November marks the 10th anniversary of Soda Stereo's return, a decade after his farewell tour, the end of one of Latin America's most popular rock bands. A group that in its stardom remained until the end, filled easily with stadiums, multitudinous concerts of which there is sufficient record.
It is part of the Latin American pop ideology the interpretation of the theme "Of light music" in the stadium of River Plate. It was during the last concert of the band in 1997. From that day the memory of "gracias, totalos" was in memory .
And thanks to the Argentinean band not only its followers, but several artists who have been influenced by the group led by Gustavo Cerati , who along with Charly Alberti and Zeta Bosio left in the songbook such as " Prophylactic ", " American Blind " , " Zone of Promises " and " Glider ".
Liz Gabriela González Olivera , in his work Soda Stereo: influence on music, the press and Latin American society in the 80's and 90's , recalls: " Soda Stereo opened the way to the massiveness of Latin rock to find a way to break the dilemma Rock and pop that traditionally ripped Latin American popular music. The first one supported by the middle and well-to-do social sectors with strong influences of Anglo-Saxon rock and the second one implanted in the broad popular sectors and of workers linked to the latin and dance rhythms; One and the other despising each other. Gustavo Cerati referred to that dilemma in 1996 when he stated: 'We are a pop group with a strong and absorbed rock culture '.
The author cites for example several countries in which there was repercussion of the work of the Argentineans. He quotes journalist Carlos Polimeni when he says that the multiplier effect of Soda Stereo, beyond his own individual success, as a myth originating from Latin rock as such, would concentrate mainly in Mexico. " It was the one that woke up Mexican rock. Dozens of Mexican groups reacted: why do not we do what the Argentine groups do? And that erupted in the mid-eighties in rock that, in my opinion, is the richest and most seated of the entire continent . "
And it was not only Mexico, but also Peru, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela, among others.
As mentioned in the Mexican case, let's see what the members of Café Tacvba , one of the most influential groupings of that country with respect to the Argentine trio, said 17 years ago. " We were not from the bands influenced by Soda Stereo . Yes, there was a wave. Suddenly you went somewhere and you were with five groups playing like Soda Stereo , it was a fever, "the singer Rubén Albarrán told the newspaper La Nación . Guitarist Joselo confirmed in 2014 in his Excélsior newspaper column how beloved the group was in Mexico. Two years later, Albarrán said: " We have all had special experiences with Soda's music. In Mexico it was crazy, the most wonderful thing was the love they generated with their music. It was crazy, they marked a whole time . "
And when one listens carefully to the discography of Café Tacvba , he notes that he transited in his compositions. That is to say, although the Mexicans had a strong imprint of the traditional Mexican rhythms in their first two albums, soon undertook a more exploratory stage, similar to Soda Stereo of their last discs. And it is that the Argentine band contributed to pave the way of the experimentation between the groupings, especially between those that saw Soda Stereo like primordial reference of the rock in Spanish.
" Soda was a total combo, had a guy who composed and sang barbarian, Cerati, and one of Latin America's thickest rock bases, Zeta Bosio and Charly Alberti, " he told the Spanish newspaper Kevin Johansen last year about a Homage in Argentina to the grouping author of " Animal song" . It was held in November, and also participated in Café Tacvba , Carla Morrison , Juanes , Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas , Richard Coleman , Alex Anwandter , Massacre , Band of Tourists , Indians , Leo Garcia , Tonio Jáuregui de Libido , Juan Ingaramo , Walter Dominguez , Hindu King and Utopian . All with some bond of admiration and admiration with the band, considered icon of the rock in Spanish, like Caifanes or Los Tres .
For Juanes , for example, the music of " opened doors for many Latin artists who could reach other markets like the American. By the mid-nineties, the idea of Spanish rock was very strong. Then it was transformed and nowadays we find that in the radios it sounds very much the urban music ", according to indicated recently to the Viola .
Even in 2014, after Cerati's death, singer and composer Fher de Maná recognized the legacy: " One of the great composers of contemporary music, a great lyricist and a masterful performer of his guitar and voice . The most interesting thing about Cerati and Soda Stereo is that they created a sound that was neither British nor American, but an emergence of sonorities bathed in rock and Latin American feeling. Lots of light for your family and loved ones . "
Shakira and Cerati were good friends. The Argentinian came to compose songs for the Colombian, who in his most recent album, El Dorado , there is a song titled " Amarillo ", a nod to the album Amor Amarillo del argentino, as she herself has said. "" Without realizing it I was invoking it, I miss it . "
And is that everyone agrees that Soda Stereo opened a door, which told everyone that you can. And much did, as the singer of Maná says , " with that Latin American feeling ," as Juanes has shown, to cite an example. Of course, it was not possible to deny the great influence in Soda Stereo of groups like The Police or The Cure in the first discs of the set.
But the imprint can not be denied, both in those that are sure to be followers, and in those that only indicate to be listeners of refill. There is no denying that influence is, in every way, in the way of composing as in the audacity to go for more, not to stay in the nearest public, to prove that Spanish rock has land.
