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Area 52 (Deluxe Edition)

Rodrigo y Gabriela & C.U.B.A.

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iTunes Review

The acoustic-guitar duo of Rodrigo y Gabriela are here joined by a 13-piece Cuban orchestra, known as C.U.B.A. With arrangements from British jazz pianist and composer Alex Wilson, they deliver the musically adventurous and expansive Area 52, which adds horns, strings, hand drums, sitar, oud, and electric guitar to songs that originally appeared in stripped-down form on 2009's 11:11 and their self-titled 2006 release. The interplay between the classically trained Cuban musicians and these flamenco-styled acoustic rockers is inspired and forced both sets of musicians to rethink their approaches. Cuban music accents music differently than rock 'n' roll. The Carlos Santana tribute "Hanuman" is transformed into a wild celebration of sound. "Ixtapa" features an extended sitar solo from Anoushka Shankar. "11:11" retains its homage to Pink Floyd (especially in its David Gilmour–like guitar solo) while employing an intricate Latin rhythm that's closer to a Cuban folk song. This is a high-spirited collection of inspired musicianship.

Customer Reviews

Familiar Songs with Plenty of Great New Twists!

The ability to play a variety of styles with a wide array of other people is an important mark of great musicians.
Rodrigo y Gabriela are undeniably in that category.

Like many of their fans, I do slightly prefer the purity of just Rodrigo y Gabriela, themselves, on acoustic guitar. However, this album easily deserves the full five stars, and any fan who feigns snobbery and skips this one because of the collaboration with other artists or the "re-hashing of old songs" is definitely missing out.

Most avid fans probably know of RyG's history in a heavy metal band, have heard their older album, "Re-Foc", and are familiar with their recent contributions to the "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" soundtrack; so those fans are aware that Rodrigo y Gabriela have plenty of history playing in larger groups. "Area 52" is a step above their early collaborative work. There's more experience behind it; it's more professional and polished.

Fans who have been to their concerts or listened to their live recordings also know that RyG like to mix it up, and familiar songs are varied from concert to concert and even more from tour to tour. This makes it worth going to every concert of theirs you can. It also results in this great new album, with songs that are already familiar, yet very different. The effect I found is that, despite being a studio album, you actually get some of the same rush of going to one of their concerts, because those well-known songs have so many new surprises and so much energy.

Much of that added energy draws from the musical style of the album and band. The Cuban beats, rhythm, and instruments are a close cousin to Rodrigo y Gabriela's "regular" style -- which is often described as flamenco with heavy metal roots -- so the performances on "Area 52" flow naturally, beautifully, and (of course) very quickly.

In summary: "Area 52" gets a full strongly-deserved five stars. I wish I could give them more. Everyone needs this album!

...

Side note: Personally, I've been to four of their concerts so far -- and had tickets to a fifth that was canceled when Gabriela had to let her wrist heal. I look forward to more. Thanks for all the amazing music, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and please keep up the phenomenal work!

Buy their other two albums instead, unless you like stuff that sounds like everything else

Many of the tracks on this album are from their previous two albums, which were much more unique in that just the two of them shred their guitars from beginning to end and extract more music from them than you ever thought was possible. Their playing and compositions are so strong you don't feel like it's missing backup musicians or vocalists. Nobody else does that like them, and this album really diminishes that unique quality at the expense of very ordinary arrangements from a large latin band. I can imagine reaching the limit of what a duo can do together acoustically, but this is not a direction I hope they continue!

I like the style.

I like the way they sound. Great alternative to today's poop oozing out of speakers. First found out about them on NPR.

Top Albums and Songs By C.U.B.A.

Area 52 (Deluxe Edition), C.U.B.A.
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Customer Ratings

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