Nada Personal... Just an Ode to Soda Stereo!

“Signos. Mi parte insegura. Bajo una luna hostil Signos, oh. Signos, Uniendo fisuras. Figuras sin definir Signos, oh…” This hook is from the song “Signos”, which is sung by the late Gustavo Cerati, band leader of Soda Stereo – who is, in my opinion, the greatest band to come out of Latin America. In their 15-year tenure as a band, they have released four studio albums (Soda Stereo, Nada Personal, Signos, and Cancion Animal), and have spawned several signals that remain popular today, even after almost 20 years after the band split. Such singles as: “De Musica Ligera”, “Signos”, “Persiana Americana”, “Cuando Pase el Temblor” and my personal favorite, “Nada Personal”, greatly depicts the awesomeness of the band.

The power trio of Gustavo Cerati, Zate Bosio and Charly Alberti formed in 1982 and released their eponymously-titled album, Soda Stereo. During this time, they fused Argentine new wave with influences from bands of Britain, and with the influences of another popular Argentine band, Virus. Following the success of their debut album, the band went on to release 3 more acclaimed albums: Nada Personal, Signos and Cancion Animal, which the latter has been considered by fans and critics alike as the album that has left its mark on Latin American history. “De Musica Ligera” is the most popular song off the album, and the most popular son by the band. Unfortunately (as a lot of good things come to an end so soon), the band split in 1997, mostly due to creative differences, friction and most importantly – Cerati had a budding solo career at the time. At their last concert (until a surprising tour in 2007), Gustavo now famously says “Thank you… totally.” which has become a fixture in pop culture. Since the 2007 tour, the three continued to focus on solo projects, even with Zeta Bosio joining Chilean band, La Ley back in 2013. Sadly, Gustavo Cerati fell into a coma in 2010, and remained in that state for the last three-and-a-half years of his life, until his death on September 4, 2014.

Soda Stereo is one of my all-time favorite bands, because the song were so mesmerizing, thanks greatly in part to Cerati’s beautiful voice. Seriously, this guy could blow out notes waaaaaaaaay better than some of these music nonsense artists today. From an instrumental element, the beat and tone of the music sounds so contagious, you just have to listen to the song over-and-over again. One of my favorites is “Persiana Americana”. In the song, there is a very up-tempo beat that can have you dancing from start to finish. Also, Gustavo Cerati’s wonderful vocals is greatly heard in this song. And for the benefit of your guys reading… I’m making it today’s song of the day (yay)!!!! Another thing that makes me so captivated by this band is the way they fuse different genres and make it their own, distinctive sound. As I said in the beginning, the band fuses the influences of Argentine bands that came before them (Virus, anybody?) and Britpop music. Overall, I just think that they are amazing, and when I heard that there was a spectacle about them being made by Cirque de Soliel, I know that I will definitely tune in! Oh, and here’s a music mix of 9 classics by the band!

Alrighty! That’s it for me today! I know that this blog is about me and it is basically a guide through my life, but doing blogs about music, and other hobbies that I enjoy for that matter, define me and who I am as a person. So, expect more blog posts like this (and not just pertaining to music), because to be honest, my every day hobbies are just ways that I identify with myself. Until next time, enjoy this long… well thought out…. Beautifully done post I did for ya, okay? 

Song of the Day, which seems fitting for this blog post: “Persiana Americana” by Soda Stereo. Saludos, Argentina!