In October or November of 2009, David Bisbal released his fourth studio album, “Sin Mirar Atras” (“without looking back”, sounds a bit like the Boston song title “Don’t Look Back”). I’ve been listening to his music since the fall of 2003 when I saw him perform on the televised Latin Grammy Awards back when they were broadcasted on CBS with English commentary. They moved to a Spanish channel with Spanish commentary in 2005. When I first saw Bisbal on the 2003 telecast what first struck me was how he appeared on stage by sliding down a transparent slide. He and the band and dancers (who also took the slide) then launched into his powerful, rollicking song “Llorare las Penas.” After they finished, host George Lopez said something about only a Latino would be so lazy as to use a slide to reach the stage. I believe Lopez also mentioned that Bisbal was a top finisher of Spain’s version of American Idol called Operacion Triumfo.
A few days after seeing that telecast I went to a music store, probably Tower at the time, and bought Bisbal’s debut CD “Corazon Latino” that had come out the year before. It contained three fast intense songs (“Ave Maria”, “Llorare las Penas”, and “Corazon Latino”) and many softer but very soulful ballads including a duet with Spanish singer Chenoa. I enjoyed it especially the faster songs that were tinged with Flamenco sound. My wife (girlfriend at the time) enjoyed Bisbal’s Spanish accent especially his pronouncing the “s” sound as “th” such as “corazon” as “corathon”. Bisbal released a follow-up album in 2004, “Buleria”, that had equal numbers of fast Flamenco-tinged pop songs and soulful ballads. It alternated between the two and I liked this album even better than the first, especially the title track and “Camino y Ven”. He performed on the Latin Grammys again that year first performing the song “Oye el Boom” from “Buleria”. The dancers wore blank t-shirts with the shiny logo “db” on them. He then performed a ballad as a duet with Jessica Simpson (Jeththica Thimpthon?) where he sang in Spanish and she sang in English.
In November 2004 I saw Bisbal perform at the Avalon in Hollywood. The concert was supposed to be at the Wiltern on a Saturday but they moved it to the small venue on Friday due to low ticket sales, I believe. I only found out about the change from the Weekender (or was it called Preview) section of the L.A. Times that came out on Thursdays. I went to the Avalon and the crowded waiting to get in consisted mostly of young Latina women. A venue security guard asked me where my date was. I don’t recall if there was an opening act. Bisbal had a full band, some with traditional instruments, and two dancers. He sang well but his backup singers weren’t as strong as on his recordings. He did one ballad that wasn’t from any of his albums. One young woman made it up on stage to kiss him on the cheek. His best performance was “Buleria” during the encore. While there I got my own black shirt with the “db” logo.
In 2006 Bisbal released his third studio album, “Premonicion”, that was a departure from the Flamenco pop/soulful ballad formula. Many songs were more serious such as “Que me iba a Decir” and “Aqui y Ahora”. He tried experimenting with other styles such as spoken word raps and singing some lines in English such as in the song “Calentando Voy”. There are also songs about serious issues such as “Soldados de Papel” about some countries enlisting children as soldiers. The Reggaeton song “Torres de Babel” is about past injustices and features other rappers and singers. Overall the songs were edgier, had more intensity, and showed progressive change. The album also featured my favorite song so far by Bisbal, the very celebratory “Silencio” (Thilenthio).
In late 2007 or early 2008 my wife downloaded the live and compilation album “Premonicion Live” that included English versions of “Oye el Boom” (“Hear the Boom”), and “Me Derrumba” (“I’m Crumbling”) and a duet with Rihanna, “I Hate that I Love You”. My wife also downloaded the latest album, “Sin Mirar Atras”, in late 2009. It’s actually a deluxe version of the album that includes bonus tracks. Overall, the music is similar to Bisbal’s music before “Premonicion.” He has returned to his formula, somewhat. The first track, “Esclavo de tus Besos” (“Ethclavo de tuth Bethoth”), is a fast, upbeat love song that he follows with a soulful ballad, “Mi Princesa” (“Mi Printhetha”) that has acoustic accompaniment. He speeds things up for the next track, “Dame tu Amor”. His fast songs don’t have the same level of production as those on his earlier album and that’s actually a nice change. There aren’t too many background singers pronouncing the “s” as “s” rather than the proper “th”.
Unlike “Buleria” this album doesn’t alternate between fast and slow. The next song is also fast and has a bit more production. It’s the celebratory title track “Sin Mirar Atras” (“Thin Mirar Atrath”). The next song, “Besos de to Boca” (“Bethoth de to Boca”) begins with a jazzy saxophone and has a bit of attitude. The words make it sound like a sing of praise though the music makes it seem more like a soap opera or telenovela. The next song, “Si Falta el Aire”, is more referential. He follows this ballad with the equally reverential-sounding “Suenos Rotos” (“Thuenoth Rototh”) that has some strings accompaniment. The next song is faster with some traditional strings and guitar. “Al Andalus” (“Al Andaluth”) has a strong drum beat and I think the title alludes to the region of Andalucia in Spain.
It’s back to soulful ballads for the next song, “Antes o Despues” (“Anteth or Dethpueth”). He seems to pronounce the “s” sound like “s” when singing the title words but he still sings “corathon.” The song also has a strong guitar solo. The next song is the fast and fun sounding “24 Horas” (“24 Horath”) about how his world would end if she isn’t in his arms in 24 hours or something like that. The next track is the soft ballad “Cuando Hacemos el Amor” (“Cuando Hathemoth el Amor”) that has piano and acoustic guitar accompaniment. A slightly more rhythmic ballad, “El Ruido”, follows. He gets very soulful for the chorus. I think this is the last song for the album proper and that the next two are bonus tracks. The first is a duet with British teenage singer Pixie Lott who sings her part in English. “Sufriras” (“Thufirath”) has a fast electronic beat and the title translates to “It will hurt”. When Bisbal sings the song’s title in the chorus it sounds like he is saying the name of a character of the book Dune, Thufir Hawat. Pixie Lott won the MTV award for Push artist, beating the band Hockey.
The last track of the CD is another soulful ballad, “Juro Que te Amo”, that’s similar to the third from the last track, “El Ruido”. With this album, Bisbal has more or less gone back to his bread and butter: Flamenco-tinged pop and soulful ballads. Unlike the title of the album he has “looked back” and done what originally made him successful. Or maybe he’s just doing what he wants and not comparing it to what he has done before. Either way, he still sounds good. The album is energetic and doesn’t want for air (“falta aire”). It’s not just noise (“ruido”), nor is it broken dreams (“suenos rotos”), and you could listen to it for 24 hours (“24 Horas”) and you will not hurt (“no sufriras”). David Bisbal keeps it fun “Anteth o Dethpueth.”
A few days after seeing that telecast I went to a music store, probably Tower at the time, and bought Bisbal’s debut CD “Corazon Latino” that had come out the year before. It contained three fast intense songs (“Ave Maria”, “Llorare las Penas”, and “Corazon Latino”) and many softer but very soulful ballads including a duet with Spanish singer Chenoa. I enjoyed it especially the faster songs that were tinged with Flamenco sound. My wife (girlfriend at the time) enjoyed Bisbal’s Spanish accent especially his pronouncing the “s” sound as “th” such as “corazon” as “corathon”. Bisbal released a follow-up album in 2004, “Buleria”, that had equal numbers of fast Flamenco-tinged pop songs and soulful ballads. It alternated between the two and I liked this album even better than the first, especially the title track and “Camino y Ven”. He performed on the Latin Grammys again that year first performing the song “Oye el Boom” from “Buleria”. The dancers wore blank t-shirts with the shiny logo “db” on them. He then performed a ballad as a duet with Jessica Simpson (Jeththica Thimpthon?) where he sang in Spanish and she sang in English.
In November 2004 I saw Bisbal perform at the Avalon in Hollywood. The concert was supposed to be at the Wiltern on a Saturday but they moved it to the small venue on Friday due to low ticket sales, I believe. I only found out about the change from the Weekender (or was it called Preview) section of the L.A. Times that came out on Thursdays. I went to the Avalon and the crowded waiting to get in consisted mostly of young Latina women. A venue security guard asked me where my date was. I don’t recall if there was an opening act. Bisbal had a full band, some with traditional instruments, and two dancers. He sang well but his backup singers weren’t as strong as on his recordings. He did one ballad that wasn’t from any of his albums. One young woman made it up on stage to kiss him on the cheek. His best performance was “Buleria” during the encore. While there I got my own black shirt with the “db” logo.
In 2006 Bisbal released his third studio album, “Premonicion”, that was a departure from the Flamenco pop/soulful ballad formula. Many songs were more serious such as “Que me iba a Decir” and “Aqui y Ahora”. He tried experimenting with other styles such as spoken word raps and singing some lines in English such as in the song “Calentando Voy”. There are also songs about serious issues such as “Soldados de Papel” about some countries enlisting children as soldiers. The Reggaeton song “Torres de Babel” is about past injustices and features other rappers and singers. Overall the songs were edgier, had more intensity, and showed progressive change. The album also featured my favorite song so far by Bisbal, the very celebratory “Silencio” (Thilenthio).
In late 2007 or early 2008 my wife downloaded the live and compilation album “Premonicion Live” that included English versions of “Oye el Boom” (“Hear the Boom”), and “Me Derrumba” (“I’m Crumbling”) and a duet with Rihanna, “I Hate that I Love You”. My wife also downloaded the latest album, “Sin Mirar Atras”, in late 2009. It’s actually a deluxe version of the album that includes bonus tracks. Overall, the music is similar to Bisbal’s music before “Premonicion.” He has returned to his formula, somewhat. The first track, “Esclavo de tus Besos” (“Ethclavo de tuth Bethoth”), is a fast, upbeat love song that he follows with a soulful ballad, “Mi Princesa” (“Mi Printhetha”) that has acoustic accompaniment. He speeds things up for the next track, “Dame tu Amor”. His fast songs don’t have the same level of production as those on his earlier album and that’s actually a nice change. There aren’t too many background singers pronouncing the “s” as “s” rather than the proper “th”.
Unlike “Buleria” this album doesn’t alternate between fast and slow. The next song is also fast and has a bit more production. It’s the celebratory title track “Sin Mirar Atras” (“Thin Mirar Atrath”). The next song, “Besos de to Boca” (“Bethoth de to Boca”) begins with a jazzy saxophone and has a bit of attitude. The words make it sound like a sing of praise though the music makes it seem more like a soap opera or telenovela. The next song, “Si Falta el Aire”, is more referential. He follows this ballad with the equally reverential-sounding “Suenos Rotos” (“Thuenoth Rototh”) that has some strings accompaniment. The next song is faster with some traditional strings and guitar. “Al Andalus” (“Al Andaluth”) has a strong drum beat and I think the title alludes to the region of Andalucia in Spain.
It’s back to soulful ballads for the next song, “Antes o Despues” (“Anteth or Dethpueth”). He seems to pronounce the “s” sound like “s” when singing the title words but he still sings “corathon.” The song also has a strong guitar solo. The next song is the fast and fun sounding “24 Horas” (“24 Horath”) about how his world would end if she isn’t in his arms in 24 hours or something like that. The next track is the soft ballad “Cuando Hacemos el Amor” (“Cuando Hathemoth el Amor”) that has piano and acoustic guitar accompaniment. A slightly more rhythmic ballad, “El Ruido”, follows. He gets very soulful for the chorus. I think this is the last song for the album proper and that the next two are bonus tracks. The first is a duet with British teenage singer Pixie Lott who sings her part in English. “Sufriras” (“Thufirath”) has a fast electronic beat and the title translates to “It will hurt”. When Bisbal sings the song’s title in the chorus it sounds like he is saying the name of a character of the book Dune, Thufir Hawat. Pixie Lott won the MTV award for Push artist, beating the band Hockey.
The last track of the CD is another soulful ballad, “Juro Que te Amo”, that’s similar to the third from the last track, “El Ruido”. With this album, Bisbal has more or less gone back to his bread and butter: Flamenco-tinged pop and soulful ballads. Unlike the title of the album he has “looked back” and done what originally made him successful. Or maybe he’s just doing what he wants and not comparing it to what he has done before. Either way, he still sounds good. The album is energetic and doesn’t want for air (“falta aire”). It’s not just noise (“ruido”), nor is it broken dreams (“suenos rotos”), and you could listen to it for 24 hours (“24 Horas”) and you will not hurt (“no sufriras”). David Bisbal keeps it fun “Anteth o Dethpueth.”
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