Zayra Alvarez was the whole reason I wanted “Rockstar: Supernova” in 2006 which was a “Making The Band” for the US rock group, INXS. We had the original 2004 edition of the album before it was reissued in 2006 after her participation in the television show which was having people audition to be the new voice for INXS. I never believed that a girl would ever front INXS, but hell…one of my Latin artists was there and I was going to support her the whole way. Her album, Ruleta was a terrific rock album where she could showcase her talents as a vocalist and a songwriter.
The original 2004 album contained eleven Spanish language tracks and it graced my iPod regularly with great songs like “Hoy”, “Cuando” and “Digo No”. All three tracks are classic rock tracks that put her in a category strong enough to compete with some great rock greats. Her ballads were strong and still had a rock edge to them. After her participation on “Rockstar: Supernova”, she released the album again hoping that fans of INXS would come listening to her music; which is why she dominated the new version with English tracks, dumping a few of the slower songs except “Lluvia De Mar” which she sang on US television as part of one of the competitions of an original song.
The original Zayra Alvarez’s Ruleta is better than the reissue in 2006
The English tracks aren’t anything special though they complement the original Spanish tracks. If I hadn’t had the original version, I wouldn’t be able to tell that there is a difference in the production between the first and reissues. I don’t think that the INXS fans cared much for this indie artist as it did not land her a big contract or deal anywhere. Comparing the two albums, I believe the original is far superior to the reissue and recommend looking for that version versus the 2006 version and I am not saying that because I would rather hear the Spanish over the English, I just felt that the original is more complete because it was what she wanted to give the fans originally. It wasn’t until her US television appearance that she had to revamp; it’s was just a marketing ploy to gain something bigger. I can’t blame her, but go original. You’ll be happier.
I decided to see if Zayra Alvarez was still making music because I literally had not heard anything in the Latin market about her. I found out that she has left rock music and has been performing in gay clubs in Austin and released a club album in 2010 called, “Baby Likes To Bang”. For club music, it’s not bad but it won’t be coming to PopEnEspanol.com as she went completely in English. Sorry people.
You can check out Zayra Alvarez now on Twitter @zayramusic
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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