Los Temerarios, known for their emotive yet romantic ballads, was on the brink of tears as they took the stage for their return performance in San Jose earlier this month – it had been four years since their last show and marked an important moment in their careers since 1983 when their debut album hit stores in Mexico and the U.S. Since then they’ve performed over 1,000 shows, released 41 entries onto Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart with 17 becoming top 10 hits–including four number ones–making Los Temerarios an institution!
Fresnillo, Zacatecas-based family band Guerra began as an alternative garage band that met in an off-season storage room to perform during evening jam sessions in an evening storage room belonging to their father’s garage. Unfortunately, their traditional norteno-grupero fusions didn’t meet sales expectations so in 1987 they signed with Monterrey-based independent label Disa and evolved their sound towards urban ballad-oriented ballads led by Gustavo’s distinctive, piercing tenor that combined both Art Garfunkel and George Michael; giving this genre an additional pop edge that many Mexicans saw as working-class music.
With hits like Te Quiero, Mi Vida Eres Tu and Una Tarde Fue, Grupero quickly rose to the top of the Mexican pop music genre for nearly 10 years – cementing their spot by chart-topping albums like Como Te Recuerdo and Tu Ultima Cancion which continue to redefine what’s possible in that genre and pave a path for subsequent Mexican artists who follow in their footsteps.
Recuerdos del Alma (Fonovisa), is the band‘s latest release with producer and friend Jorge Eduardo Lopez (Elias Gutierrez) that showcases more romantic elements of ranchera music. For this show, both Juan Payan and Juan Carlos Granados used Solid State Logic L100s at each show to commemorate its release and tour nationwide to support it.
The sound quality is clear and vibrant, a testament to both musicians and engineering team’s talent. Particular highlights are Sombras where brother singers extract new meaning from an age-old lament about never finding another love like mine; and Por Que Sera with its country accented steel guitar solo and soothing power ballad sounds; always providing heartfelt harmony singing!