Siembra

muy buenoooo aunque willie colon suena raro, tiene otro timbre

Fun change of pace for this project.

Plástico - 4.5/5 Buscando Guayaba - 4/5 Pedro Navaja - 4.5/5 María Lionza - 4/5 Ojos - 4/5 Dime - 4/5 Siembra - 4.5/5 I'm not usually a guy who has salsa as a go-to genre but when it's I can't help but dance along to it. Great musicianship from both artists, and you know it's going to be good if the first song crosses disco with salsa for a song you can't not dance to. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: Plástico, Pedro Navaja, Siembra

I had no idea what was being said at all, but enjoyed the music. It’s raining and cold in June. This takes me somewhere where the weather is nicer and there’s a cold drink in my hand.

me encanto, muy padre

Never thought I'd enjoy a salsa album, and yet here I am giving it a 4 star rating. It's the kind of music where you can't not get up and start moving, with the music being very much embued with danceable grooves. I can certainly see the appeal now, that's for sure. My experience was aided by the fact that it was bright and sunny during my listening session, enhancing the summery vibes throughout and putting a smile on my face. Favourite track: Pedro Navaja Least favourite track: N/A (It's all great)

mmmm tusk

wow!!! way funkier than i imagined. i get a little nervous when i see a song over 6 minutes but happy to say it never dragged. really enjoyed this.

I’m not very familiar with salsa, but this album is a hell of a lot of fun.

Keep honking I'm listening to Willie Colon

Years ago I became aware that there was a song by a Latin artist that was a take on Mack the Knife. I've been a fan of the song Pedro Navaja ever since. This is the first time I've heard anything else by Reuben Blades, but it didn't disappoint. That Latin groove that pervades the album can't help but lift your spirits. And those horns just elevate the whole sound to another level. There was a bit of a tease at the beginning of a disco infusion into the sound, but sadly it only lasts for the opening of the song. I just wish I knew Spanish well enough to appreciate this even more.

Fun, catchy salsa with plenty of character. A collaboration that’s full of heart and endeared a genre to me that I’m not all too familiar with. A bright, positive impression here. 1 listen Favorite Tracks: Plástico, Title Track, Pedro Navaja

LATIN JAZZZZZZZZ vibey groovy yes i am on vacation

Another cool listen outside of my norm.

I really just know Ruben Blades from Predator 2. Heard Willie around. In North America plenty of 20s-30s vacations are to places with this Latin American vibe. To say this album was transportive to a very fun place in my mind would be an understatement.

Overall an extremely slick and well produced album. Those babies on the cover are in their seventh decade, but the music remains as fresh as a daisy

Not something I’d likely put on again but it was fun and well made

I don't know how many salsa records you need but if the answer is more than zero then you definitely need this one. Likewise, I don't purport to catch the meaning of all the lyrics (my college transcript says I know some Spanish but that's different from actually knowing Spanish) but I'm generally picking up on messages of humor, irony, and Puerto Rican unity. And of course the music will move your ass whether you want it to move or not.

cool!

Interesting!

Vika anche dice 4 quindi 4 sia

Random thoughts: * Started off so funky! But ended up being less 70s funk and way more salsa. Still really fun! * I doubt that I'm capable of properly rating this one. I don't know the album, group, or even really the style of music. * Thank you 1001 for providing some interesting music for a Monday night while I was cooking dinner. * It was so good, I started it over 3 times. * What?!?! Best selling album in salsa history! * I dug the West Side Story call back. "In America" * I'll add this to my listening rotation.

kjkhnbjmb

Good but I will not rate it with 5 stars because there is so much asymmetry between Pedro Navaja and the rest of the album.

3.5

One year anniversary! 4/5

1. Plastico- Funky AS FUCK. That bass ( Im Assuming). Smooth easy listen. Makes me wanna move. Last 2 mins are great 7/10 2. Buscado Guayaba- That horn is quite good. Deep vocals . slight reverb on it sound real nice. Could maybe do without the 40 seconds of sound effects. Another easy listen 6/10. Last minute is good 3. Pedro Navaja- Starts strong. slow build up is interesting me . . trumpets so good. The insturment wokr throughout is gorgeous. Love it. Such a smooth but strking song. really like this one. cowbell hits me hard. 8/10 4. Maria Lionza- Again the horns through out is so good. and cowbell. I enjoy it. the winddown with the bass coming back is nice. 7.5/10 5. Ojos- The horns i love are constant in this one. Another really good easy lsiten. 8/10 6. Dime- Another really easy listen. horns. vocals are nice. 7/10 7. Siembra- Start of the song is dramatic as hell. feels like a boss battle salsa song. Orechetral feel. big band feeling. very strong album ender. I feel best song on the album 10/10 overall 8.5/10. Really good album. Love ending on a super strong note. In all honesty it was diffecult to rate just due to the language and not being able to understand the lyrics. but the groove and the feeling captured me and gave a really fun listen to. would listen to while cleaning or something.

Great album. I haven't listened to much Salsa music, but this really seemed to blend many different styles with more "traditional" Salsa music. Great listen overall!

Un álbum identificatorio y representativo para Latinoamérica. Grandes letras. Viva Latinoamérica

This album has changed my perspective on the salsa genre. There’s an amazingly positive atmosphere surrounding these seven songs that I just can’t describe, but it’s wonderful. This album is for the people that say Latin American music was only popularized in the recent years, and by urban artists.

Not my jam, but the joy is infectious. Good for what it is. 3.5

A nice fusion of funk and salsa. My head was bobbing the entire time. I'm glad I'm doing this challenge because this would never would have crossed my path otherwise.

Fun vibes

It's a remarkable thing to listen to. So groovy but still delicate. Arrangements are stunning. Such a reach experience. As I understand a bit of Spanish I can tell the lyrics are at least interesting (I cought "Nicaragua without Somosa" in the end of the first track). Vocal performances are great, full of pride. It's a lovely album I'll definitely come back to. A high 4.

Surprisingly cool. I’m not familiar enough with the genre to know if it’s any good or not - from the outside it sounds very similar to a lot of the other Latin musical experiences I’ve had. That being said it didn’t wear out its welcome and I enjoyed my time with it.

When they came right out of the gate with a bass line I got excited. But it didn’t turn out to be quite the funk/ Latin big band fusion I expected. Really just one track “María Lionza” had a significant funk element to it. Oh well. Decent album anyway.

Oy, compania, Puerto RIco, Colombia, ratataa...

normalmente no escucho salsa pero esto estuvo a ca che te

thank you 1001

Willie Colon & Ruben Blades walked so Bad Bunny could run

Pleasantly surprised this not knowing much about Latin/salsa music. But I enjoyed this right from the get go. The horns are punchy and tight and it sounds like tropical summer. Now I could I listen to a lot of it? Probably not but it’s a great change up. Fave track: “Plastico”.

Glorious start to my Monday!

This was a fun album to listen to. Salsa isn't my favorite to hear for an entire album length, but individually the tracks are lively and enjoyable.

Ich liebe solche Musik, da kommt gleich bei mir ein Tanzgefühl auch

FUN.

Yuss great salsa

I love it! Brings the vibes!

I almost wished that this album had explored the disco-soul meets salsa vibe that the first song hinted at more; but even when it settles into more traditional salsa, it's still quite good.

Really enjoyed this. Not something that I would ever choose previously, but its opened my eyes

I liiiiike it

Веселый летний музон с латиноамериканским, пляжным и солнечным вайбом. Под такое хочется танцевать с коктейлем под жарким солнцем...

Sounds like music I would really enjoy playing.

Light 4,5

Great salsa album, very well performed.

The horns on this album! I can see why it was the best-selling salsa album of all time when it was released. I also enjoyed the little West Side Story quote in Pedro Navaja, even if it was most likely ironic.

It’s hard not to get up and dance to this record making a listening experience that completely absorbs you in its sound. The one thing that I think would elevate this LP for me is just knowing what’s being said but that’s definitely not a fault of the record. It’s beautiful, lovely, and I appreciate the groove it presents. Fav tracks: plástico, Maria Lionza, ojos, and Dime

Very enjoyable. It would go on my list for sure, must-listen #343.

I liked this. Enough variety throughout to keep me interested and it was fun

Lots of brass. I liked it a lot

I don't usually listen to salsa, so this was a really nice glimpse into a whole world of music. There's a great variety of sound on this record, with hints of disco, rock, and other 'fusion' elements throughout. I didn't understand much of the lyrics (pity that I don't speak Spanish), but from what I could garner, there's a very strong sense of pan-Latin American unity, which I think is very inspiring and a strong force still today. Really nice!

I’ve heard salsa over the years but never put on an entire salsa album. This is fun! This kind of music is filled with so much energy. His voice is great, it really shines through, even though I don’t speak Spanish. I wish I did. I enjoy this all a lot. The horns and bass are great on some of this. I think this is a great way to experience salsa music. It seems so pure. I would listen to this and all salsa again, and it’s the kind of music I enjoy hearing in places. Not sure it’s a 5 type of album for me personally, but I’m going a 4.

I listened to this on my way to work and got stuck in traffic. That was not the best way to listen to this. You need a dancehall to properly get the full effect of this album. It's damn infectious, I'm the most average white guy and I want to shake my ass to this. Fun album.

Genuinely wasn't expecting this album to be so good. Might be the start of my latin music era. I give it a solid 3.8.

I dig it. Not a style of music I listen to often so my take is a bit uninformed. Good sounds and definitely worth a revisit. Would be cool if I found the motivation to dig deeper into Latin music.

Fusion of disco, latin elements, and "Don Pablo's dinner music" with great beats and flow and vibe

Lovely album. First time ever listening to a samba album. Plus it was summer here when listening which helped!

I found myself dancing salsa and I don’t know how to salsa. Great album!

💃💃

pedro navaja, plastico, dime y siembra 🔛🔝 realmente m gustó mucho m estoy quedando un poco enamorada okey un sonido muy reconfortante y lindo de escuchar. letras (sobre todo la de siembra) muy inspiradoras para la vida y seguir adelante. lo escuche ayer 26/4

My name is Dexter... Dexter Morgan.

albums like this make this list so fun. salsa music is really not on my radar, don't think I would have found this unprompted, but it was such a fun listen

Delightful

I liked it

No idea at all about this album. I assume Latin music, which can be good. It was recorded in 1978, and the 70s were a great decade, maybe the best, for music and art in general. But Ruebn Blades? I thought he was an actor. Let’s get to it. Oh, and siembra means sow, as in to plant, not a female pig. Track 1 is Plastico and holy cow. Is it disco? It’s funky, with horns and some background singers singing, Ooooooh, Ooooooh. Now it’s getting into those Latin beats. Oh, man, those horns are scratching me right where I itch. The singer is singing in Spanish, but that’s of no matter. I bet this was hot in the discotheques back in 1978 and 1979. Our good friends at Wikipedia put this solidly in the salsa genre. I need me a fiery mama cita to dance with right now. Do you remember that driving arcade game called Outrun? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Colon and Blades wrote the music for it. Though I’m sure Colon and Blades songs are about 50 times better than Outrun’s music composer. Track 2 is Buscando Guyaba, and thank the good Lord above, it’s more of the same. This is more of a piano-based song, though there are horns. This song puts me in a Latin club in Cuba, rather than driving a sports car along the beach. Latin Wikipedia tells me this is the best-selling salsa music album of all-time. I’ll buy that. It’s such fun music. The complete opposite of Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain. Not saying it didn’t have songs that I liked, but it was a darker album both musically and thematically. This makes me think of Latin clubs from the 1950s. Just noticed the cowbell going hard in the background. Or, I guess it could be a wood block. Track 3 is Pedro Navaja, and this starts out with sirens ringing out. I wonder if Pedro is an outlaw. The song has started out slower than the last, with just vocals and percussion. About a minute in, we get that great Latin piano, followed by the horns. It’s like you know what you're going to get with every song, but each song is different. Okay, apparently navaja is a folding knife in Spanish, and the song is essentially a salsa version of Mack the Knife, a song written in 1928 that has been recorded about a million times throughout music history. Mack the Knife is based on a medieval murder ballad, so I guess Pedro is an outlaw. Ohh, near the end, they throw in a line from America from West Side Story. Great set of La la la la las at the end. I have confirmed the Ruben Blades singing is also the actor. What a talented dude. Track 4 is Maria Lionza, and it starts out ominously. Piano bangs and chanting, but then the horns come in, and it's like a song of praise, almost. Maria Lionza is a goddess in the Venezuelan religion that blends African and Catholic religions. In mythology, Maria rides a giant tapir. Look up tapir if you don’t know what one is. It’s like the offspring of a pig and an anteater. This song really reminds me of Steely Dan. Which is a good thing, by the way. Such a good album. This would be one to put on after a hard day, just to chill out. It gives off great summer vibes. Track 5 is Ojos, which in Spanish means bears. Nope, that's wrong. Osos are bears, Ojos are eyes. Duolingo for the win! Oro is gold. I’m not sure what I’m going to be able to add to this review, as I’m not an expert in salsa. I just know what sounds good to my ears, and this album sounds great to my ears. I can understand why it sold a ton of records. This album sold over 500,000 units in Venezuela alone. Everything about the album is perfect. This song will have people singing background vocals, and you don’t need to know Spanish. Just keep repeating Ojos! And you’ll be perfecto. Track 6 is Dime, and it’s not the coin. Dime in Spanish is Tell me. I assume Ruben is trying to get a hot mama to tell him something. Another banger. I hate writing because it makes my brain focus on something besides the music. Track 7 is Siembra, which was the first single off the album, followed by Pedro Nvaja and Plastico. I like this opening. It gives me a gritty cop movie vibe, then it gets peppier, but it still has an air of mystery. The song is apparently calling for Latin Americans to essentially sow the ways and culture of their ancestors into their children and their communities. If a history dies, it’s gone forever. This was almost a perfect album. It’s musically good, it makes you want to dance, it has great horns, and the production sounds fantastic. Plus, it’s around 42 minutes long. As I said, it’s almost perfect. The music tends to kind of all blend together after a certain point, though I’m sure that future listenings would help with that. I can’t argue it’s not the greatest salsa album ever made, and I think that alone makes it a must-listen album. If you like dancing, you should immediately turn it on, but I still think 99.9% of the population will dig it too.

pretty excellent

Just what the list should be doing, introducing people to great news music. Really enjoyed it today.

A joyous and carefree listening experience that would work for pretty much any social gathering (maybe not a funeral?) It feels like music put together with express purpose of spreading joy and being shared with live audiences. I do not dance but this album really makes me wish I could!

Siembra gets a solid 4 for me, the biggest highlight of my v brief salsa phase and a record i dig out occasionally and always enjoy

Timeless salsa music that puts me in a good mood, like a younger, fresh version of Buena Vista Social Club. Love the bass and brass. I will return to this!

This made me jive at my standing desk

I wanna shake some ass to this

Mind if a white boy dance to a little español?

Now THIS I like. Horn arrangements are brilliant. Brimming with energy. Rhythmically perfect.

Like an ice-cold drink on a hot day. After a bunch of BritPop and psych-folk-rock albums, this is a real palate cleanser. Absolute must-listen. Getting some music with this rhythm into your rotation if you're a fan of rock music is essential: you ought to start recognizing how this kind of thing has been at the rhythmic heart of rock (via Blues guys like Bo Diddley) since the very beginning. All I want to do is make my wife breakfast in a sunny kitchen when I listen to this. 4/5 it's a bop

Cara, mto bom, me lembra bad bunny na luta pela visibilidade latina, mas com uma mistura de música lantina mais velha, tem bastante recurso de trompetes e outros instrumentos metálicos. Curti bastante.

I don't speak a word of Spanish, but this is pretty good :D

Really fun and colorful sounding, until you read some of the lyrics. Great use of lyrical dissonance, and a great listen overall.

I have no point of reference really but I enjoyed this all the way through.

That was a nice listen. Incidentally the singing style is slow and clear enough that it was a nice exercise in seeing how much of the Spanish I recognized

Very refreshing

Ritmo tropical muy guapachoso

This was brilliant

Wish it leaned more into the funky disco vibes that appear here and there, but I really really enjoyed listening to this and will absolutely be revisiting it!

I will not include the additional versions of tracks on the special edition in this review. For those who don't know, Willie Colón was an American trombonist, producer, arranger, and musical director, while Rubén Blades is a Panamanian singer, musician, and composer. Both artists are considered integral to salsa music, a staple of Hispanic American culture. Both artists also collaborated over multiple records, with Siembra being their second outing together, and nearly every song becoming a hit across Latin American communities. As someone who is admittedly not very familiar with salsa, I dug this record. There is a quite danceable polyrhythmic groove to these songs, as the chorus ensemble harmonized well under Rubén's delightfully jovial vocal delivery alongside the booming trombones. It's a formula that works its magic, with a few swerves like that commanding bassline that opens "Plástico" and the ominous march that leads into "María Lionza". I wouldn't say it's the most enticing dance music to me personally, but that doesn't stop the lower half of my body from moving to those clave rhythms. As for the lyrical content, I certainly commend Rubén for bookending this record with some genuinely charged political commentary. "Plástico" serves as a backhanded compliment to those who take advantage in a capitalist society, and the title track as a rally call for Latin American identity, in particular shouting out Ramón Emeterio Betances, who strove for Puerto Rico's independence and greater political integration in the Caribbean and Latin America. I also appreciated the cautionary tale of "Pedro Navaja," which certainly took inspiration from the classic "Mack the Knife". Otherwise, the rest of the album can be chalked up to songs of romantic affection and yearning with a distinct Latin flavor. They're not bad, but I wouldn't say they stand out compared to the songs I've already highlighted. Overall, I enjoyed Siembra for what it is, a collaborative album between two artists that helped bring salsa music to greater global significance.

First album I am unfamiliar with! Obvs I can't judge this genre but am thankful for being sent this album and feeling blessed to experience it. Am very happy to add this to my rotation, it sounds great and makes me happy.

Divertidooooooooo, puse el álbum mientras limpiaba para vivir la real experiencia 10/10

Tremendo álbum de salsa. No me gusta el genero musical pero este álbum lo sentí

If you do not feel like dancing while listening to this iconic salsa masterpiece, you might actually be a very boring robot with a broken heart and a seriously malfunctioning internal rhythm chip inside your soul.

Often, when I get an album in a style I'm not well-versed in, or in a language I don't speak, I don't feel like I can rate it fairly. But I thought this was great! So much energy, and excellent work from the brass section. Funky and fun salsa!

I really enjoyed this. For someone who listens to a lot of electronic or synth music, I don't really listen to a lot of non-english music. I should do that more. this was really great, amazing singers, lovely salsa guitar. I really appreciated this and was surprised by it in a positive way.

3.5⭐️/5 [04.10.2026] 06.08.2026

That's some hot Salsa!

Out of my comfort zone, but I welcome detour. Fun and incredible rhythms and melodies for days.

Good funky vibes with plastico… didn’t really listen to the rest of it but I will!

I was not prepared for any of this and I have zero complaints. I think I hit peak enjoyment when he started scatting in the middle of Buscando Guayaba. Way more variety than I expected as a Salsa outsider. Musicianship and listenability off the charts.

Joya

Really infectious Latin salsa album, had me moving around in my office chair. Great example of the music style. Would absolutely listen to this again, I'm sure it would improve my mood again as it did today. 4/5

So lovely and fun

Salsa rhythms. I liked it. I felt like I was on vacation.

I love a good salsa

I have no idea what they're saying, but the tunes are delightful.

Meh. Not for me. I dunno how to rate this, so I'm just going to give it the benefit of the doubt and say 4.

This one is a banger.

fun album. funky, upbeat. wasn't sure what to expect. surprised to learn i had seen ruben blades in some of his acting roles before.

But you see it’s too late- I’ve already listened to the Chad Ruben “Vibe Master” Blades while you’re still listening to the Virgin Bad Bunny

Like water in a drought. So few albums on this list are so innately infectious, so few are non-English. I loved the South American country roll call at the end of the opening “Plastico”. I loved even more the adlibbing and audible noises the singer made on the following “Buscando Guayaba”. My favorite song was probably “Maria Lionza”, especially for the way they go “En Venezuelaaaaaa” at 2 minutes in. But I also really liked how the title track “Siembra” heightened the mood with a more suspenseful, quick energy. Impossible to not enjoy in a list that contains something like 9 Neil Young albums and 1000000 niche 80’s british acts. A beautiful 4 besos

One of the best and most influential salsa artist of all time. Plastica and pedro navaja are my favorites. Love the story telling throughou

this is super fun!! i don't have a lot of thoughts because i feel like i don't know enough about the genre to appreciate certain nuances, but i really enjoyed it.

I'm surprised how much I liked it!

loved!

This was great. Gonna be my jumping off point whenever I want to hear some salsa in the future.

Vibesssss

Upbeat and easy to nod along to.

Fun album. Easy to put on a dance to. Playing is really good. 3.5/5 Probably will listen again

Good example of a well produced Latin album.

Never listened to salsa music. I had no idea what salsa music would've been (except kinda latin). I don't think I'll listen to any more, but this was really enjoyable. Upbeat and fun.

Groovy, strong 4.5, could be upgraded as only got the chance to listen through once fully.

very relaxing and such a fun listen i have nothing bad to say about this ep favorite: Buscando Guayaba, Pedro Navaja

- cool funky sound - looking up translations of the lyrics so i can understand what they're singing about but i would listen to this just for the sound of it tbh - from what i can glean from the translations i like the lyrics - cool west side story interpolation in pedro navaja - favorite tracks: pedro navaja, plástico - rating: 4/5

really love the vibe of this album! ended up looping it for a while at work today. can definitely see why it's considered a classic in its respective genre. 4/5

one of the most important albums in the salsa genre, must listen also just incredible instrumentation and writing in general highlights: plástico, pedro navaja 4/5

Very nice. Easy listening. Great Latin vibes

I love latin music. Bias put to the side at least a little bit, this is still a great album. It feels like a celebration of the genre. It's full of well-composed, layered tracks, and an unmistakable energy that you can usually attribute to salsa music. Though, it never quite reaches the highs or diversity of Buena Vista Social Club. Still, if this album doesn't make you want to move at least a little bit, then I feel truly sorry for you. Give me 100 more of these please. Highlights: Buscando Guayaba Pedro Nevaja Ojos

This was fun and not just for novelty value, there really is lots to enjoy. Great vocals and nicely arranged songs where everything weaves together so nicely and smoothly. The brass especially was really notable and I like the piano playing and singing too. I like all of it really

Sabrrroosssoo!

Even being very novice in the Latin music space, I could instantly pick up influences and references I recognized from across the musical landscape. I didn't need to check Wikipedia to understand the pivotal role this album has played, although some research on the album was helpful. I clearly need to expose myself more deeply to Latin music, but this was a very enjoyable listen.

More funk (now with samba)

Not typically my kind of music, but I really enjoyed this

スペイン語の歌詞が分からない限りはどうしようもないのかもしれないけど魅力を理解しきれなかったような気がする。このジャンルの代表作なんだと思うけど、10点満点とは感じなかった。 1978年の作品ということもあってシンプル過ぎずディスコなど他のジャンルを匂わせる曲もありそこはよかった。

Good latin jazz!

Yeah this slaps

SALSA!!!!

Very cool, not my jam but I enjoyed it

Really great. I know nothing about Salsa but found this very enjoyable. Bass lines were so good I looked up who played on it. RIP Sal Cuevas.

Fire

Didn't understand a word - loved it

Fun listen, stylistically different. Will come back to relook.

Made me stand up in my room to dance. This should be textbook. Took me straight to a beach in Puerto Rico.

LOVED this.

I liked it a lot!

One of the all time great Latin albums and the tropical samba would seem perfectly aligned to my first day of holiday. Unfortunately it’s gale force winds and chucking it down outside, but at least the album is helping to keep spirits up

I love Ruben Blades so this was a treat for me. Good listen.

The final and title track was easily my favorite. Awesome sound.

Salsa!

Estaba en un viaje misionero en Panamá cuando conseguí este álbum y era mucho más probable que lo escuchara; ¡y me alegro de haberlo hecho! ¡Fue divertido!

This was awesome. Never heard of either Willie or Ruben but I thoroughly enjoyed this album (even though my Spanish is pretty rusty….). I can see why this is considered a classic and best selling album of the genre! As an aside, can’t help but wonder if Biggie’s Ready to Die album cover is an homage to this one? 4.5⭐️

From reading the wiki this is an extremely important album that due to my native language and family ethnicity, I currently cannot even begin to understand the significance of. Some bangers in here though even without any translations. Favorite Songs: Pedro Navaja, Siembra

The Good: We get to be farmers! The Bad: We will reap what we sow… The Ugly: The damn album cover… so sorry, but that’s ugly! My very first thought, upon seeing the artist name and album cover, was “SHIT, not more post 2000 EDM shit…” Pleasantly surprised with the sounds that came out. This is what the list is for; listening to albums which, most likely, I never would have listened to in my life. I am not a fan of salsa music, probably because I have 2 left feet and am able to hold a rhythm about as good as a epileptic going through an episode. This album showed me that this does’t matter, as long as you just kinda try and sway to the music, while appreciating the fact that the musicians seem to be having a good time. Not much more to say about this album, except that I will want to listen to this again in the future some time, so 4* it is!!!

Echt guter Latino-Sound

Really enjoyed this album, hope to come back to it again

Some astounding Salsa. Fantastic record.

Before today, I had never listened to a salsa album all the way through, but this was pretty great. As I struggle today with the DST time change, I pictured myself sipping a mojito in a cool latin club with music like this being played live. Exposure to new stuff like this is why I started listening to these 1001 albums. Fun.

Really excellent I'd never heard of this or the genre Salsa Dura before. Shout out to the Major Lazer sample on the track "Maria Lonza". Such a sick sample and crazy how it's used in the original track vs how they flipped it.

Nice!

Siembra é um ótimo álbum!!!! Eu estava sentindo falta de música latina aparecendo nessa sequência de álbuns e fiquei muito feliz de ver um álbum de salsa que é tão histórico!!! 3,5/5.

Sensacional. Adorei ter conhecido esse album e ouvirei mais vezes. Careço de referências latinoamericanas ou de referencias musicais não inglesas ou br. Nora: 4/5

très cool

Bad Bunny avant Bad Bunny, Amérique du Sud représente. J'écouterais pas ça dans la vie de tous les jours mais en fond pour bosser c'est un bonheur.

Chulada!

STANDOUTS: Plástico, Pedro Navaja, Siembra One major flaw about me and the music I have listened to is that I haven't really delved into Latin American music (outside of Reggaeton and MPB). Salsa has never really been on my radar, until now that is. My introduction to Willie Colón is unfortunately a little tragic, because his death (which was actually a few weeks ago at the time of writing this) was my introduction to him. While I didn't have much of a reaction at the time, I can say now that we have lost one of the greats, because this album is nothing short of fantastic. Siembra functions as both a wonderfully catchy record, with some of the most colorful instrumentation I've ever heard, but also as a powerful political statement, with songs like Plástico being critical of the worship of American celebrities and the title track Siembra, which uses the act of planting seeds as a metaphor for creating positive change in the world. The title track hits even harder now, knowing Colón kept true to his and Blades' words, planting seeds that not only brought positive impact to not only music, but the world in general. May he rest in peace and may the seeds he sown grow into the most beautiful flowers. 9/10

Leider kann ich kein spanische, dann hätte es noch eine 5 werden können

1. Plastico - Very nice opening track. Reminds me of the music I heard growing up. Has a traditional and 70s feel. The beginning doesn't match the rest of the song, but it still works well together - 10/10 2. Buscando Guayaba - A different tempo and style, but it is still traditional Latin music. Considering the fact that I am Mexican-American, I may be biased, but Latin music as a whole is truly, truly beautiful. Do I understand the words? No... I'm a no sabo, but do I love it? YES. 9.7/10 3. Pedro Navaja - I never realized how much I was going to like salsa. Same notes as the other tracks. Beautiful - I may not like it as much as the previous 2 tracks, but it is still a beautiful song nonetheless. 9.45/10 4. Maria Lionza - Like all the other tracks, I love it. The backing vocals/harmonies, the horn section, and percussion bring it all together. 9.5/10 5. Ojos - The instrumental is more upbeat than the last song. A much happier sound overall. 9.68/10 6. Dime - N/A - Recommend skipping - 0/10 - lyrical reasons 7. Siembra - Very nice closing track. Upbeat. Not too much to add. 8.7/10 Overall: 8.1/10 - Great songs on a great album. Only one song is not up to par with the rest.

I’ve never listened to a Spanish album before, I’m impressed! Had no idea what was said but I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

I'd totally missed WC died 10 days ago. RIP. Thanks for this and the rest.

Overraskende bra! Fine grooves og bra blåserekke

Herlig salsa

Hørte på det mens æ jobba. Hørte det to ganger uten at det plagde mæ. Fin samling låter.

Jææævlig hyggelig. 10/10 rødvin og matlagings-plate.

Plastico- 8/10 Buscando guayaba- 6/10 Pedro navaja- 9/10 Maria lionza- 9/10 Ojos- 7/10 Dime- 8/10 Siembra- 8/10

So goddamn groovy. Couldn't really get into it without busting out a jig or two.

A pretty cool vibe!!

Lots of fun. Had me boogying in the kitchen.

This was excellent!!

Made me feel like Rita Moreno

This was fun!

I love how clearly the personality of these performers shines through my lack of Spanish-language knowledge. There's clear joy and power here even when the lyrics themselves are heavier. It's extremely not my kind of music, but it's so obvious why this album is on the list.

Very cool album, great vibes throughout. Favourite track: Dime

Me gusta mucho esto!!

Y'all mind if a white boy speaks a little spanish? Fave track: Plástico 4

This is fire, it reminds me of summer nights and warm lights and stained glass lamps, it makes me want to salsa. This is is great getting ready/pre-gaming music, it's just enjoyable to listen to.

The best kind of background music.

Qué buen sabor!!

Funky, Latin, afrobeat. This album blew me away. I could listen to it on repeat. So good

Un réveil parfait !

This was a fun listen.

Say what you want about the bias of this list but the non Anglosphere ones they’ve put in here are REALLY solid I just really like music that’s easy to dance to, it’s as simple as that. And believe it or not that’s the whole point of salsa. I was tapping my foot all the way through. Im sure it would be fun to look up the lyrics but it’s really not necessary for music like this in my opinion. The only real downsides for me are the relatively repetitive nature of the genre where most songs sound very similar, and the lack of a true standout. Still, when every song slaps I’d be hard pressed to give it lower than a 4. Definitely a 9/10 album imo

It just makes you want to dance I don't listen to salsa on the regular, and if I did I think I would get sick of it, but theres enough genre-fusion going on that each song is very distinct from each other, making it a great listen. I did think the music sounded like the inside of a Chevys, but thats more of a societal problem

Really groovy, I don’t know how else to describe it, I have no idea what the songs are about or is being sung, I am just here to vibe along to the music. Very fun to listen to

Did you know that there are only two salsa albums on this entire list? And on top of that, I think they're the only genre that gets only two albums. So, according to the list, the entirety of salsa music you need to hear is one Tito Puente record and this. Though they're not bad picks, if you had to pick only two. Sure, I assume there's more to salsa than just these two albums, but, I mean, from what I've read, this is apparently the greatest salsa album of all time. Yeah, sure. To me, salsa seems like a very groove based genre. As long as the music has a great one and you can lock right into it, you're bound to have a good time. It's a nonstop, consistent party groove, and it's a great time. That sort of groove is present on this album, too, but it's less party focused. With some R&B flavoring thrown in on top for good measure. And it's just a fun listen it's really not anymore complicated than that. Some songs may drag on a bit long, If you like salsa . . . well, this is apparently the best there's ever been, so I can't see any reason why you wouldn't enjoy it. In the end nothing on here exactly gets me bounding out of my seat, but I had a real good time, and that's all I could reasonably ask for. Did I need to hear this before I die? Sure

Good

Pretty fun

It's good. Kind of samey, but still good. It's more of a background music, lounge music, but it's fun. 3.5/5

This album was awesome. I had no idea what they were talking about, but it was a lot of fun to listen to.

Really fun, there’s not much to dislike about this album. Except, maybe, that album cover…

Great album. Especially as a warmup to the Bad Bunny halftime show

This is the kind of album I love being on this list. Among all the britpop it's nice to get a hit of lively salsa. Fun album, this.

Looks cool

Very nice to listen to and instantly danceable - it's fun! And it's also very well made instrumentally, too.

If I were rating based purely on how weird I thought the album art was, this would be much higher.

Salsa isn't really my thing, or so I thought, but I really enjoyed this album. Has some funky tunes as well! It's very varied and it's all good.

Solid latin groove. I could definitely see myself spinning this up again and falling in love with some of the tracks.

I was worried that this would be a generic disco album for about 30 seconds, and then the band kicked into a proper salsa groove and all was right with the world. Blades, Colón and their band (including 5 trombones and no other horns) are in top form here, and it's impossible to listen along without bobbing your head (if not your whole body). Fun little musical quotes along the way (from the "William Tell Overture" to West Side Story) keep it entertaining. Couldn't tell you what the songs are about, but boy does it groove! Favorite tracks: "Buscando Guayaba" y "Siembra"

I liked this a lot. I don’t really have much to compare it to, but I can understand the acclaim it has gotten. Some of the songs felt a little long to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. 4/5

4/5. This is a really lovely album and has a lot for those who enjoy the genre. Really not much to say, it's a near perfect execution of salsa. The disco influence at the start is excellent.

Imagine being scared of someone who sings in Spanish. Gtfoh. This is so damn fun Best Song: Plastico Rating: 7/10 Stars: 4

Great musicianship. It sounds like a relic of its era in the opening number with its heavy disco influence. Not something I would have discovered on my own.

1: Plástico 2: María Lionza 3: Dime

Will admit to being a sucker for some good latino. This is the first album I've had of the genre, so feels like it's a bit underrepresented on the list. These are pretty good.

Great music in album! After listening I’d love to learn to salsa

Vot see oli üks hea Salsa. Peakski rohkem Ladina-Ameerika muusikat kuulama.

So fun, really good musicianship. The trombone is crazy good and overall very good vibe

Not really my jam, but its charms were undeniable. Toe tapping salsa greatness.

Wasn't expecting to listen to samba! Not complaining though, it was fun 😜

Dare you to frown while you listen to this.

Ive really enjoyed the latin rhythms that have popped up and this is no different. Maybe its because they make it seem like its sunny in my ears and i live in a damp northern european climate in January. Lots of fun and energy and sunshine.

Dynamic and fun, so many great songs that stand above others

1/28/26. Awesome to come across some salsa, such a fun album! A love the little bits of fusion with funk throughout, especially on the bass lines. Definitely one to revisit again, or when I want to have a good time.

I'm biased but this album is so good. Can't get enough of salsa 4.5/5

Felt a bit out of my comfort zone with this one, but quite enjoyed it.

This album makes me want to dance. Which checks out because apparently it was the best selling salsa album of its time. When I first saw the album cover I wasn't sure what to expect. But I really enjoyed this album, it was nice to listen to as I went for a walk on a beautiful sunny day.

This was rad.

I don’t listen to salsa but this album was very listenable. Good beats and rhythms

Fun as fuck, I’m not hitting salsa music very often and clearly I’m missing out

Very groovy I liked it a lot

Sooo vibey that was fun

New from the first 10 seconds it was going to be a good one.

Pretty good honestly.

SALSA!

Skemmtilegt salsa

Glæsileg salsa sósa. Nógu mismunandi lög til að halda manni á tánum.

Ok deci asta chiar mi-a plăcut, Spanish vibes gen. Cred ca îi dau un 8

I don't listen to this genre on the regular, but this album does it very well.

Solid album but nothing jumped out at me. The only thing I know about salsa is that I like listening to it when its on so I cant tell if its necessarily good or bad unless its absolutely terrible.

Can you get a 4 on vibes and musical excellence? I guess this review is proof you can. For whatever reason I really gelled with the tempo, enthusiasm and quality of vocals and instrumental work. Normally language is a serious limitation on this type of album, but I found the general sound of it so compelling that it triumphed. Willie and the big trombone wins the day.

Loev it

I haven't heard of Willie Colón and Rubén Blades before, and I know almost nothing about salsa, so this was another album where I was starting from scratch. I enjoyed it even as it started to blend together for me, probably because of the language barrier. But this was pretty enjoyable.

always forever bb

197/1001 Willie Colón/Rubén Blades - Siembra Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❓ I really enjoyed this for what it was. Do I have the knowledge to know this is an exceptional/groundbreaking salsa album? Absolutely not. If I ever return to it, it'll be at the peak of summer.

Good vibes and a lot of fun

tell you what, these horns fuck. this is a groovy album! some funky bass shit happening in "María Lionza" to break things up juuuust when the album starts to feel a little samey. i struggled between giving it a 3 and saying "it's a high three tho" or just giving it a 4, and the longer i listen to the second half of the album specifically, the more i think it's a 4. while i may not revisit this one nearly as often as other 4s i've given out, i feel like this album does meet my completely arbitrary and largely artificial criteria for scoring a 4

banger

Fun stuff, sounds very fresh despite being released so long ago. Colón's wiki page is a wild ride of names. It's fun reading the lyrics and then understanding Colón's politics...

Makes me want to dance. Great horns!

Fun

Review - This was a good album - not listened to salsa before and it's got me interested, although research tells me this is a very unorthodox salsa album so idk if liking this means anything Good songs though and some v fun slap bass parts. Rating - 7.5 Need to hear? YES

Great Latin album.

Other than a spot or two where they ventured into disco territory, this was very good and enjoyable. It was fun, energetic and relaxing in a feel-good way.

You ever expect an album to be "good and nothing more" based on past experiences with the genre that the album's from and the kinda weird album cover only to be surprised like crazy that the album's actually pretty great? Bit of a hyper-specific situation, I know, but that's what happened to me today. This album is way better than I thought it would be! I've never disliked salsa music, but it's never been something that I've really loved per se. Combine that with this album cover that's kinda weird to be honest and I went into this expecting something akin to a high 3/5. Uh, yeah, I was wrong. This is actually really freakin' good. Of course, the energy is as present as I would've expected it to be. That's the one thing I've always been able to appreciate about the genre is the energy behind it. There are things that make Siembra stand out though. The bass stands out more, which I always love to hear. This album actually manages to make most of the songs stand out, which is impressive. I feel like salsa has a bit of a reputation where people think that every song sounds the same, so it's nice to hear an album like this that dispels that myth. I think the thing that really surprised me was the songwriting. I checked the translations, and this thing actually has a pretty good collection of stories in its lyrics. Super respectable. Apparently this is the best selling salsa album in history, and I can see why. While I can't imagine that I'll have a ton of times in my life where I'm really craving salsa music, I can say for sure that this album will come on if that time were to come. I dig this. High 4/5.

About the superficiality and artificiality of the 70s society. Violence creates more violence, you get what you give. It's about liberty, freedom from colonization and pride in Latin American culture. María Lionza is a figure in a 20th century religious movement that blends African, Catholic and Indigenous beliefs, she stands for nature, peace, harmony and love. The album cover reminds me of exactly that. It to me resembles harmony among all people and with nature. The innocent idea that everyone and everything on the earth can coexist. Ojos = eyes. Eyes stand for clarity and truth, the song talks about all kinds of eyes (of all kinds of people) waiting for truth and freedom, seeing beyond the shallowness and lies of the current world (leaders). Willie Colon (New York born, Puerto Rican parents) turned Republican 2016, Ruben Blades (Panama)

Fun to listen to.

Salsa isn’t really my thing but this is pretty good

I speak spanish and love this one, he's a storyteller fr

Yesyeyseyyeysydysyeysyeysyeys get me to South America and get me on the cocktails 4.8/5.0 Best Song: Ojos

4/5

I've been a little lukewarm on many of the world music entries on the 1001. This record is good music which just happens to be world music. A critical distinction, I think.

he bim ufrume glost nöd chöne notize mache, aber huuuuuere freud gha. paar songs hani scho kennt, riese bangers. vieri.

PANAMA PRESENTE han ja echt KEI ahnig vo salsa unf eird glaub nöd würkli chönne bewerte, öb das "guete salsa" isch ABer ich gnüsses gad sehr und das langed mier förig william darm cool maría lionza het recht en geile ahfang jaa ich han huere spass gha! NOMAL LOSE

Such a joy to listen to this soft music filled with Latin motives. The entire album does non-stop. Added all tracks to my collection and have already listened to it twice !

Good stuff as I'm really loving the vibes of these Latin Jazz choices and this felt like a masterclass on rhythm and storytelling. It’s not just "background music", it’s an energetic piece of art. The interpolation of "America" from West Side Story was a nice touch.

I fully intended to say "it does what it says on the tin" but I think it ended up being a fair amount better than that. May give it another listen.

Album No. 0099 on my list. I'm not that much into Latin music, so "Siembra", by Willie Colón and Rubén Blades was actually something completely new to me. I have to say that I did enjoy the album though! Salsa is just such a cool genre, and the songs on this are really great. I guess I'll never listen to this because I'm in the mood for some cool salsa music, but this makes it all the better to play in the background regularly. Cool stuff! I'll add "Plástico", "Buscando Guayaba", "Pedro Navaja", and "María Lionza" to my playlist. 4/5 stars!

One album a day is pretty tough and maybe not enough time to spend with something to really pass judgement, but having said that, I think that if an album invites you to revisit it again that should immediately add another star for me.

#798. I couldn't be bothered to look up the lyrics, so I don't know what they were singing about, but what I do know is that this shit slaps. 4/5: excelente

Plástico is no Que fàllo. Love from the jump. Musicality, beat and brass. I kind of love it. The storytelling and lessons in the (translated) lyrics speak truth, I think. Listened before? N Saved tracks? N Favorite tracks? Plástico, Siembra, Pedro Navaja, Ojos ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Really Liked it. Saved some tracks.

I know Rubén Blades as the formidable Daniel Salazar on Fear the Walking Dead. This should be interesting. The horns are fantastic. I'm glad Deezer translates the lyrics for me. Pedro Navaja tells quite the story. Listened before? N Saved to library? N Favorite track(s): Buscando Guayaba, Pedro Navaja, Ojos, Siembra ⭐⭐⭐⭐: Really liked it. Saved a bunch of tracks.

Pretty good. Very dance-able music and fun a listen.

Good! Fun and easy to listen to it!

It's always funny listening to something on this list which isn't rock or pop. For one thing, it has to represent it's entire genre and for another, it gets a sort of burst of additional interest for not being yet another 60s hippy album or 80s new wave album. It's something different! So, I liked this a lot. Initially I thought it was going to be a disco album given the strings and back-and-forth-on-the-octaves bass line. But that sound only returned for the final track. Yeah! Good! I felt like I should be in the movie "Chef" drinking a tequila and wiggling my hips in a way I've literally never done. But maybe that's the other point, it's totally not in my day-to-day culture, so I don't know if I'll come back to this and play it again. Maybe if there's some sort of salsa party? Anyway, Yeah! Good!

Cool Salsa Album

I have had this album on my hard drive for over a decade and always thought I knew what it was. I didn't. Now I do. It's incredible.

Good vibes all the way around

good shit

Being born in Latin America, of course I was familiar with most of the tracks, as they are so essential and generational for salsa music. However, I am (or was) a person who has never liked the genre and always thought it sounded the same, so I never really paid much attention to these tracks before. After listening carefully to Siembra, I noticed its richness, the lyrics, the incorporation of other genres... And now, I have no choice but to admit it is indeed a musical masterpiece

A little groovy at times. Definitely imagine myself cooking in my future kitchen with a glass of wine while listening to this album. Overall gives off good vibes, makes me want to learn how to dance. Favourite song was probably Dime.

A very interesting mix of musical styles. Really quite enjoyed it.

Joyful interessting lyrics

sometimes the album of the day fits a vibe I didn’t know I was searching to curate. salsa music on a rainy cold day was exactly that

Många bangers men albumet som helhet var mindre än summan av sina delar

María Lionza is really good, the brass nonsense is quite stirring, and the rest is fantastic salsa. Almost leapt out of my sofa a few times straight into salsa basic, but I didn't. Lost a bit of patience near the end, but realised it was because I'd listened through twice. No regrets. Scrapes a 4.

Latiño vibes- like it

I always have a little trouble with the foreign language albums. But I thoroughly enjoyed all the music in the instrumentation on this. I thought it was really cool. I don’t know if it’s called salsa or bossa nova or whatever but it’s just easy to listen to it kind of makes you feel good.

Very danceable, will return when im mote fluent

Not my normal cup of tea, but actually a really great listen. I could play this in the background while drinking in the summer sunshine.

It was a cool, grey, damp week in Chicago, so this warmed me up at the end of it. I have no frame of reference for this music and I don’t speak the language, but enjoyed the experience. The disco to salsa transition in the first song was pretty sweet and I liked Maria Lionza a lot.

4/5 - I don’t listen to salsa music. After this album, I still don’t listen to salsa music, but now I have a go to record for when I start listening to salsa music. I will play this at all my moonlit, backyard pool parties. We will dance the night away and have a fucking great time, until we realize we were laughing and ignorantly enjoying the story of a tragic double murder. Then everyone will go home.

I don't know much about salsa (and Latin American) music in general, but this was very enjoyable - especially in a rainy, grey and cold November day, where my mood was lifted immediately. It's complex, the musicianship is excellent, and it's just a really fun album. The disco-y vibe at the beginning and the last song was a bit surprising. Overall a really cool album!

More fun than the endless 80s rock bands.

Definitely think there are better latin albums out there but I really enjoyed that! 3.8

Genuinely enjoyed this

Caliente