Pulling out another archive CD, we are checking out the second album by the pop trio from Mexico, Kairo. I just found three CDs of Kairo at a local used music store and I picked them up because I remember them from back in the ’90s, but other than a few songs from the first album, I don’t remember them releasing many albums so finding three was a pretty good deal especially for only $4 each.
I reviewed the first (debut) album of Kairo a few days ago, here is the next one for everyone… I listened to each song making notes as it went along. This was the first time I have done this because I wanted to make sure I gave Kairo a fair and honest review. Sometimes when you didn’t care for the first album, you already have judgment going into the second. As I glanced over all the songs and credits, it seems that half the album are covers from Italian singers so there is a very European flair to this album. They covered people like pop group 883, Leo Verde, Gianna Nannini, and Leandro Barsotti with six of the ten songs on the album.
Going into the album, I wasn’t overly impressed with the first track “No Nos Rendimos”, the group’s half-rapping verses to this and to the 7th track is not good. I know that in the ’90s, trying to have a little rap verse or chorus was all the rage, but Mexican pretty boys can not get down with their bad selves. The song “Hacer El Amor Contigo”, a cover of female pop artist Gianna Nannini was not bad, but it didn’t spark me as anything special. “Libertad”, “Una Aventura” and “Lucia” seem to break off the pop music in all the right places but when you hear a ballad from a pop singer or band, you want a chorus’ that you can belt out while sitting in your car. All three of these songs left me feeling there was something lacking.
I don’t want to dog Kairo all together and I did try to find music that I would want to listen to in my car and it is possible that these songs will grow on me. So where I found that the group did a good job was with “Si Te Vas”, “Todo Un Mito” (which had a very familiar sound), and “Ponme La Multa”. All three of those songs were decent enough to throw onto my iPod for some driving music. And finally… we get to the group’s first single and most popular song off the album, “Dile Que La Amo”, which now I remember is a song from Kairo. If anything, you got a minimum of 4 good songs on the album, but I won’t count out the bad rapping altogether, I mean, it was the 90’s and that’s just part of the decade.
So overall, I will give Kairo’s second album one thumbs up for an overall, not bad… Sometimes you just have to keep an open mind when reviewing albums from the archives.
Since that day, I have been study Latin pop and rock music and have become a Latin pop music historian through the publishing of articles, fanzine, and websites. My goal is to teach people about Latin pop music and the history behind it with my website, Siempre En Domingo.
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