Ruben Blades: Tiempos : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

While its eclectic and original style may not conquer hard-core salseros or fans of Ricky Martin pop and Jennifer Lopez soul, Ruben Blades' Tiempos could be the best Latin record of the year. Reinventing yet again a career that saw him go from Willie Colon's lead vocalist to presidential candidate in his native Panama, Blades has hand-picked the Costa Rican jazz group Editus to perform the soundtrack for his cinematic song poems. The result is an impeccable, rich stew of flamenco, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and obscure regional folk beats and melodies which propel lyrics that hauntingly describe Blades' disappointment with the end of his marriage, the economic desperation of Latin America and the corruption of its governments. But as melancholic as miniclassics like "Hipocresia" (Hypocrisy) and "Dia a Dia" (Every Day) can be, Blades is always imagining a rebirth, as he does in "Vida" (Life), his softened tenor intoning, "I dream of a different world / Where our love never fades." (RS 821)

ED MORALES