I love when someone requests a year that I know very well like with 1994. Some of the best music and albums came out in that year like Benny Ibarra’s second album, El Tiempo. I know this album like the back of my hand because it is just so good and I want to go out in my car and turn up the volume to sing along with Benny here.
When you think of turning up the music and jamming out in your car one would think of fast and upbeat music but with Benny, it’s his ballads that are such gems. A lot of Benny’s most popular songs come from El Tiempo. Ballads such as “Cielo” (Sky), “Sin Ti” (Without You), and “Estoy” (I Am) are hits that have stayed with him throughout his career. And those are the songs you just want to sing with him at the top of your lungs.
Being a gringo, I think I know all the words to “Estoy” just because of the number of times I have sung it in my life. It is my favorite of all on this album. This simple music of a solo piano with Benny’s vocals. WOW. I fell in love with the track the moment I heard it back in 1994. It has remained one of my favorites of all time.
Going track to track listening again for this review, I sing along in my head and I know it all. There isn’t a song on this album that doesn’t belong. Everything that Benny created with the help of a long-time friend, Memo Mendez Guiu, is worth every second spent. And after listening to the debut album, Hablame Como La Lluvia (which I love), I see such growth and progression in Benny’s music. Usually, sophomore albums don’t compare to debuts but in this case, Benny outdoes himself.Sing
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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