CD Music Shop

In all seriousness, CONTRA LA CORRIENTE (which a Spanish-speaking friend translated for me as "Against the Flow") has become one of my favorite albums. It is a fine example of excellent composition, performance, and engineering, making for one outstanding sonic experience. Marc Anthony's album falls within the "Latin Music" catagory (of course), but his songs are musically interesting enough to transcend that label. His vocal delivery is passionate and expressive enough to evoke emotions in me, and I don't even know what he's singing about! (Special kudos to his trio of backup vocalists - you guys are so tight in your harmonies that you grabbed my attention and are still my favorite aspect of the album.)

Mr. Anthony surrounded himself with excellent musicians and every performance from the horns to the piano to the multiple percussionists play in tight collaboration and yet are easily distinguishable from each other. One can recognize the extraordinary audio engineering from this as well, as every instrument and vocal is in perfect balance with everything else - nothing draws attention to itself, it only adds to the ensemble. This makes for enjoyable repeat listens as one can make new discoveries with subsequent spins.

With the possibe exception of the final track (where the music style changes from straight Latin to a pseudo-latin-pop), there are no "throw-away" pieces. Each song on CONTRA LA CORRIENTE is distinct and worthwhile, therefore you'll be getting your money's worth with this album. One additional bonus: because this is not a traditional "pop" album, it's not going out of style any time soon.