Carlos Vives Brings Mas + Pop Romantic Vallenato

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Vallenato music is happy and Vallenato singers, like Carlos Vives, are simple trovadours. The beautiful Colombian music that make singers improvise about women and about life, was vanishing no too long ago.

Carlos Vives helped rise the popularity of Vallenato by making blending it with contemporary rhythms. The boy from Santa Marta, that grew to be an actor and singer, fell in love with his role as a Vallenato singer and became a real one.

His music went from a blend of more Vallenato than Pop, to sometimes more Pop than Vallenato. Music fans outside of Colombia liked the newly discovered rhythm. Some purists criticized Vives for “watering down” the real Vallenato.

With “Mas + Corazon Profundo” Carlos Vives continues the spread of the blend of Vallenato I characterize as pop-Vallenato.

“Mas + Corazon Profundo” is Mas + Vallenato-style Romance

Following the theme of his previous album “Corazon Profundo”, which broke a 9-year recording silence for Carlos Vives, “Mas + Corazon Profundo” is mostly and album of romanticic songs. Here’s what I liked most about “Mas + Corazon Profundo”:

Romantic Vallenato – Carlos Vives popularity stems from the romantic songs he sings in truly Vallenato style, regardless of the Vallenato-to-Pop blend of the music.

Carlos Vives "Mas Corazon Profundo" will bring him many awards like the previouis "Corazon Profundo".
Carlos Vives “Mas Corazon Profundo” will bring him many awards like the previouis “Corazon Profundo”.

Plenty of Music – “Mas + Corazon Profundo” includes 12 songs, 10 of which are new. It also include alternate versions of 2 songs from “Corazon Profundo”, in “Volvi a Nacer” and “La Foto de los Dos”.

“La Foto de los Dos” – I really liked the Salsa version of this song. To me it was one of my favorite songs in “Corazon Profundo” and I enjoyed the Salsa version of it. Carlos Vives is not a Salsa singer, but did a decent job in maintaining the song’s essence in a fiesty Salsa arrangement. He should have done it with Marc Anthony as he had him in the studio for “Cuando Nos Volvamos a Encontrar”.

“Cuando Nos Volvamos a Encontrar” – the duo with Salsa Pop star Marc Anthony was the feature of this song. The song has a beautiful message and melody, but I thought Marc adapted his singing style to a more Carlos Vives-like style, damping a bit of what he could bring to the duo. Yet, the song became a huge hit for good reason.

Other Favorites – I like a lot of songs here. “Un Pobre Loco” features a nice accoustic guiter lead, to complement Vives sentimental singing. “El Sueño” and “Las Cosas de la Vida” are great Vallenatos with a curiosity of a Trombone giving it a South American folk tone. And in “Hijo del Vallenato” Carlos Vives responds to those critics that say he has forgotten Vallenato.

Video of “Cuando Nos Volvamos a Encontrar”

Here is the official video of the song; which they did in a humorous way.

Missed Opportunities for “Mas + Corazon Profundo”

“La Foto de los Dos” – this is a lovely song that was given a nice Salsa arrangement in “Mas +”. As I said, Carlos Vives does a decent job singing Salsa, but having had Marc Anthony as a guest in another song, why not use him in the only Salsa song the album had? It would’ve been another nice duo!

“Mas + Corazon Profundo” is Another Nice Pop-Vallenato Album

If you liked the small town feeling that Carlos Vives brings to romantic pop through his style of Colombian Vallenato, I’m sure you will like “Mas + Corazon Profundo”. If your are more of a fan of the more pure form of Vallenato, then I don’t need to tell you that Carlos Vives style is not for you.

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