FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1997. All Rights Reserved.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Silencio = Muerte: Red Hot + Latin
Red Hot / Polygram· The 10th release from the Red Hot Organization to raise money and awareness to stop the spread of HIV.
· A companion piece to last year's Red Hot + Rio, featuring a variety of Latin American artists collaborating with North American superstars.
Created to raise AIDS awareness in Spanish language communities -especially in Latin America where the number of HIV infections are double that of North America - the Red Hot Organization has released its 10th compilation in the last seven years.
Silencio = Muerte (silence = death) consists of 18 songs ranging in style from traditional folk songs to hip hop. While many of the artists are lesser known outside of Latin America, the superstar and hip quotient has been maintained for the North American market. Collaborators include Los Lobos with Money Mark, David Byrne, Fishbone, Geggy Tah, Cibo Matto, Laurie Anderson, Ruben Blades and Melissa Etheridge. Unfortunately the whole is not as good as its parts.
The CD has its good moments (Los Pericos with Buju Banton, Cibo Matto) but suffers from not having a central focus other than language. Where Red Hot + Rio soared with its samba, Latin looses its luster by being unfocused. Hard rock tries to mix with folk songs, samba with hip hop, reggae with... David Byrne (yikes!).
Red Hot + Latin just doesn't gel like its predecessors. While there are some fantastic singles, it's a tough haul as a full-length listen.
2/5
Ian Chiclo
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