea..." Damn! I've got it stuck back in Flash Memory again!
Piel de Angel worked its way under the skin of norteña fans back in 1999 when the album of the same name hit the music shelves. The song owes its success to its savvy melding of norteña cumbia rhythms with a pop sensibility, following the tried and true formula that Grupo Limite so adeptly used to cook up a slew of consecutive chart toppers. Piel de Angel is an enigma though. It's got the spit and polish of a pop hit, but with jingly jangly accordian riffs thrown in and a huge pulsating bass lying under the surface. The song is a study in contrasts. It's complex and shows Poder del Norte at their best.
Para Que Me Engaño builds on the same kinds of hooks and rhythms that make A Ellas and Piel de Angel such blockbusters. In fact, listen to Para Que Me Engaño and A Ellas back to back and you can't help but be struck by how derivative the sounds are on the two tracks. There's differences, but they're subtle, and I view the tracks as being almost mirror clones of one another. That's great if you love the big pop-influenced brand of norteña (which I do), but I can see someone finding the sounds repetitive at times. (And the riffs on Acepto Mi Derrota sounds like a dead ringer for those on Para Que Me Engaño, though the vocal intensity gets cranked up a couple notches...
Most of Poder del Norte's hits work in similar ways. Y Aqui Estoy --- BIG hit, obvious pop influence, but with too much desperation in the lyrics for my tastes. El Poder del Norte plays very much to an adult audience, but on this track, I get too much of a bubblegum mood from the lyrics. 1-centavo translation of the gist: "...and here I am, desperate for you, thinking only of your name, your name, and here I am, I can't do anything without you, everything reminds of you, I want your kisses (muac, muac, muac, gag me, gag me, gag me), one more time..." Criminey. If Poder del Norte didn't have such a huge, masculine sound, I could mistake this kind of pablum for Hilary Duff.
But there's plenty of originality here too. Por Que Tuvo Que Ser is one of my all-time favorite Poder del Norte tracks. I love the gritty feel of this track, with its rough and tumble accordian opening and thrumming percussions. It's romantic feeling, but in an earthy way. It kind of reminds me of the way a guy like Johnny Cash could spin a tune with a bit of country twang to it and a gritty reality that made him The Man in Black and not just yet another interchangeable crooner.
Love the intense percussion work on Como Te Extraño. Could do without the nasal twang on Pero Me Perdonas. Love the hesitant pacing on Amarga Pena. Love the great accordian riffs everywhere.
While most of El Poder del Norte's hits work best by varying on the cumbia rhythym, there's a few smoldering rancheras too (and the group even did a whole compilation of rancheras a couple years ago, just in case you're one of the romantic saps who loves rancheras...not me!). En Tu Sonrisa is a plodding beast --- it doesn't do a lot for me. Ditto with No Sera Facil.
The Cheese Factor...
There's a ton of hits here, but the album is a zero in terms of originality, after all, it is just a hits collection. It's a bit depressing to see, but there are all too many cheesy compilation discs in music stores these days, and Querer Es㐊 Poderosos Exitos is, at its core, just one more faceless face in the crowd. The production is nothing to write home about, the cover art is ugly and unimaginitive, the band photo is unexcitingly drab, there's no liner notes of any merit, and the case bears the ultimate "kiss of death" --- a sticker proclaiming "As Seen on TV" (or to be more accurate, "Como lo Vio en TV"). Uuuff!
Bottom Line...
I've always liked El Poder del Norte. They're a class act --- with a great ethic of dependable craftsmanship. Their songs are solidly based on traditional norteña sounds and themes, but they bring a subtle pop fusion to the table that's more restrained than the bigger, more obvious pop influence of groups that play better to younger audiences (like Limite). At the end of the day though, it's El Poder del Norte that has the enduring popularity. I wish the group would spend more time in the studio and less time putting out predictable hits collections like Querer Es, though I can't say I didn't get my money's worth. This album has a lot of music, and to their credit, most of the tracks were bona fide hits for the group and are representative of their best material over the late '90s to early '00s era.
If you're looking for an intro to the Poder del Norte sound, this is a cheap way to get there...
Until next time, see you in the music store. As always, look for me in the latin music aisle!
Tracks, Tracks, And Nuthin' But the Tracks...
22 big norteña hits, 73:31 total running time. Here's what's in store for your ears...
1. A Ella 2. Piel de Angel 3. Por Que Tuvo Que Ser 4. Pero Me Perdonas 5. Muriendo al Extranarte 6. Para Que Me Engano 7. Y Aqui Estoy 8. Como Te Extrano 9. Mi Vida Eres Tu 10. En Tu Sonrisa 11. Me Llega Me Llega 12. Ni Que Valieras Tanto 13. Amarga Pena 14. De Que Sirvio 15. Pequena Amante 16. No Sera Facil 17. Nada Ni Nadie 18. Pero Te Dije Adios 19. Acepto Mi Derrota 20. El 21. Mi Decision 22. El Dia Que Me Quieras
Recommended...
If you like the bold sound of big norteña and tejana, you might like a couple of these reviews...
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.