Siembra

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.

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

Pretty good, uplifting and make you want to move your body

So so fun!!! So much life in the music.

I wasn't expecting the best selling salsa album in the history of salsa to be this funky. But it is. I feel like this would hit different on a barmy summer's evening. Unfortunately I am listening from the office on a grey mid December afternoon. Still, I'm having fun. Maria Lionza is my favourite track, the opening is almost Waitsian, which was a surprise. The horns sound so fine.

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.

It’s rare for a salsa record to make me want to do a deep dive on the lyrics, but this was so so good. The production is impeccable, but it’s the songwriting and flow that really shines here. This is one to revisit not just because it’s a perfect genre slice but because it elevates above the genre and takes some fun twists and turns.

I’m really enjoying this record. It’s sounds like a film sound track in the 70s at places, but it’s really good.

C’était vraiment super ! Je m’attendais pas à de l’espagnol

Ovo je leglo ne samo meni nego cijeloj kući. Uživancija čista. Nevjerovatno pozitivno iznenađenje. Divan bass na momente, sve veselo, živahno, interesantno, bez statičnosti. Samo je album art vrlo upitan.

dit was terug een nobele onbekende.. wat een verrassing!.. mooie zomerse nummertjes die je direct naar zon en cocktail doen verlangen...

Pleasant Latino stuff. Will listen again

Not as good as buena vista social club but very close

Listened in the morning for a good vibe. Wouldn’t have listened to this album on my own volition but really good.

Salsa is pretty legit. Not sure what’s going on with the babies on the cover though.

lovely

What a fun album. Ihad lever listened to a whole salsa album before and it was great. The instrumental is great the brasa section is so detailed and infectious thay it is impossible to not stand still. I loved the lyrycs as well "Pedro Navaja" tell a story like a country song full of details 4/5

Salsa! Even spieken waar dit vandaan komt, Panama en Puerto Rico blijkbaar. En het best verkochte salsa-album aller tijden, of zelfs de 'Sergeant Pepper van de salsa'. Euhm ja, maar het klinkt als alle andere salsamuziek: energiek, ritmisch, en (voor degenen die het in zich hebben) dansbaar. Erg leuk dus, maar het écht bijzondere hoor ik er niet aan af.

Het eerste nr begint als een soort Bastian 00s elektromuziek, en dan met een discosound eroverheen. Als hij dan begint te zingen, komen de caribische toeters en blazers erbij. Dat het veel op disco lijkt is wel te begrijpen, want het komt precies uit de discoperiode. Uiteindelijk is het wel gewoon veel Buena Vista Social Club. Het stemt net als die muziek lekker vrolijk. Je ziet die mannen op zo'n Caribisch eiland buiten op de stoep of op de veranda zitten met hun instrumenten, lekker een beetje spelen en een dominootje leggen. Zolang je dit niet te vaak hoort, is het echt prima om tussendoor als album te krijgen. Zoals ik bij de Social Club ook al zei, het is net alsof je op vakantie bent. En dat stemt vrolijk. Dus kunnen we ook best wederom een vrolijke 4 geven.

What a treat!! A salsa-y treat!

This had me up out of my chair while eating breakfast, hips moving without thinking. The energy is infectious; it's vibrant, joyful, and impossible to sit still through.

What a fun record. Starts off with a misleading disco vibe, then quickly transcends into beautiful Caribbean/Latin music. The flow of the album is so nice and kept my attention throughout. The music is thoughtful, well-produced and wonderfully composed. This is a really nice piece.

I liked it! Which is not surprising as I think this is a lot of the same personnel that wound up on David Byrne’s REI MOMO. Say what you want about cultural hegemony, but my Byrne fandom opened me up to a lot of music I’d not become familiar with otherwise.

I don't know if I'm honestly qualified to understand how great this album is, but even as someone with no knowledge of salsa or latin music, it's easy to hear the beauty of the songwriting and arrangements on this album.

This is some fun music, I’m a fan. First time listening to salsa, and I really like it

3.5/5

Good!

Lively and fun

Some seriously good Salsa

Only knew “Maria Lionza” and that was only due to a sample used in the Major Lazer song “Watch out for this”. On I side note I think it’s really cool how a throwaway trumpet line on that song can become a big hit 40 years later. This was a breath of fresh air from the generator who has been giving me 60s folk rock lately. I enjoyed the all the songs, and it felt both relaxing and energetic. No particular song stood out that much but enjoyed it as a whole. Weak 4.

Spanish language music would be a huge upgrade to the Superbowl Halftime Show and I have no idea why Turning Point USA is throwing a fit over it

I've never listened to this album (32). Really great! Groovy, soulful, all that I love.

Did you know that there are only two salsa albums on this entire list? No, really. And on top of that, I think they're the only genre that gets only two albums. I don't know how many rock n' roll albums there are, but I know my group's gotten four, at least. So, according to the list, the entirety of salsa music you need to hear is one Tito Puente record and this. Though I suppose 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 can demonstrate (and that's true of all genres), but, I mean, from what I've read, this **is** apparently the greatest salsa album of all time. And how could you say "no" to listening to the greatest? And is it? Well, given that my exposure before now has been that one Tito Puente album and "Señor Burns", of course I wouldn't be able to say for sure. But did I like it enough to believe that it is? 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 **is** why I liked 'Dance Mania!' as much I did: it's a nonstop, consistent party groove, and it's a great time. You can say it gets old because it never stops running on that energy, but, hey, again, if you lock in... That sort of groove is present on this album, too, but it's less "party" focused. From the translated lyrics I've read, it seems it's trying to be a bit more serious — and good on it for that, of course. But if I can be 100, the exact words and seriousness of it doesn't entirely matter to me? I'm not gonna let them go unacknowledged, but one more time: the **groove**. It's here in spades, 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, and like a fellow group I do think this thing could've stood to have a bit more 'Dance Mania!' energy, but those are really my only complaints. 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. The same basic principle goes for if you don't like salsa — and lucky for me, I do. 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. And while I still think it's weird that there are only two salsa albums on this list, I guess I can confirm that they did make some solid picks. Can't front on 'em for that.

Good salsa, but not much to say on my end. Solid 4 Stars.

I had so much fun with this! Maybe I like salsa? The reason I love this site, discovering genres I didn't know I liked.

I really admire salsa music, and have a little playlist for dancing, but 42 minutes of on one go without changing artist or style much feels like a lot. Maybe if I'd have danced through the whole thing it would be fine. An album for the right context for sure, which puts it at four for me.

Finally something different.

Savamment construit et orchestré, des arrangements capiteux et somptueux. Beaucoup de plaisir à l’écoute

One of the songs, Plastico, is an absolute classic for me because my parents played it so much at home The whole sound of this album, just very raw salsa is nostalgic because I heard it so much as a kid, I didn't think much of it but now I'm really seeing why it was such a hit among, well, every adult I knew. It's danceable, it's joyous, it's dramatic, it's fun, it's got storytelling, what else could you want? This is awesome

7.5

I rocked along to this and enjoyed it. I didn't know the trombone could be so good, I always thought of it as more of a side instrument with the trumpet taking center stage so it was cool to see the trumpet shine. The music all had the same Samba beat but each was different and unique. I don't know what he was saying but it was all enjoyable and different. Maria Lionza and Ojos were my favorite.

This is such a fun celebration of Latin culture. All the layers of instruments and vocals create a really rich soundscape, and it's just a party! The country shout-outs at the end of the first track made me smile. Enjoyed this a lot!

The sound of vacation. A salsa celebration that includes a surprising amount of musical variation within the relatively tight-knit constraints of the genre. Even if it’s not your thing, it’s hard not to both appreciate and enjoy what’s been put together here.

This was a good time, and it also led me to read about the history of Salsa on Wikipedia. Interesting stuff, more contentious than I would have guessed. Not weighing in on that though, I’m just hear to listen to some tunes and say “Oh ya”

Fun. Ruben Blades is a man of many talents.

I am happy that Spanish language albums are being included on this list. You have made me hopeful that some Caifanes, Bukis, or other great Spanish artist will appear here. This was a good album to hear. I enjoyed hearing some Salsa on the drive home. Pedro Navaja is a classic song!

Super fun! Really enjoyed this one. I’ll be back for more.

Two legends making a memorable album. Plastico and Dime were standouts. Great lyrics throughout. I’m ready to dance!

4.1/need to learn how to properly salsa dance

Salsa, give me some chips to down this magestic dish. Pedro Navaja is a masterpiece of well crafted parts, about Gang crimes in NYC

Plastico 3.6 Buscando Guayaba 3.4 Pedro Navaja 3.6 Maria Lionza 3.5 Ojos 3.6 Dime 3.5 Siembra 3.4 Score: 3.514285714

Interesting from note one. Fun listen.

I liked this. It was a fun ride and could see myself listening again. I don’t know much about this genre but appreciated the opportunity to learn

Not sure what the opening of the album is. Almost like they're trying to fake people out into thinking it's a disco album. Regardless, the rest of the album is solid salsa. 4 stars.

I need to confess I am not only fully unfamiliar with this artist but also Salsa as a genre and Spanish as a language. So I fear my review might boil down to my feelings on the genre more than my feelings on the record. Non the less both are fairly positive. It’s great music to listen to and despite not understanding the vast majority of the lyrics I could understand the very base line of emotions communicated. Honestly a great record and I swear I caught at least two literary references which makes this an easy 4 stars.

Didn't understand it obv but it was good

So pleasant to listen to. Enjoyed every moment.

This is a discovery for me. Unexpectedly, but I'm even ready to listen to it again later!

very fun album! sometimes it's funky, sometimes it's got a classic salsa feel. this is the kind of stuff i love this project for. i will definitely come back to this one!

Haven’t had a great string of albums lately. He’s clearly skilled and I’ve heard some good Nick Cave. But this one is so absurdly Vaudeville that it’s comical. Trying to get every “shocking” line in that he can is too much for me. Edge lordy

🗯 Salsa’s biggest-selling record ever — essential for certain dance floors, less so for my turntable. There’s no denying the influence here: a landmark in Latin music, packed with brass firepower, stories that balance politics and poetry, and enough rhythm to keep a salsa class spinning all night. But for me, as much as I can admire it and I really did enjoy the play through today, I’d probably never reach for it again outside of this context. Still, Siembra is the sound of a movement — and that’s what makes it unskippable in a project like this. Verdict: Essential (for salsa heads, not for me) For fans of: Héctor Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Buena Vista Social Club, socially conscious Latin grooves

Certainly an enjoyable record, but I didn't really understand how much I was actually enjoying it until the very end, that is, when the title track came around. I think the nuances in the instrumentation here are easy to miss underneath the general salsa sound the record aims for - it all went over my head. So I decided to listen to this album twice for that exact reason. And while I do think that closing title-track is the best song overall, some other highlights included 'Ojos' and 'Buscando Guayaba' - the former of which may be the catchiest thing on here. A super lavish album, with some incredibly catchy moments laced throughout. And obviously, the salsa grooves all over this thing are irresistible.

The whole album has a peppy feel. Even while the lyrics are about a criminal getting shot and stabbed in the street, it makes you want to dance around.

Verrrry solid fun album! I could almost see it going to a 5, but I was sorta struggling to pick out which songs I'd want to listen to more regularly! Still, absolutely fantastic vibes while I was there.

Really groovy, fun, interesting album that constantly switched it up and kept it interesting. Definitely really want to return to this one!

Some absolutely CLASSIC salsa vibes, spiced up with jazz, disco, and funk influences throughout. Great stuff!

I thought it was just fine at first but I kept going back to it throughout the day and vibing and ya know what? That makes it a 4.

This album was so much fun to listen to. Completely different than what I would normally listen to but I loved the whole thing, it was he's not to smile and want to dance the entire time. The horns were excellent and there were groovy bass lines throughout. Every song obviously had that salsa style, but they were all different enough that it never felt repetitive or boring. Will absolutely listen again.

This was really cool. My friend is a salsa musician, and loves this album. I can see why!

awesome

Great. More variation than I expected. The weather is exceptionally hot today. Perfect day for this album. Favorite song: Pedro Navaja

This is an absolute jam.

Klassisk samba, bossanova. Hade inte hört talas om artisten. Schysst att lyssna på när man glider igenom T-centralen i rusningstrafik

Killer, very much enjoyed

One of the more enjoyable albums that I couldn't understand the lyrics to.

Иногда хочется чего-то непривычного и такая жизнерадостная музыка отлично подходит для подобных случаев. 7 из 10.

Very nice salsa music. Great energy

What a great surprise! Salsa is not something I've been into before, but this was a very clean, and very catchy 45 minutes.

Yeah this is a solid album. Very easy to listen to on repeat.

3.8.

I read "best selling [insert genre] album of all time" and assume it's either great or terrible, this one was definitely the former. The whole album has this incredibly dancey feel to it. Make it a challenge to try not to move around while listening to this, you'd fail in the first two songs. Not to mention those trombones, they were the best part of the album.

Fantastic Latin grooves and some funky slap bass lines. Didn’t understand a word but sure makes you want ti dance.

A fun one I wasn’t familiar with before.

Didn't know what to expect with this one but I really enjoyed this! Really nice varied album.

Great! Had me tapping my feet the whole time

Terrific salsa music! It has an upbeat, breezy energy, and rhythm rhythm rhythm! There's some big band horns, along with dramatic strings on at least one track. And lots of personality. The vocal performances pop with fun choices throughout.

Really nice large scale salsa album. It's gorgeous in all areas- vocals, trombone/brass, percussion, bass guitar... I also love the random SFX you get in a track like "Pedro Navaja". I'd even argue that if I listened more, that this song could possibly my favorite salsa song ever, it's incredible, and does so much more than just provide a base for people to dance to. This is a triumph in the genre. I didn't know it until I googled the album that it's one of the best selling albums in the genre of all time. I'm not surprised- it's a joy to listen to.

Very cool. Very fun. Definitely changed my perspective on salsa.

Good vibes throughout. Only thing I can say against it is that the songs started sounding pretty similar by the end. Favorite track: Buscando Guyaba

did my best to get at least a cursory understanding...this is an early commercial success for salsa, which on the whole is a much more recent genre than i would have guessed, with rly strong roots in nyc jazz clubs. i think whats most interesting to me here is the combined emphasis on loose Sustained structures for improvisation and dance together with a clear spotlight on ruben blade's lyrics, wasted on me ofc but many sources helpfully provide summaries of the general content ...a lot of commonplace and aspirational latin american stories. ive also seen rumblings that blades at least occasionally improvised verses, which i cant rly confirm obviously but which does add to this interesting incorporation of a lyrical focus into music that at least on the surface doesnt seem rigid at all, considering rigidity is where language tends to Live in music. im prob missing something about how this all works lol but its a good album, predictably i enjoyed it more than anything from a jazz angle. im unsure how much salsa there is on this list generally, but i am curious about its later, more "commercial" forms...tho i suspect this configuration would remain my favorite or at least close to it, i like jazz too much

Straight up Latin music

It was nice Will I listen to again: 38%

not a salsa (music) expert, but this sounds pretty damn good. i like the disco bits too. i also like when the singer shushes up and lets the band work, like on “ojos.” and i like those babies.

salsa is background music for me. BG music that I like but don't really know much about. PLASTICO brought it to the FG for me with that funky ass disco beat. Really intersting. Enjoyed it all the way through, would spin it again.

Liking me some spicy salsa!

A lot of Latin fun.

More non-English albums like this!

Enjoyable, although I felt a bit disappointed that the opening moments made it feel like it was going to go in one, funky direction and then it didn’t

Trombones might have inspired Tiger of San Pedro? Liked it, though not my style.

4/5 Rating Fav Tracks: Plástico Dime Siembra

Solid samba album. As it's apparently THE samba album, it gets the bump.

Already like straight away

Didn't properly listen to any salsa album before. I really enjoyed it, will probably listen it again.

4/5

Enjoyable

I would have appreciated this more if I understood Spanish.

This was a fun listen. I don’t speak or understand Spanish very well, but this album was fun of fun and soul.

legal

Nice vibe

8/10

Favorite Track: Plástico

arrrriba seniores buonas dias cumbia, gute morge album boyzzz, sali welt. No america & no britain = abwechslung Nenned mich mathematiker. Also mich heds da mit chräftiger Manier zrug uf Colombia teleportiert, links-rechts-links, tatatata Lebensfreud und lockerheit und vibes sind ahcho. Trotz minere Cumbia expertise und mim Südamerikanische Bluet hani das nani kennt. ABer sowiit souverän, gid sicher na geileri Cumbia Albe, aber hed spass gmacht. Muy bien, miguelito esta terminado cuatro bailes de alegría

vaaaaaaamos, amigos & amigas der kultur: da simmer wieder! han churz angst gha am ahfang, dass de willie mal en churzi discophase duregmacht hed woni verpasst han… aber die latinkläng hend mi wieder uf de bode vo de realität zruggholt. han so freud gha, dass es mi fast us de socke und um eis haar fast de sombrero vom chopf ghaue hed han jede track gspeicheret, aber ihr kenned mich ja: es paar devo sind eifach für mini cumbia / musica tropicale sammlig gsi woni vermuetli nümm oft ahtreffe wird (ussert weni mi döt dureshuffle) – das heisst ich gib trotz allem glaub nöd cinco estrellas, aber abgrundeti quatro gids uf jede fall! cinema muy grande!

I had fun with this album! After a while the song started blending together because I don’t speak any Spanish, but I enjoyed the trombone section and the scat sections

I know very little about salsa music. If I'm being honest here, my initial enjoyment of this album is that it kind of reminded me of being in Mexican restaurants, as it's probably the only place I was ever really exposed to the genre (in a pure form at least). But that exposure was just background music and all kind of sounded the same. On this album, I've heard something different, including just how varied salsa can really sound in the right hands. True, it borrows a bit from disco here and there, but there's still a lot of versatility despite this. My high school Spanish doesn't help me much with the lyrics, but the book describes them as covering social and political themes that resonated across Latin America. No wonder then that this was the first salsa album to go platinum.

So much funkier than I thought it would be? Salsa is funky?

This has come up on a perfect day, when the sun is blasting. Very pleasant.

I enjoyed this. Great rhythm.

Other than Celia Cruz, I hadn’t really listened to much salsa music, but this album (along with videos of salsa dancing) really turned me onto the genre as a whole. I really liked most of the songs, especially the last two and my overall favorite track. Despite what people may say, the tracks do *not* all sound the same. Favorite Track: Pedro Navaja

I have always liked salsa music 🥰 This album would be something I would put on during an outdoor barbeque party! Album rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I don't know much about salsa music but these guys clearly do.

Terrible album cover. Got them horns. Now I'm no salsa expert but this sounds like a fine example of salsa. Nice mixing and production quality. The vocals are very solid but are missing something that would run electric vibes across my brain. Catch me on some other day and this could easily go up to a 5. I think more than anything it's the album cover holding it back.

strangely i found this really entertaining despite it being quite different from my normal listening material

Bellissimo album, mi sono piaciute un sacco le sonorità più latineggianti. Uno stile diverso ma che apprezzo assai.

I love dancing to it, just listening to it was less fun but still enjoyable

Never heard them, quite like it

Great album, great vocals. Really fun

I loved listening to this because it counts for my spanish class' weekly log

I didn't know I needed Trombone Salsa in my life, but this was fun on a rainy day, and helped lift my spirits just a little from where they've been. Real sharp musicianship here. Everything’s crisp, energetic, and full of motion. Released on my birthday (before I was born lol) too! Didn’t really blow me away, but I was into the mood it set. Vocals carry a lot of weight. Felt serious but not too heavy. I let it ride. Spins: 3 Playlist Additions: - Plástico - Buscando Guayaba - Pedro Navaja - Dime

bangers

Muy bueno , mi gusta , mi ENCANTA! Divertido y batería bueno. Good shit man

first listen it's great

Südamerikanisch - Salsa

I love Willie Colón's funky sounds.

Salsa.

A perfect mix of dance-worthy beats and genuine emotion – a classic for good reason

great summer vibes

Willie Colon? Didn't he do an album with Fanny Pancreas?

very enjoyable.

Lively, warm and engaging

nice.

Great album!

Plastico - 5/5 Buscando Guayaba - 4/5 Pedro Navaja - 5/5 Maria Lionza - 5/5 Ojos - 5/5 Dime - 3/5 Siembra - 4/5 Average score - 4.4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ not really much of a salsa listener so i struggle to say much about this. i can say that this is a fun listen, and probably the most attention-catching salsa i've heard

"Siembra" is the second studio album by Panamanian singer-songwriter Rubén Blades and Puerto Rican-American singer and trombonist Willie Colón. This album is considered the best selling salsa album in the history of salsa music. It's also known for its rousing social commentary and unconventional sound. The album was produced by Jerry Masucci and Johnny Pacheco, recorded at LA Tierra Sound Studies in NYC and included 15 musicians. "Plástico" starts outs funky and groovy with bass, horns and, yes, a disco beat. The beat changes to a Carribean/salsa beat and rhythm and Blades' vocals come in. A nice and clear mix of the horns, percussion and bass. Blades, in Spanish, is criticizing those with plastic or false personalities and lifestyles. Blades calls out specific political figures in the end. Sirens, horns and a more complex beat open "Pedro Nevaja." A jazzy start gives way to percussion only as Blades tells the story of a criminal who stabs a prostitute and in return gets stabbed and they both lay and die together. A Carribean beat, horns and backing vocals are slowly added. They cover Johnny Ortiz's "Ojos." A more optimistic song about the future of Latin America being in the hands of the younger generation who are ready to fight for their people. Congas and strings are added to the horns and piano in the self-titled closing song "Siembra." A similar theme to the opener "Plástico" but a better hope for the future as the backing vocals repeat "siembra" or sowing time. With the horns, this song kind of reminded me of the "Rocky" theme. A great piano-horn-violin combination. This album has a great sounding mix of the vocals and each instrument. Blades has a great voice and hats off to the excellent NYC musicians. With each song in the five to seven minute range they really let these songs groove. My head was bobbing the entire time. A high recommendation.

Pedro Navaja is the obvious biggest hit here, but there are a lot of other good tracks as well from these two Fanias members. I guess this is the top selling salsa album ever, which kind of makes it an odd inclusion on this list, which I've found so far has tended towards experimental and innovative rather than just plain good and universally liked. Anyway, back to the album. It starts off super strong, with a lot of the salsa dura type stuff I prefer, and none of the whinier type of "corta veina" salsa I don't like. For that alone, this rises above some of the other Fanias classic albums that I don't find as easy to listen to all the way through. Many of the latter just seem to have more filler. Ojos is a solid track, and Siembra super solid. Only seven songs and no faults here.

Sounded fantastic, enjoyed this listen all the way through.

This was my favorite one so far!

It's good. I enjoyed it. I probably won't listen to it ever again, unless I boot up Tropico or go to a coffee shop that isn't playing jazz. 4

That was a fun album!

Never listened to salsa before but this is fun. This is probably the best album I’ve never heard of that this generator has shown me. Highlights include: “Buscando Guayaba”, “Pedro Navaja” “Maria Lionza” and “Dime”.

Wow. That was too much fun. Couldn’t stop my hips from shaking. Needs another listen or six.

This was fun! Some of it has definitely been sampled in stuff I've heard before. Great bass lines.

I don't know anything about salsa but this sounds pretty good to me. I can't help but smile along to the backing vocals on Buscando Guayaba, while Plástico fondly brings to mind the 'vengeful Latin rhythm' of Tito Puente's ode to Mr. Burns.

Salsa music recorded in 1978 so with a bit of disco feel and a funky bass. Great brass.

I dug this one a lot. Really impassioned vocal delivery, good grooves, and a nice melding of a lot of disparate 70s dance sounds. Great slap bass!!

Salsa is not typically a genre that I listen to, for no other reason than I didn't grow up in a home that had cultural ties to the music. I've always appreciated it, but it means nothing to me. This is a good album. It sounds great, front to back, especially considering the age of it. I wouldn't be able to differentiate this album from any modern salsa album, which probably speaks volumes for the quality and stylism of Siembra.

Nice

Bumaye 4/5

Tämähän oli kova! Täytyy laittaa hankintalistalle keikkoja varten. Kunnon lattarikaahailua! 4/5

Ah mitkä lattarimenot. 4/5

Really nice actually

Holy shit I fucking love Willie Colón with all his effortlessly charismatic compositions that make it possible for Ruben to sound so cool. Blades’ lyrics complement both his own singing style as well as the rhythm and melodies laid down by Willie. This album is so much goddamn fun. Try not to enjoy it. I fucking dare you. No actually don’t. Let the whole thing take over and love it with no fucking thoughts whatsoever. I can’t understand most of what they’re saying and I believe that helps. Good shit, honestly. 4/5

Отличная латинская музыка, такого здесь мало, приятно, что попался такой альбом

super salsa-y. really dug the vibe on this one. don’t think it’ll go on my main rotation, but i liked this album.

A very enjoyable album Thanks to Duolingo I understood parts of it. Not only did this album entertain me, but it educated Muy bien 4 ⭐️

One of my more off-kilter takeaways from this project has been the realization that I really needed to learn more Spanish in high school and college. I can't understand much of what is being said here but I really, really want to be able to connect to the music through the lyrics. Quite a fun album that gets my butt shaking. If you have not heard salsa music before, I would recommend this as a starting point.

Maybe the most important Salsa record ever made. A cooperation between two of the most important figures in the genre: Rubén Blades and Willie Colón.

Highlights: Plastico, Buscando Guayaba, Ojos, Siembra. In a nutshell: I dare you to keep still. This album was fun! Willie and Rubén trick you with a disco/funk intro on track one then they change gear and launch into funk salsa. If I wasn't dancing in my kitchen, my booty was wriggling in time with the beat while seated (my friend calls this "chair dancing"). This is why I'm doing the project - to discover new-to-me music. I can't wait to learn more about this genre now. Overall: 8/10

Never heard of them, but kinda liked it

Whoa, awesome! This was so much fun, I'm very pleasantly surprised - what a great find. I've heard like 3 Salsa albums, so not like I have much to compare this with, but this is some good ass Salsa. My favorite part was when he started doing the Jack Black "fligugigu". Shit's fire. More stuff like this, please.

Quite a fun album

Hell yeah. I'm very grateful to not have been assigned some corny-ass british nonsense on my birthday. Thank you 1001 gods. This is a wonderful salsa album. The title track comes out absolutely swinging with calls for pan-Latin unity against the hegemonic capitalist influence of the US, a theme which they continue on throughout the album. I appreciate how clearly enunciated the lyrics are for those of us whose Spanish is mediocre at best. And the salsa itself is super tight and groovy. Very enjoyable listen 8/10

It always feels good to recognize one of the more out there albums on this list, and I knew two of these songs before listening! It's iconic and defining salsa. The instruments combined with the rhythmic political lyrics really encapsulate what I know as this genre of music, and has righteously inspired proceeding generations to keep with the variety of traditions

I’ve said many times that these Tropico-sounding albums are loads of fun. I’ve no doubt that 99% of the lyrics go right over my head, but from an entirely sonic point of view, I do really enjoy the sound of this. The album is 43 minutes long, which I’d say is pretty standard, but it felt shorter than it was, which says a lot about how much I enjoyed it. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this album really is just fun!

Actually, it's a pretty good album. Kinda enjoyed it!

I like latino pop music, but salsa not so much. Nevertheless, there is no denying the talent employed by this outfit, so I'll give it four stars.

I've never really listened to salsa, but this was enjoyable enough that I let it loop a couple of times through. I really like his voice and the horns and the vibes!

I didn't listen carefully, so it's difficult to understand. But seems to tell a story, simply with the way the songs are sung. Delicate and intricate salsa. 4.5

This was nice, but not 200% mine. Still cool to hear some Latin American sounds here.

i think this is nice and lovely and it gave me a nice boost to finish my stupid project meeting presentation. olé

I've never listened to a salsa album before but this was really wonderful, great variety and excellent musicianship on show. Some really, really tasty chord progressions in here, I liked it a lot.

Trombone-forward latin

A very enjoyable album, I liked the sounds Plastico and Ojos the most.

There is a joyousness in Latin beats. Present here, and through out

Solid 6 out of 7 tracks. And that last one wasn’t half bad.

Cool album. While I am not fluent enough in Spanish to understand much of the lyrics, I like the overall melodies and tone. I did translate a couple songs and a couple were very socio-political which was interesting since the music wasn’t very hard edged. I liked some of the more modern sounds added to the salsa music. Made it feel more edgy that way but overall it’s just a pleasant background album that I could groove to while doing something else.

Cool Spanish album. 4/5

Spanish upbeat music , I liked it while doing the jigsaw

Salsa. Pedro Navaja. Un 4.

Mmmmmm, sexy foreign music

Did not expect slap bass here.

Great album

Not sure how you'd go about disliking this. Granted, I don't have the greatest knowledge of the genre, but I know enough to know that this is fun. I like the funk bass thrown in occasionally, and really like the strings on the last song. Favorite tracks: "Plastic", "Maria Lionza"

fire

This was really fun. I enjoyed the West Side Story shout out. High 4.

7/10 - It was a vibe to say the least.

I don’t know anything about salsa and don’t understand much Spanish but the band is cooking

100% dispels all bad vibes in a 20-mile radius. Pure joy. Me hace feliz como whoa.

Whenever I've heard salsa music in a film or tv I've enjoyed it for 30-40 seconds it's on but the thought of 40+ minutes of it did not get me excited. Boy was I wrong this album is excellent the musicianship, the beats, the rhythms it almost makes me want to dance but thankfully for those who listened with me I didnt, but god I felt happy after listening to this.

I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about this type of music. It sounds really clean and well executed, but also at times sounds like very run of the mill 70s music with a latin flair.

Not a genre I was familiar with but I enjoyed this a lot.

thoroughly enjoyed

Couldn’t believe my Ojos when I saw this album come up.

Amazing musicianship, just a tad repetitive

Ez

Shocked at how much I enjoyed this. Ez 4.5

Buena Vista Social Club was my very first album on this list, fitting to find something similar right near the end as well! I liked this album, it was cheery and fun. Upbeat and I didn't get tired of listening through the 40 minute runtime.

tons of fun, especially the first track. even brought the sun with it!!

Not bad.

Gets you in the mood with its first bars even though those ared deliberately irritating because they use disco sounds. The rest is salsa - really good one written with social thematic intent too. The only negative would be that on the length of an album the music is just a bit too similar.

I want to like this more than I do. That being said, it is a pretty solid album.

4.25

Slaps.

Si, si.

Really, really great stuff - super vibrant and fun. Kinda shocked I had never listened to this before as I know Willie Colón to be kind of like the king of Salsa music!! Really happy to listen to this one!

Discazo, toda la onda toda

I never think of Rubén Blades as a singer because I first saw him on the screen in Predator 2 (I know, I know). Anyway, I enjoyed the performances. The latino groove was enjoyable, the only song I did no care for as uch was (interestingly) the only song Rubén Blades did not write: "Ojos". The rest was really good salsa. Definitely something I will come back to.

I can't say this is my kind of music but I enjoyed listening to this album. Plastico started off a little like disco but quickly turned into more straight ahead salsa. Nice beats, solid vocals, great energy across the collection of songs. Maybe a little repetitive at times, or at least some songs went on a bit too long. Feels like a 3.5 overall but I'm going to round up for it being a major piece of salsa music history.

I could totally sexy dance to this

A nice change of pace for a hot summer day

I thoroughly enjoyed it. 4

Jovial and energetic flamenco and samba inspired album that borrows some elements from funk and african music as well. Really awesome stuff going on in here, plus Willie Colon the legend 👏

I could be misremembering but I think this is my first and likely only salsa album I’ve gotten on this list. It was fun enough to listen to alone but this really felt like it should only be played at a massive Hispanic social event like a quinceanera or something. Don’t get quite the same effect when listening to it on my couch as I play balatro at 1 in the morning.

This is a fun album, not the kind of stuff I usually listen to, but I couldn't help but tap my feet along to it. The musicianship is stellar, not a single note off or misplaced but definitely full of feeling. The style of the album is fairly uniform but the songs are catchy enough to really keep it interesting. I had to look up the story of "Pedro Navaja" after hearing "Smith and Wesson" in the lyrics and it's pretty brutal! Not the story I expected from the music. This was a great listen. Perfect timing for a Sunday of housework and taking it easy.

3,5

The best selling Salsa Record of all time! Enjoyable and foundational it seems. Hard to fully understand, but certainly enjoyable.

💃💃💃💃

Hard to keep my feet from moving - great dance music! That said. Definitely in the running for winner of "worst record cover" - looks like a diaper ad.