Quién Dijo Ayer

Album Review

Celebrated singer/songwriter Ricardo Arjona looks both forward and backward on Quién Dijo Ayer, a double-disc greatest-hits collection featuring 13 of his best-known songs on one disc and new recordings of those same songs on the other disc, plus three new songs. The hits compiled here are mostly from the 1990s, when Arjona emerged as one of Latin pop's most impressive songwriting talents: "Te Conozco" (1991); "Mujeres," "Jesús Verbo No Sustantivo" (1993); "Historia de Taxi," "Señora de las Cuatro Décadas," "Realmente No Estoy Tan Solo" (1994); "Se Nos Muere el Amor," "Tu Reputación" (1996); "Dime Que No," "Tarde (Sin Daños a Terceros)" (1998); "Si el Norte Fuera el Sur" (1999); "Cuándo" (2000); and "A Ti" (2002). After the turn of the century, Arjona began to release progressively less new material; in fact, after Santo Pecado (2002) he has released only one album of new material, Adentro (2005), to date. Like Lados B (2003) and Solo (2004), Quién Dijo Ayer is therefore likely to frustrate some longtime fans who would prefer an album of new material rather than yet another set of recycled material from years past. Thankfully, there are the three new songs, two of which ("Quién," "Quiero") are great, so much so they fit right in alongside all the hits. As for the newly recorded versions of Arjona's greatest hits, they're generally faithful to the original versions. The most evident exceptions are "Si el Norte Fuera el Sur" (performed in a ska style with Panteón Rococó) and "Historia de Taxi" (performed in a salsa style with Marc Anthony). There are a few other duets, but the arrangements are similar to the original versions. While only a couple of the new versions depart stylistically from the originals, the contemporary productions breathe new life into these songs, which should be well known by longtime fans. For the economically minded, Quién Dijo Ayer was also made available in a single-disc Special Edition comprised of only the new recordings rather than a double-disc collection half comprised of previously released (and previously compiled) material. In either edition, the quality of the newly recorded music is stellar, if perhaps overly familiar to some.