Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 03/14/2006
When an album is totally written and produced by Mexican superstar
Marco Antonio Solís, one has a pretty good idea what it is going to sound like. One expects romantic
Latin pop/
Latin adult contemporary, if you will, with Mexican overtones at times. And
Que Saben definitely fits that description; this sleek, polished, ballad-heavy CD has
Solís' stamp all over it.
Solís is not the only major Latin producer
Victoria has worked with; the Argentinean singer has also worked with the ubiquitous
Rudy Perez, but
Solís is an especially good fit for
Victoria because of her romantic orientation. In fact, one of
Victoria's primary influences is the late Spanish singer/actress
Rocio Dúrcal, who also worked with
Solís. Although
Dúrcal was a true madrileña (a woman from Madrid), she was a madrileña who had a healthy appreciation of Mexico's rich
mariachi/
ranchera tradition. In fact, she was sometimes described as "la española más mexicana" -- "the most Mexican Spanish woman" -- because of those
mariachi/
ranchera influences, and similarly,
Que Saben could earn
Victoria a reputation for being a Mexican-influenced porteña (female from Buenos Aires).
Que Saben is far from a hardcore
mariachi/
ranchera album -- there is no doubt that
Victoria is a
pop vocalist first and foremost -- but thanks to
Solís, the Mexican touches assert themselves in a subtle fashion on
"Abusas," "Hay Veces," "Muriendo Verte" and other
Solís compositions. They aren't overwhelming, but they're there. Although not in a class with
Solís' best work with
Dúrcal,
Que Saben is an enjoyable effort that makes one hope
Victoria and
Solís will have more musical encounters in the future.
~Alex Henderson, All Music Guide