Piano Bar

I think this is the worst album cover of all original and user albums on the list. That does not mean the music is bad. I understand it's one of the essential albums of Argentina. It's ambitious and unpolished. Sometimes the ideas go in all directions and result in something that does not work. Still there is a lot to like. I would say 3,5 stars that get rounded up for not being British/American origin and English Language.

Encontré al argentino

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Demoliendo Hoteles, Promesas sobre el bidet, Raros peinados nuevos, No se va a llamar mi amor, Tuve tu amor, Cerca de la revolucion, Total interferencia

Rolling Stone Argentina says this is the 12th best Argentinian rock album of all time but for me with a list of one, it’s the best

lol this looks like it could be terrible. okay, it's suprisingly serious. Pretty catchy. 3/5.

Thought this guys name was Cherry Garcia for a second. As for the music it was a cool soft rock album. Probably would’ve enjoyed it more if I spoke Spanish. The instrumentals were solid and it’s a cool album. The ice cream isn’t bad either. 4.3/10

One digs. Good to be reminded the scale/scope of the rock and roll universe. There's a tunefulness and nice variety of sounds and instrumentation, and the quieter songs are particularly strong. One's favorite Argentine musician since Miguel Cantilo.

I should probably study up on the whole artistic disidence surviving an era under a neo-fascist bureaucratic-authoritarian state thing, for... no particular reason, just something I've become interested in lately. Anyway I liked this, I like its vibe despite not being able to understand more than the occasional phrase. It put me in mind of the gritting side of 80s alternative, stuff like the Suburbs that navigated a line between post-punk/hardcore and the crystalline brittleness of synth-pop new wave. Extra point for, you know, surviving an era under a neo-fascist bureaucratic-authoritarian state.

Smooth and enjoyable.

Pretty good!

There were some nice songs on this album

Didn't know the first thing about Charly Garcia, but I'm genuinely impressed by the songwriting, musicianship and production values of this record released during the early eighties. I even like the sound of the gated drums there -- often sounding deeper and weirder than their generic counterparts. The first side and the first half of the second side are stellar pop rock, with a lot of lush moments and arrangements being both accessible and quite sophisticated. So many earworms... The album loses its momentum a little at the end of its last leg, but it remains interesting ("Rap Del Exilio" reminds me of Talking Heads, for instance). I also enjoy how the guy can go from one style to the next while never losing the thread. Immense talent. It's easy to understand why he was so popular in Argentina. Plus it looks like the guy is a very interesting figure. He criticized fascists and the military junta -- something to keep in mind these days, from Argentina to the US. And he also has his own personal quirks, which are often found among the circle of great influential artists. Great find. Thanks for the suggestion. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 52 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 70 (including this one -- I'd rather err on the side of caution here : first because I feel that if you start to include pop rock stars who don't sing in English -- from Argentina to France, where I was born -- 1001 will obviously be too short a number. You would probably need another list devoted to those artists ; and secondly, the most streamed Charly Garcia track on my streaming service, the extraordinary "Nos Siguen Pegando Abajo" -- not taken from this album, yet beating The Police at their own game -- suggests that the artist has probably released other gems during his heyday. And the prog rock and folk acts he was a part of before he started his solo career also sound worth a detour. So I need to dig further here...). Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 123 --- Hey, Émile. Tu as déjà dû voir ma dernière réponse sous la review de *Young, Loud And Snotty* des Dead Boys ! J'essaie d'écrire la mienne bientôt

The track "piano bar" is where this really kicks up a notch, bam!

A fun romp in Argentinian rock

This was interesting never heard such western sounding music in a language other than english. No clue what he was talking about, but the vibes were there. Nice addition. 4/5

Actually enjoyed this. Wasn't sure at all to begin with, but it progressed well. Good soft rock record. Instrumentals are decent, vocals are pretty great (wish I understood more Spanish). I sometimes heard elements of The Scorpions.

Pretty good new wave stuff

I’m well of aware of his fame in Argentina and I just say, I get it. What an album!

I think it's cool that a lot of Argentinians seem to have discovered this website and worked through the whole list and are now using the opportunity to share Argentinian music! Love being exposed to this stuff. Wish I connected with it more.

Really good Argentina rock music, could make room for this on the orginal list.

Enjoyable soft rock and an always-needed international pick for the list. Didn’t blow me away, but it was fun to hear the more wry Argentinian take on a genre that usually demands complete sincerity.

New wave, pop rock, art rock. Ni fu ni fa.

Not bad, kind of forgettable but fine

Not my bag really but wasn't terrible!

Couldn't understand a word of it but still better than a lot of the shite that people post on here

Quite nice record 3 Completely tuned it out though

This was easily as good as popular 80's music. Unfortunately, I don't really love popular 80's music that much. 3 stars.

Real nice

I'll give it credit for being non-English based music but still it wasn't that great. Sounds like a lot of other bland 1980s music, but in Spanish. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Spain

Prime example of don't judge a book by its cover!

Super solid and enjoyable Argentinian rock from the 80s. Better than I was expecting, and kudos for something outside the box.

I wanted to love this, I absolutely respect the share. But, even accounting for the vintage, it is just a little too cheesy. Enjoyable though, catchy.

Never would have listened to this without it being on this list. It was enjoyable.

Down-the-middle 80s rock, which can sometimes drift a little too sleepy for my liking. Thankfully, this sidestepped that.

I will say it is a nice treat to get exposed to music - and especially straight-up pop/rock - from well-outside the traditional/usual North America/UK axis; obviously speaking personally I have almost never been exposed to these artists. Whoever was on guitar could definitely play in the parlance of the time, especially with that series of 80s Rockman guitar tones. :) The album would (did?) fit right in amongst popular safe rock acts like the Hooters, Bryan Adams, etc. Not knowing the language actually accentuated the album, and may be the only distinguishing aspect for me. I suppose this could be the kind of album you listen to now only for nostalgic purposes - and acknowledging what I've read up on him, his lyrics were apparently pretty controversial in terms of countering or critiquing the Argentinian government - but overall just as someone listening in 2025, it's coming across as "just an 80s pop rock album" - that's not *necessarily* a slam, this probably could/would have been a hit in English-speaking countries at the time. But man, saxophones in rock did not age well. 5/10 3 stars. IMO: like it or not: should this have been in the original book [which should be called: 1001 Albums That Helped to Shape Music History]? Yes.

Wait I actually really enjoyed this. I think the message was good and I didn’t get sick of anything and I understand its influence.

Pretty standard but pleasant enough 80s fare. If the words were in English this could be a band from Luton signed up for Mute records that had a minor hit in 1983.

Nice tunes

This was kinda cool. 80s Spanish rock that had a unique feel

Puro (pop) rock argentino. Quizás un tanto para los más entusiastas. Música sin contemplaciones. Buena voz, aunque le puede faltar algo de arriesgar más.

Started to listen to this and got distracted by life. What I heard wasn't bad

This is what I expected to get from this list, an international phenomenon that wasn't popular in my region. 3/5

Okay classic rock and I cannot understand the lyrics. Not for me.

wave to it as it passes by

This was big time not for me. I'm not a fan of that 80s new wave/rock thing most of the time. This sounds like it was well put together and recorded. I just can't get with the style of music.

A very poppy, at times artificial production sounding spanish rock record. This one didn't work for me.

I appreciate the inclusion of some Argentinian music here. Unfortunately it doesn't do much for me. Not sure how much of that is that it's in a language I can't understand, and how much is just that musically it's kind of unexciting.

The final note on this album is the memory wipe device from Men in Black that makes you forget the entire album you just listened to.

Mostly awful

You know what? It probably makes it into my top ten Argentinian rock albums of all time!

I couldn't tell what genre this was, and it really didn't do a whole lot for me.

I didn’t like the songs. Not because they were in Spanish, I just didn’t like them.

Rock anodino.

Piano Bar is a lot of 80s I don't really care for but it's tightly executed and does a decent job of engaging despite the language barrier and my general dislike of so much new wave stylings. High 2.

Charly Garcia seems to have this legendary aura about him that makes it so even I know of his status in Spanish speaking communities. I've tried a couple times to get into his music, but it just feels too 80s for me. Every time I feel like I'm getting close to it clicking for me, then the album ends, and no amount of re-listens seems to fix that. So, definitely deserving of a spot on the list, but just not for me.

It was an ok listen but I wouldn’t listen again

It doesn’t matter what language it’s in. Mid-80s pop rock is a time machine to good bad music.

Nope

AI could churn this out with an 80's fused with Latino prompt. SO 1980's, and not in a good way. It could be the soundtrack to any of those trashy coming of age movies. I felt that I should be wearing leg warmers whilst listening. Bailed after three tracks.

One of the many reasons I would never go to a piano bar. bailed during 2nd song. Awful.