Siembra

I used to listen to a lot more Spanish-lanaguage music (back when I was learning the language in middle + high school and early university) so this felt kind of comforting.

Plastico came right out and slapped the coffee out of my hand with that opening bass line. Song abruptly drops all the funk in favor of a straightforward salsa jam. I'm not mad... I'm just disappointed. Like I still think this is fantastically enjoyable, but I love me some funky bass. Pedro Navaja pulls that funky bass back into the mainstream and I truly appreciate it. Song is a jam that interpolates some West Side Story along the way. Maria Lionza has a chant feature in it (at the end 5:05) that reminds me of a Kendrick Lamar song off of Section 80 (Poe Mans Dreams around 2:22). Unsure if it is actually what was sampled there, but it fits too perfectly. Someone please check this out and tell me if I'm crazy. Well this was an interesting one. I'm not one for salsa per se, but I also don't mind it in general. The funky bass elements definitely were a nice addition that made their presence known in a number of songs. I'd say for what it is, it was better than expected. So between a high 3 and low 4. Nudging because even without favorable biases I found this more engaging than not.

Loved it!

Started a little disco-y, but settled down into some excellent Latin music

Pretty good album.

Nice Latin grooves. Extremely listenable!

day 2 and we get salsa. so far 2/2 in genres I never listen to! this is a vibe though, listened to this while in traffic and felt totally at ease. I know it’s meant to be danced to, but I just want to chill on a beach with a margarita and listen to this. musically, lyrics are pretty big for me so it’s hard for me to connect with a song when I can’t understand it (I don’t speak Spanish). But there are a lot of elements of this I love. Cool instrumentation, unexpected elements, some funky/disco vibes at times that I enjoy. It feels really refreshing listening to it, has an impromptu feel like the band is just jamming. Compared to a lot of over produced stuff today it just felt nice. I do think it started to lose steam a little bit toward the end though Faves - Pedro Navaja, Plástico 3.5/5 rounded up to 4

Nice music. Force you shaking body.

Muy caliente

I find myself returning to this record multiple times over - it’s a very good one.

"Plástico" que buena critica y sátira a la gente clasista, lastima que haya sido compuesta desde 1978, y aún se siente tan moderna. "Buscando Guayaba" De los más disfrutables, ya que me dieron ganas de bailar, el ritmo es genial, y divertido, me gustó mucho. "Pedro Navaja" Un clásico eterno, y de mis favoritas de salsa, no tengo mucho que decir de está. La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida. "María Lionza" Gran tema, habla sobre una diosa o algo así, igual es disfrutable de escuchar. "Ojos" un enorme poema que admira notablemente los ojos de una determinada persona, tiene un ritmo bien sabroso, me encanta. "Dime" Probablemente la balada del disco, ya que es mucho más suave y el piano más melódico. Y la letra es bastante triste a pesar de contar con un ritmo bailable típico de la salsa, "Dime como me arranco del alma esta pena de amor". "Siembra" Una gran metáfora de la vida, y creo que le da el sentido al disco, de lejos la mejor letra del disco. El ritmo de la voz es lento, pero la música es considerablemente rápida.

Love the vibe

For the first few seconds I thought this was going to be shitty, latin disco. But turned out to be a really great album.

Cool beats, fantastic rhythms. Great music to dive into or just have on while you clean the house.

I really enjoyed this album. I enjoy salsa as a whole, but don't listen to it often. This album is very easy going and flows incredibly well. Pedro Navaja was probably my favorite song. This album definitely makes me want to listen to some more salsa.

Good Latin music

4 stars. I love salsa apparently

Beautiful horn line, honestly not knowledgeable enough about the genre to say much more but I found this album delightful and it has made me want to find more salsa music to listen to.

I have definitely heard many of these songs before without even realizing it. I guess it's the "standard" for which salsa music is held to. I liked it!

Salsa is not my jam, but I can understand why this album is the best selling record in the history of salsa and latino music. The opening song, "Plastico" sets up the mood, puts the pedal to the metal and keeps it there for 40 minutes. It's very unlikely that I will listen to this album again anytime soon just for pleasure, but whenever I will end up on a salsa course, or on a party with latino themes, then this will be the first record to put on. It's a very fun album, and a very positive surprise!

Salsa. Pedro Navaja. Un 4.

This made me want to stand up from my desk and start doing the salsa. What a fun album!

I’m not great lover of Latin music, but I really enjoyed this, and inexplicably I recognised a couple of the tracks.

Awesome Samba! Great stuff, makes me want to dance. Very groovy!

This was unexpectedly awesome, never judge an album by its cover.

A lot of fun! Beach vibes!

Tasty

Colon & Blades sounds like the name of a terrible gastrointestinal surgeon clinic in English, but in Spanish, it's the recipe for some amazing music. I award this album 4 dancing babies.

Classic.i like it

Está bueno osi

Great album

I haven’t listened to a lot of salsa. This was funkier and more lavish than I expected. I thought maybe it’d sound more rootsy. Enjoyable throughout

I guess the best-selling salsa album of all time should find its place in such a list, although I admit I know absolutely nothing about this genre. That said, I can still say two things about *Siembra*: first, you don't need to know the history of Salsa very well to appreciate its lush arrangements and instrumentation ; and then, there are many moments in this record where Blades and Colón aptly use other influences, if only for a few seconds ("Plastico"'s disco intro, the nod to *West Side Story* in "Pedro Navaja", that insane Ennio Morricone-like drop in "María Lionza", or the music-hall strings in the title track). All in all, it was a quite leasant first listen. Plus, even though I'm not fluent in Spanish, I feel like the songs are also telling interesting stories. So I hope I have time to revisit this record later on to delve deeper on that other subject and learn what those storie are all about... Number of albums left to review or just listen to: less than 700, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens:  approximately a half so far (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter

This was very enjoyable, great background music, very atmospheric. Maybe I should not be surprised I recognized one Major Lazer sample from Maria Lionza.

It is physically imposable to be upset while listening to Samba, your body will not allow such a thing and move to the music anyway. A great album filled with beautiful drums and horns and a sexy latin style, not that I know what they are saying but who cares it's the whole vibe that makes it transcend langauage. Favourite track Plástico

Dope !!

Ah, finally some music you can dance to. Include more salsa next time, gringo

B4ng4

3.5 pretty good. Better than a lot of the others!

Vibes

Solid album. Willie and Ruben will go places. 4/5

Brings me back to an evening on Curaçao at the beach with a beer. Good memories.

I don’t know a lot about salsa music but this makes me want to explore more of it.

Pretty nice album of music I don't normally listen to, also pretty cool to hear something familiar from being sampled in different songs

This makes me feel nostalgic to a place I've never been.

Makes me wanna get up and dance. Perfect album for the summertime.

LOVE!

Pretty nice

Прослушано! Отличный альбом, заводной латино, в моём вкусе.

I assume this sounds so classic because it is the standard. Very enjoyable and a nice change of pace from so much brit-pop.

this thing bops. music I normally wouldn't listen to (and still probably won't) but a fun dive.

Saucy, salsa, envigorating music.

I'm a fan of Buena Vista and some latino music but i've never heard that album before...it will become one of my classics Thanks!!!

Refreshing, enjoyed the beats and grooves, this is the sort of new stuff I signed up for.

I have never listened to a salsa album before, but this was really great. Shameful that a Texan hadn't listened to a salsa album before.

Salsa music! Pretty good

Sehr neu für mich, gefällt mir 3 oder 4 Sterne, muss nochmal hören schwierig. 4, weil niedriger standard?

La vie est une fête et je suis la piñata

This makes me think of Three's Company for some reason. I was super excited about watching Chrissy, Janet and Jack trade sexual innuendos in front of Stanley. Similar to this album, I didn't understand really what was going on, what was transpiring, but it seemed fun and sexy and made me happy nonetheless. This too, puts a smile on my face and would happily listen to this again.

I like but I didn’t listen that closely

I was hoping for Latin music and the bass line opening the album lead me astray for a few seconds, but then bam - 43 minutes of diverse salsa music. I’m not always in the mood for Latin Dance but this is an album that will definitely hit the spot.

We take for granted the lovely global rhythms available to us at the click of a mouse. In 1978, were there hipsters with no roots in South America who listened to this? I like to imagine there were but I doubt there were many.

Although I own a few Salsa LPs from back in the day, I abandoned the genre after one too many aborted salsa lessons. I'll give this high marks because 1) I like call-and-response vocals and they have it in every song 2) the late 70s production doesn't have the shrill trumpets of early salsa predecessors from the 50s and 60s 3) there's a fair bit of variety among the songs 4) When Spotify provided me with other salsa artists after it finished this, I preferred Willie and Ruben 5) it was the greatest selling salsa LP of all time.

Salsa, ruhig und lebhaft

Salsa music is fun and something I do not really listen to.

no tää tosiaan on hyvää salsaa! salsa on usein aika tyhjänpäiväistä saman toistoa, tässä tykkäsin joka biisistä. perjantaimeno! (María Lionza -biisin loistavaa introa on Major lazer sämplännyt, kiva huomata)

Such a cool record with so many cool instrumental parts. A great listen.

Nice! Some great samba

Quite enjoyable.

Horns and percussion carry this album. As someone else noted, it sounds like a generic salsa album, but when you learn it's actually the best-selling salsa album of all time, you understand that it's influential rather than derivative. I like it well enough, but I don't know enough about salsa to explain if this good compared to other salsa albums or how exactly it is influential. An enjoyable listen though, and ticks some of the same boxes as Getz/Gilberto's bossa nova album that I also really like.

Finally a Spanish album. I remember my mom telling me about Ruben Blades when I was a kid. This guy is incredibly talented & has a bona-fide music career. I enjoyed this album so much, I listened to three more. I'm certain Blades influenced many modern artists including Ricky Martin. I'm glad this was part of the challenge. Love me some salsa.

this was pretty awesome.

Pretty easy to see why this is one of the most popular Salsa albums of all time. It's easily the best one I've ever heard (out of the 3-5 I've heard). Even without knowing much about the genre, I can tell that this is "good" - there's something about it, from start to finish, that sets it apart.

Liked it

Really fun Latin album, would liven up any party

This is one of those albums that I don’t know how to rate objectively. On the one hand everything all sort of sounds the same but on the other hand I really did enjoy it.

Crisp, lively, 70's Havana vibe. Couldn't understand a word but enjoyed the rhythm and energy nonetheless.

Really enjoyed it, would definitely listen again

Fun, perfect salsa album. Makes you wanna get up and dance

Really lovely album. Loses 1 star due to the fact they have a traffic siren on one song, which limits when I would want to put this on (it freaks me out during car listens, and is annoying at home). But overall some absolutely charming tunes.

I know nothing about salsa but I guess I quite like salsa. This is obviously a good example of salsa, so it’s nice to have a goto salsa album if I’m ever in the mood for salsa. 💃 salsa 💃

Very good! Muy bueno

Yup, it's really good salsa. It made me feel like I, with my lead feet, could dance. I can't pretend I know what the lyrics mean, but this album was meant to be kind of revolutionary? All I know is my summer barbecue playlist has some new songs!

Really fun salsa, surprising amount of variation across tracks. Hard to not want to dance when listening.

This album was fun, I enjoyed it, although I don't speak Spanish so I missed out on some of the topical qualities that made this album so popular. It has a lot of range and is always entertaining. Also I learned that Ruben Blades is the same one who I remember from TV and movies over the years, pretty impressive. Learning about "Pedro Navaja"'s relationship to threepenny opera was instructive, it's a very good homage!

J’adore le cubain, mais je ne connais pas l’histoire du style ni comment cet album s’inscrit dans celle-ci. Ça sonne très authentique, mais pas nécessairement innovateur ou nouveau ou charnière. C’est par contre vraiment excellent. Le son est vraiment bon aussi.

Pretty excellent.

Enjoyable listen

This puts me in a happy place: A Mexican food restaurant eating tacos! Uno mas margarita, por favor.

Nice to hear some salsa to break it up from time to time. Irresistible.

Not familiar with this album and didn't really know what to expect. Lots of surprises throughout: the strong disco feel of the first track, the atmospheric police sirens and brief quoting of West Side Story on "Pedro Navaja," the chanting during "Maria Lionza"... It's hard to resist these rhythms.

Salsa now y’all

The picture of colon that Spotify uses when I stream this album on my tv is just nearly as cool as the album itself. I listen to a lot of salsa and it all sounds exactly the same, but that’s what I like a about it.

It was a lovely album for a Monday morning. Nothing exceptional, but listening to some salsa here is very warming. Four stars

Great sounds, good Latin vibes. Got a bit annoying and repetitive at parts. All in all a good album. Loved the bass.

Some really great samba sounds here / - drawing inspiration from Disco, Swing and Kurt Weill keeps it interesting and creative.

Babies? En español ? Alrighty. The cover is very 70's. Diving in there is an immediate energy and urgency to the music. I tell you what, these guys can play! Unlike the last album I listened to, which was pointlessly complicated, these songs are layered in the best way, with all the different rhythmic and musical and lyrical elements building into a brilliant unified whole. Sometimes funny, sometimes emotional, but always in motion. I want to put on something sexy and dance the night away.

That was a nice salsa album that I want to check out again. The album cover is good a note giving a hint as to what is about to come & it felt ominous in the first notes this was going to be a heavy disco album…thankfully (for me at least) it wasn’t!

On this rainy, cold gloomy day, this a much needed ray of sunshine and warmth! Now, I gotta get up and dance, well maybe. Enjoyable!

very enjoyable, nice latino rhythms,

Excellent, not heard of the artists before but it's a beautiful and enjoyable listen.

Very latin, wanted to go swinging

Buen ritmo. Buenas voces. Muy melódico y caribeño.

This is one of the best Salsa albums I've ever heard. Now I don't know much about it, but the complexity and musicality are on par with the best I've heard. Great album!

Really enjoyable Latin salsa. Usually I find this style of music gets pretty same but there was some really nice variations going on. Something to play again when the weather gets hot and it is time to party on the sand

Excellent!

Superb. Continuingly interesting and a joy to listen to.

This was dope.

Very fun album

Very cool salsa, def gonna read up on the history of this record. lotsa bops

Ne znam zasto toliko volim tu slasu al ju jednostavno jako volim.

Legoh na kauč i uistinu uživah u albumu, malo koji nepoznati do sad je to uspio.

Rubén Blades? The actor? What a fun ride, I don't speak Spanish, so I can't comment on the social commentary aspect of this collaboration. But I do dig salsa music and this spans a range. This Afro-cuban-disco-jazz centric album is a fun listen and I'll definitely revisit. 4/5.

Banger salsa album

💃🏼🕺🏾

Didn't listen to all of it but it was very nice.

Perhaps the most danceable album I've come across on this list. Forget language barriers, this transcends all. If this won't get you moving, what will? Favorites: Plástico, Buscando Guayaba, Dime, Siembra.

Klasse salsa, rytmisk, opmuntrende, catchy, stemningsfyldt

Funky!

Super album, blijft goed die latin muziek

This is what this list is for. I'd never heard of this before and I'd probably have never listened to it otherwise. This is great. I've done only a minimal amount of salsa dancing in my life, but this music makes me want to get up and dance. This is great stuff.

Não conhecia nenhum dos artistas deste álbum; ótima introdução! Ao ouvir, me deu vontade de tomar um mojito na praia, com os pés enterrados na areia.

2/11/2022 Today's Album: "Siembra" by Willie Colón and Rubén Blades - This is a fantastic Latin album that covers an incredible amount of traditional Latin melodies with great production and excellent performances. Many moments on this record sound so fun, energetic, or eargasmic that it makes me wish I knew how to speak Spanish. The vocals are incredible, many basslines are groovy and danceable, and the chorus melodies are catchy and pleasant to listen to. Lots of exotic percussion and bright trumpets join the rest of the elements to create a really warm and welcoming soundscape. There isn't much else for me to cover as I don't speak Spanish, but suffice it to say this album is a great listen and I enjoyed it from top to bottom. Score: 8 Groovy Highlights: Plastico, Pedro Navaja

Prefs: Pedro Navaja, Maria Lionza, Ojos, Dime Moins pref: Siembra

Nú er ég enginn salsa maður, og eiginlega alls enginn, en þessi discósalsa rennur mjög ljúflega í mig. Gæti alveg haft þetta í bakgrunni á góðum stundum og jafnvel til að dansa við. Mikið vildi ég samt að fyrsta lagið hefði haldið áfram með byrjunagrúvið í stað þess að fara í sölsuna.

I really enjoyed this. I know nothing about Salsa. I'll have to learn more. Interesting reading about Mack The Knife in various translations too.

Mieltä kohentavia rytmejä ja teki mieli tanssia. Mitään hajua mistä lauloivat, mut nautin kovasti

This album is a mix of salsa percussion and piano at its finest. The songs build up beautifully and "Pedro Navaja" is a masterpiece.

but was actually really funky, I really enjoyed that 8/10

It was about time we had some salsa

Great album. Enjoyed this one

Yea! Wish I had someone to dance with do this album.

So fun! Very fresh sound. Interesting chord progressions and rhythm. Great intro into salsa music.

Me llamo Siembra, esta fuego

Very cool! I enjoyed it a lot. A hidden gem.

Great Salsa music that makes you want to dance.

Nice

really fun latin music 4.5

This was super fun! Love salsa music and this didn't disappoint! Great music for working to as it didn't distract me and helped me to be productive and focus. It put me in a great mood and some of the sounds are really cool/unusual.

Can't say no to this!

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Maria Lionza

Ces personnes parlent un espagnol absolument impeccable. Je pense qu'on peut le dire à ce stade, c'est du très très grand Baltard récompensé par un bleu de ma part.

salsa

sassy fun latino.

Loved it.

Un dels grans discos històrics del que a nivell global podríem anomenar world music. No només és el lloc on trobar la peça original de 'Pedro Navaja'; altres temes com 'Plástico' o 'Maria Lionza' no difereixen gaire en el seu aroma a clàssics instantanis. De fet, cada un dels set temes és una història en si mateixa, cap d'elles sobra en el disc, que parteix de la salsa per donar-li un contingut més evolucionat del génere, apte per tots els melòmans. Molt a prop de les 5*

Probably the first salsa album Iv fully listened too, really enjoyed it, an album I’ll come back to again and again I think. Random comment but the babies on the album cover reminds me of ready to die by Biggie Smalls.

Siembra by Rubén Blades and Willie Colón (1978) Este es un álbum verdaderamente fascinante. Uno normalmente no asocia la música salsa con profundas advertencias filosóficas contra la pobreza del materialismo, pero observe esto (“Plastico”): Que fallo Era una ciudad de plástico de esas que no quiero ver De edificios cancerosos y un corazón de oropel Donde en vez de un sol amanece un dólar Donde nadie ríe, donde nadie llora Con gente de rostros de poliéster Que escuchan sin oír y miran sin ver Gente que vendió por comodidad Su razón de ser y su libertad Así que si valoras tu libertad y tu « raison d’être », deja de perseguir cosas elegantes. Y este tema se hace eco en la última canción del álbum, "Siembra". Es una maravillosa homilía sobre la virtud de sembrar, plantar y la plenitud de la vida. Acompañado por el simbolismo en la portada del álbum, solo un imbécil perdería el punto. Dios es pro-vida. Así es como nos creó. "Pedro Navaja" es un latín "Mack the Knife", sin los matices socialistas de Berthold Brecht. Es una adaptación muy exitosa de una canción de la "Beggar’s Opera" original de John Gay del siglo XVIII al alemán de la era de Weimar "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" al español. Qué bien. Agregaré esto a mi colección "Mack the Knife". ¡El antihéroe vive! Y además de letras fascinantes, escuchamos música espléndida. El álbum comienza con un estilo disco deliberadamente irritante, luego se instala rápidamente en salsa de calidad. Hay buenas actuaciones en cuernos, con trombones pesados en la mezcla. Y ritmos de percusión maravillosamente cómodos. No puedes escuchar esto mientras haces algo que requiere que te quedes quieto. 4/5

Good fun. A little disco in the mix too. Muy bueno!

Enjoyable throughout

i'm dancing over here

Was listening to this spicy Spanish music in the car with Alexa!

This was an unexpected joy. Plenty of variation across the piece. Rhythm for the dancing.

This was a nice groovy salsa album. I liked the disco vibes at the very beginning and was a little bit let down that it didn't continue through the rest of it. Still, a very solid album and one that I think I'm going to come back and listen to again.

Cool South American salsa vibess..

Great latin jazz tracks with a real drive to them.

Fun album! Not my go-to, but fun to listen to salsa every once and a while.

Boy was this a fun album to listen to! I love any Musica Tropical (according to apple music) that gets me on my feet to dance. Maria Lionza was particularly interesting to me because I swear I remember some cartoon movie where a character was listening or humming to some music saying "bing bing bing bing" (not crazy frog) that was very similar to them doing that in the song (This morning I thought more and I think its the chiwawa in Oliver and Company) . Not sure what those babies are doing on the cover and kind of surprised that none of them seem to be having a good time. Maybe they are seeds that were siembra'd in the field of flowers on the cover. Very strange but adds to the mystique of this album. This might be one of the best weeks of the year so far in terms of banger albums. FYI my Frank Sinatra yesterday was meant to be a 5.

Good for background music at a restaurant or something, but not something I'd ever go out of my way to listen to

Makes a white boy feel like he can salsa Saved: Plástico*, Pedro Navaja, Siembra

Saved Prior: None Off Rip: Plástico, Buscando Guayaba Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: Takes me back to the elite Mexican restaurant El Puerto in Charlottesville, or as we so affectionately called it, El Poopy's

Great salsa album

A really invigorating salsa album!! This is probably one of the best salsa albums I've heard in general, it's really great!

I don't speak any Spanish, so I can't comment on the lyrics, but the music is fun and full of energy. Had me moving in my work chair.

Mellow and happy.

bell'album di salsa

This was a perfectly pleasant listen. I'll freely admit I'm not at all knowledgable about salsa music, so this struck me as being kinda generic salsa, but after seeing on wikipedia that this is the best selling salsa record in history, I guess it's genre founding rather than generic! Fave track - "Pedro Navaja" - I like the slow build up and shout outs to other tunes!

Really funky and interesting, my main issue is that each song is really long and it’s a little samey. 8

Painfully generic. At one point I’m pretty sure bro just starts listing South American countries

Nothing crazy

I want more albums like thisss

Didn't expect the disco to transition to salsa or to blend as well as it does, but I love this now.

Very upbeat & fun. The lyrics I translated were all straightforward & positive. Great horns

Time to go to Wanna Iguana!

Not my usual thing but I still enjoyed it.

‘Plastico’ is so fun I enjoy the ending of *country* ‘présente’ I love how unserious ‘Buscando Guayaba’ is ‘Dime’ is very tropical ‘Siembra’ is absolutely my favourite, I like the moody start

Not my music genre of choice but done well. I enjoyed Maria Lionza. Other than that, I recognized music as good but not my thing.

Well, I tried. I think it’s both the basic speed, the excessive use of the horns, the overall blaring quality of it. I love the drums, but the orchestrations and synchronized horns… it really grates after just a couple tracks. It certainly is well arranged, I just don’t give with it. 3 Boolean: true

Not my genre I think, nothing I disliked listening to but it didn’t really do anything for me. May revisit at some point since so many seemed to enjoy this.

Usually not my kind of music but its kind of fun

Oh! Who could have forgotten the godfathers of modern rock music, the most influential Willie Colon and significant Ruben Blades!! Metallica would have never shocked everybody with their flamenco guitar solos and Dave Grohl's castanets rhythms might have never existed without Willie and Ruben...

Siembra sounds like a party I wasn't invited to but enjoyed through the wall. New York salsa, 1978 — brass, percussion, Rubén Blades singing about politics in Spanish over a rhythm that doesn't stop. Not my world. But it's clearly good at what it does, and it's hard not to move a little. 3/5 — through the wall, and still enjoyable.

Complex percussion rhythms? - ¡presente! Salsa piano sixths? - ¡presente! Lovely spanish vocals? - ¡presente! Great brass section? - ¡presente! I really enjoyed listening. However, for my non-salsa-trained ear, everything started to blend together real soon, forming a nice trip to another world, but lacking any standouts. 3/5 - good

It’s alright the length with that kind of sound can start to be a bit of a grind

Un poco de salsa siempre anima. Pedro Navajas es genial.

Salsa is good wake-up music and even this old Metal-head knows who Ruben Blades is. Would I listen to again? Probably not.

What a vibe, thank god it was a sunny day cause I don’t really think you could listen to this in dark, stormy weather. Made me want to Samba to work. Had to look up who they are - Willie is a famous trombonist and rueben is a famous Puerto Rican singer. Buscando Guayaba made me laugh cause there’s a section where he’s scatting along but it sounds like he’s trying to replicate a guitar. Also did Bad Bunny steal/was inspired by the listing of South American countries cause I reckon Rueben did it first in Plastico.

I joined this app to broaden my listening spectrum and this album is certainly doing that! The world's best selling salsa album has passed me by for the past 62 years. As has the artist. It's interesting listening, bubbling rhythm section and good horn arrangements. I enjoyed Pedro Navaja with its Mac The Knife vibe.

A vibe but nothing really that I would listen to again.

I was very unfamiliar with this album and it is outside the genres that I normally listen to, but it was pretty good.

Nice bit of Latin rhythm and salsa what’s not to like

Band is so tight!

Loved this for what it was. Very fun, upbeat album. Not my style, but I really appreciated it! 6/10

Yeah very summer vibes definitely glad I gave it a listen

Really fun, upbeat, happy. Feels pretty timely with the World Cup. Has me feelin Jogo Bonito. Not gonna be a regular listen for me but it'll have an occasion. Songs all kind of meshed, each had their own unique thing to happen during it. Liked the drums a lot in Ojos. Rating: 6.7/10

Pleasant enough.

fun samba!

hartstikke leuk maar doet me weinig sorry

라틴풍

I can't dance but it was still enjoyable

It's refreshing to hear something other than rock and jazz, and the music is full of energy and accomplished musicality, but it's a bit too ballroom focussed and big band style for my tastes.

Enjoyable and very listenable. Anymore and it would begin to all blend in to one song.

sounded nice!

Good stuff. Not my thing, but can't hold it against.

NICE

6/10

Not my genre but the songs were catchy!

One listen (limited). Very talented musicians. Love the energy. Though not something I'll return to, this was enjoyable.

leuke muziek

Not my style, but good stuff.

!Que fantástico! Estos canciones están perfecto para bailarme. Cuando escuchar, quiero viajar a Puerto Rico, comer plantanas a lado de la playa y bailar con una chica bonita. Mi canción favorita era Pedro Navaja. Los baterías! Los trupetas! El canción Plástico me sorpresa. Esta música latina y música disco en el mismo tiempo! Me recuerdo de la canción de Aqua, Barbie Girl. No se como agradar, pero me gusta mucho! Este revisión para seis años de Duolingo! Lo siento por errores. Muy blanco soy yo.

Hippe zomerse bars in oververhitte steden met nen Mojito...

Good vibe for a hot day

At first I was surprised to hear the disco flourishes in the opening track, but then I looked and saw that the album is from 1978. Wikipedia says this was the best-selling album in the history of salsa music. I've never explored salsa music but it is pleasant as background music. I have difficulty getting into music with non-English lyrics. Was Biggie's Ready to Die album cover an homage to this cover? This is difficult for me to rate. It was pleasant enough to listen to as background music, but it is a genre I have next to no interest in and would probably never listen to by choice. I think on the 5-point scale I would give this a 2.5, but how to decide between 2 and 3? It will probably come down to what mood I'm in tomorrow.

Makes me want a cocktail on a beach

Not my favorite kind of music, but pleasant. Excellent musicianship and arrangements. I could do without the strings on the title track.

Enjoyable stuff!

This was cool and it was fun, but I really don't see how it lands on this list. If I were at my favorite taco joint, I don't think I could tell you the difference between this music and anything else that was playing. Giving it a 3 cause I respect it, but probably wouldn't listen to it again.

Quite a lot of fun! Not my usual thing but enjoyable

Listening to this on a sunny day has made me much more well disposed to it - if it was British Grey outside I would feel insulted, I think. The spoken bits and vocalisations are really fun. Charmed by the inexplicable babies. Pedro Navaja was a good time. I may be wrong but it sounds like they had fun making it which for me goes a long way - the Mamma Mia principle.

I am willing to accept that this is considered the pinnacle of salsa by some, but that being the case the natural conclusion is that I'll never love salsa

Interesting mix of South American vibes and funk vibes. Faded into background music a bit after a bit though.

spoczko, bardzo dobry w swoim gatunku,

Had never heard of this before nor knew the actor was a musician in the 70s. Pretty good stuff

I liked this a whole lot, this might be another case of missing the cultural and lingual context required to fully appreciate it though.

Siembra is a salsa album with a lot of flair and heart. It flows smoothly from song to song, and has some great arrangements. While salsa is not really my thing, I can see why this is popular.

a shame i dont know the words im vibing with this maria lioza sooo hardd

A refreshing and upbeat listen. Enjoyed this.

3½

Very danceable and overall a good time. Its meant to get you to move and it succeeds pretty well in that aspect.

Best selling salsa album ever - interesting! The first minute sounds like disco, but then yeah, all salsa. I enjoy it, but I'm not sure it's a genre I'll go back to a lot. High 3.

It’s good but I suppose belongs here as it is apparently the biggest selling samba album. So. Ok.

Oh a nice change. Love this kind of music!

Heerlijke latin. Gaat mij na 4 nummers wel vervelen maar ik hoor er ook nog veel samples in van platen van nu. Gewoon lekker zo even luisteren

Nice enough, not at all something I would have come across. Probably won't be going back.

It was definitely a samba album. Upbeat, fun, good background noise. Not something I'd intentionally put on.

You can’t come to me with the opening bass line and prevent me from dancing. Seriously that opening bass slaps so hard. Overall, I think I just like Spanish music because this was a fun album. There are little kicks throughout that keep me interested.

3/5 Good. Not something I would listen to.

Ah man, listening to salsa at a desk at work is not really doing it for me. You gotta be in a bar or restaurant or club or something to really get into this one. It's a good album but not really what I'm gonna go seek out. But I can't deny it's catchy and you just want to have a drink and dance to it. It's a 3/5 for me. Hit me up with this again on a Saturday night with drinks and dancing, though, and we'll talk....

I have a hard time following the lyrics in Spanish but good stuff 3.5/5

Great vibes throughout the album. Salsa music isn't something I listen to a lot (shocking I know) but the catchiness of the rhythms can't be denied. A fun album with songs that kind of got lost in the background as I was listening and walking.

Easier to listen to with my dancing shoes on!

Good stuff. Sounds like an early Bad Bunny. Heard part of his halftime show was to honor Willie Colon.

It was an ok listen but one I likely won’t be coming back to.

I don’t know how to salsa but I sure want to! Fun album, catchy tunes, impossible not to move to

Fun album Standout songs: Plastico Maria Lionza

Not bad, as far as ethnic music goes.

fav song: pedro navaja i dont enjoy his singing voice i fear & the songs can be quite similar but it IS a vibe 😛 i wish you could do half stars bc id give this 3 1/2

It was good, definitely can see why it is influential on Latin music. Ecuador PRESENTE !!!!!!

Pleasant salsa music from these Latin guys. Maybe it would be more impressive if I knew Spanish. The internet claims this is the best selling salsa album of all time. Not quite to the four-star level.

Finally: Spanish! I'm too tired to appreciate it. But I liked it OK.

3.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/willie-colon-and-ruben-blades/siembra/ Definitely not my music, but for something that is definitely not my music, it kinda slaps! Was really expecting to like it less. Awful cover tho, why the babies?!

3.5 - good album

Really nice. A shame I don‘t speak spanish. Fav: Plástico

Sei lá, é bom e importante para os latino americanos que falam espanhol, mas não caiu muito no meu gosto.

good music from america (america=continet, not usa 😂😂) 3.4/5

I liked it all in all. I was hoping that there would be more disco elements, but that was limited to a few songs.

It's a cool dance album, well produced. All the players and the singer are great. But I will admit not knowing enough about this genre that I can't distinguish the differences from this and any other good Latin dance album.

Gonna need some chips for all this salsa

Some lovely tunes. Nice time. But I couldn't just listen to this on it's own with nothing else to do yaknow. It's background music to me because there's not enough highs and lows. But it is nice stuff.

Not my stuff but it’s fine.

Fun samba music

Best salsa album (so far). Would enjoy this in the right setting. Lyrics lost on me. Will be my go to for salsa if I remember the name - and if I ever feel the need for salsa.

Didn't quite hold me all the way through but did like some elements - the disco opening and it,'s PanAmerican theme, the West Side Story nods of Pedro Navaja..

Definitely my favourite salsa album of all time. Also the only salsa album I’ve ever listened to. A strong candidate for the graveyard slot at the mythical cafe Kelvinos

Part of me wants to give someone an undeserved fourth star after all of these mediocrities, but, on balance, this seems like a classic "three."

Algo entretenido

Interesting world music/jazz but would not listen again.

Opening bars gave me Saturday Night Fever vibe but gladly moved on quickly from that. Musical style and sound similar to The Cat Empire, fun, lively and entertaining even given I did not undetstand a word of lyrics.

High 3. Suspect it would be higher if I was more into salsa. It feels like this has inspired lots that we hear in TV and film today.

J'ai besoin de vacances. Trop clean. J'aime mieux quand les horns font sauter les preamps.

Nice

I liked the scat singing at the end of the second song, but mostly this sets a good vibe, but becomes boring toward the end of listening

For music I have no history with and really no understanding of, it's pretty good. Little bit of disco mixed in with the salsa. And then there's my standard complaint of most songs sounds very similar, but I'm sure that comes from my lack of understanding of the style.

Funky, but not for me.

First spanish playlist and I can understand how this inspired

Comfy, but like a lot of these albums doesn't stand out to me. It's almost too standard, even though it essentially set it.

(4/7) definitely a change of pace, but still too weird for easy listening, and not a lot of variety

I wish my DuoLingo lessons had these words! I enjoyed the Latin music styles, even though I couldn’t understand the lyrics.

I enjoyed this. If you like afro-cuban music check out Orchestra Aragon. This album is a little more modern and doesn’t include flute. Nice to have on in the background.

Its fine. Nothing I would personally listen to but it’s good. 6.6/10

Un album que se seinte, transmite mucho

Funky latin beat.

I didn’t understand it because I don’t speak Spanish. However I could tell bey the music that it’s conveying a fun and sly tone. Loved the mix, could pick an instrument and hear it clearly.

Pretty enjoyable. Something very different with a good rhythm

I appreciated the energy of the music. The roll call of the Latin American countries and territories reminded me of Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show.

Don't mind me, just dancing at my desk. I will say, it's easier to have a classic album when it's only 9 songs. I can appreciate the musicianship, but I'm a songwriting guy, so not speaking Spanish puts a limit on my appreciation. Hard for me to place into context.

I liked this

Latin music. Was enjoyable even though I spoke no Spanish

primeiro album de salsa da minha vida

A solid 7/10. I know this is a classic, and I really respect the genre and the musicianship… but it’s just not my style. You can tell how good they are, everything is well done, and there’s a lot of personality in it. It just doesn’t fully click with me. I get the impact, I respect it… just wouldn’t come back to it that often.

This was fun. That opening track definitely influenced Bad Bunny’s Superbowl show.

This thing is fun as hell.

7/10

Nice to listen to a salsa album. RIP Willie Colón, but guy's brain was eaten out by some worms the last decade with those tweets. This is really all Ruben Blades' work and its crazy how this guy was also on the Walking Dead.

Very cool, enjoyable listen. However, not nearly as memorable as what I have heard listening to Tito Puente. Furthermore, I would just like to add that I hate this silly label 'salsa', reminds me of 'world' music, why don't we call irish folk music 'potato' music, how idiotic is that. Probably 3 stars

Their second album. Latin / Salsa / Cha Cha. It was kind of a fun albim. It was good. This genre of music is outside my usual tastes. Glad to have heard it though.

Surprisingly good for an album entirely in spanish

Cool album, but I really have no standard of salsa music so not sure how to rate it.

"They were dancing, drinking wine, making love!” - Charles Xavier