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So I gave this 'Best Of' to a friend. But I advise against purchasing this album. Look, I give this five stars. and guess what. Why. Because once you listen to this, you will want to explore their music more, and will start buying their albums.That's what I did, and I now own all of their albums. He started buying the individual albums, too.Start with Casa Babylon, or Puta's Fever, and be happy you discovered this awesome band. The live album is exceptional, too.
MANO NEGRA IS A MIND BLOWING BAND. AND PATCHANKA, WELL, IT IS LIKE THE LITTLE BROTHER.
THIS SHOULDN'T BE CALLED "BEST OF" ITS MORE LIKE "SOME GREAT SONGS FROM MANO NEGRA" OR SOMETHING YOU KNOW.YOU SHOULD BUY "PUTA'S FEVER" (ONE OF THEIR TWO MASTERPIECES), AN AWESOME AWESOME ALBUM FULL OF ENERGY AND BLOOD, AND FULL OF CLASSICS FROM "THE REBEL SPELL", "SOLEDAD", "VOODOO","ROCK N ROLL BAND" "SIDI H'BIBI", "MAD HOUSE" OR "KING KONG FIVE". OR THE OTHER MASTERPIECE "CASA BABYLON" (REALLY DIFERENT FROM PUTA'S FEVER).
THIS COMPILATION IS GREAT BUT MISSES LOTS AND LOTS OF REALLY REALLY GREAT SONGS. KING OF BONGO IS ALSO INCREDIBLE GREAT.
PURCHASE THIS CD (CASA BABYLON) AND ENJOY IT. ITS A REALLY FURIOUS FIESTA (FURIOUS PARTY) FULL OF HEART, FIRE, LATIN FIRE, WORLD FIRE,EVERY SONG IS GREAT: VIVA ZAPATA (ELECTRONICA), THE MONKEY (HIP HOP/HARD ROCK), THIS IS MY WORLD (PSYCODELIA ALA MANO NEGRA), BALA PERDIDA (HARDCORE PUNK), HAMBURGER FILEDS (POP PUNK), LA VIDA (RAGGAMUFFIN'), SEÑOR MATANZA (HIHP HOP/SALSA), MACHINE GUN (REGGAE), SUEÑO DE SOLENTINAME (DUB), CASA BABYLON (SALSA), SUPER CHANGO (LATIN), MAMA PERFECTA (CUBAN TRADITIONAL).
VERY VERY GOOD BUT NOT AS GREAT AS PUTA'S FEVR, CASA BABYLON OR KING OF BONGO, INCREDIBLE MASTERPIECES OF UNDERGROUND ROCK, ALONG WITH DAYDREAM NATION (SONIC YOUTH), REAMIN IN LIGHT (TALING HEADS) OR GOOD GUYS DESERVES FUDGE (MUDHONEY).
English, spanish, French, Arabian, Portuguese, all languages are joyfully mixed with great beats, intrumentation, and experimentation. All Mano Negra songs are in my view the best, so I guess the folks putting this cd together had a hard time. I keep coming back to it, not that I have ever fought it's lure. Fan of many rock en espanol bands, and basically every genre(with the exception of a few), I just have to say Mano Negra is the band I will always love, it fills me up, inspires me, is one with me(NOT in a tacky way). I, for one, prefer live recordings, they reflect such beautiful energy that, I, sadly, will never see live. But, if you're multi lingual, like me, that's another reason to love this album, and all others by Mano and Manu, and the other guys formerly in Mano. I recommend it to EVERYONE. PS Everyone that listens to it while with me loves it, I'm glad I found this band a year ago, i was missing out of so much.
It was the Stiff Little Fingers' album 'Inflammable Material' which persuaded Manu to get into a music career. The Latin influence is the most obvious on this Casa Babylon album because following the commercial success of their earlier efforts the band took off to South America for 2 years of giving free concerts and travelling round supporting various political causes. This cosmopolitan influence is present in the music and in the multi-lingual lyrics. In the slums of Paris the Chaos were brought into contact with kids from a wide range of origins- Spaniards, Portuguese, Africans and Arabs. Mano Negra was a French group built around the Chao family, Manu, Antoine and their cousin Santi. Nevertheless this is an excellent collection of very diverse songs which influenced Maldita Vecindad, Cafe Tacuba, El Gran Silencio, Negu Gorriak, etc. The album 'Puta's Fever' was their most commercially successful but many consider their best album to have been 'Casa Babylon'. Beyond the punk artists already mentioned Manu was also influenced by Iggy Pop, Chuck Berry, the Stranglers, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Lou Reed.
How dare they stop the live version of 'Mano Negra' before it goes into a frenetic version of 'Magic Dice'. Mano Negra became France's most influential rock group. Born in Paris in June 1961 Manu Chao was from a family forced into exile from Spain because of their opposition to Franco's fascist regime. As with most 'Best of' albums this particular offering can be criticised- why include 'Santa Maradonna', 'Mad man's dead', 'Indios de Barcelona'. After hearing this superb Northern Irish punk album Manu discovered other punk acts and in particular the Clash (his bedroom was at that stage papered with tickets from Clash concerts). Half-way between the Pogues and the Clash, they mixed Punk, Reggae, Ska, Ragga, Falmenco, Latino, Rai, chanson francaise and other styles too numerous to mention. Why did they not include their very best songs here- 'Rebel Spell', 'Love and hate', 'Drives me crazy' and 'La Vida'. I would like to hear a 'best of' compilation of Manu Chao's pre-Mano Negra material (prior to Mano Negra he was the leader of two other bands -Les Hot Pants and Los Carayos).
Mano Negra set the table for further explorations into different genre, with Latin style and punk attitude. Whether to turn someone on to something they're "missing", to replace a well used disc, or in the case of my situation, to replace a stolen one. Manu Chao sounds very much the Clandestino captured here in his early years, with his transglobal vision, creating a panoramic view through third world eyes, like a communique from the streets. That said, this is a fantastic disc that gets (got) much air play.
"Senor Matanza" is one of those songs that stays with you and if you just happen to be a first time listener, grabs you and shakes you. If you're new to Manu Chao, this is where it began, under the guise of Mano Negra. The roots of his musical sesibilities shine throughout this compilation, that is a retrospective of the now defunt group Mano Negra. Every now and then a disc has to be bought more than once for whatever reason. There is even a song glorifying futbol, that would be World Cup type futbol, entitled "Santa Maradonna" complete with ole, ole, oles and cries of gooooooooaaaal in French. Think The Clash in it's heyday but ala estilo Latino, with latin style.
Case in point, the song "Peligro" resonates with an urban sense of urgency that sounds as fresh today as then with it's reggae back beat and funky horns. The political overtones of "Sueno de Solentiname" are nightmarish visions of right wing death squads in Latin America, complimented by Manu's echoes of hope amidst the chaos.
This is just one of those discs that demands to be replayed, again and again, in spite of thieves. Sometimes special discs are more deserving than one buy.
The catchy tune demands the listener to absorb the lyrics, to go beyond the beat, to think of "El Senor Matanza." Another highlight of this superb historical disc is that several of the tracks are captured live. Rock en Espanol has borrowed from these trend setters and have continued the tradition established by these early rockeros.
Even veteran groups like Fabulosos Cadillacs, Negu Gorriak, Aterciopelados, Maldita Vencidad, Tijuana No, Todos Tus Muertos and more recently groups like King Chango, Ozomatli and El Gran Silencio owe much to the hybrid crossover sound of Mano Negra. The live tracks display the emotion and raucous good times had at a performance by Manu and Mano Negra.
Highly recommended for old and new fans of the King of Bongo.
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