A Puro Fuego

by Olga Tanon

Overview

Dethroned by dismayed merengue devotees who resented her obvious pop-crossover ambitions, onetime Queen Olga Tanon found herself in an uncomfortable position circa 2003, a half-decade after she began her rocky drift toward the middle of the road. Sure, she scored some big hits along the way ("Tu Amor," "Mienteme," "Asi Es la Vida") and certainly broadened her appeal internationally because of her poppier mannerisms. Yet this success didn't match the success she experienced during the mid-'90s when she was recording strictly tropical music. In fact, each of Tanon's pop-crossover albums fared less well than its predecessor, and her latest, Sobrevivir, didn't even break the Top Ten of the Top Latin Albums chart, the first time since 1994 she hadn't done so. Hence the impeachment of the Queen of Merengue. Then in 2003 came A Puro Fuego, which seemed like an act of appeasement. It was Tanon's first beginning-to-end merengue album since Llevame Contigo (1997), and it's probably the best beginning-to-end album in her entire discography -- to date, and probably ever after, too. That's because it's a compilation of her greatest merengues ever, topped off by two versions of a fantastic new song, "Cuando Tu No Estas." This new song, featured here in both tropical and reggaeton versions, is partly so fantastic because it teams Tanon with Sergio George, as sure-fire a hitmaker of this type as any. A Puro Fuego remarkably reaches all the way back to 1992 ("Me Cambio por Ella") in its quest to compile the ultimate merengue album by Tanon, and it does so perfectly, rounding up all the key songs, including such superlative barnburners as "Asi Es la Vida [Version Merengue]," "El Frio de Tu Adios," "Como Olvidar [Version Merengue]," and "Entre la Noche y el Dia." If unassuming observers mistook it for a new album, that would be understandable -- it had been a long time since Tanon had released an album like this -- and if those dismayed merengue devotees suddenly began to reconsider their dethronement of the Queen, well, that would be understandable, too. A Puro Fuego is indeed a persuasive declaration of peerlessness -- one assembled from the past, sure, but a peerless one all the same. Long live the Queen. ~ Jason Birchmeier

Product Details

Release Date:	08/26/2003
Label:	Wea International
UPC:	0825646058723

Tracks

1. Cu¿¿ndo T¿¿ No Estas
2. As¿¿ Es la Vida
3. El Frio de T¿¿ Ad¿¿os
4. Ahora Soy Mala
5. Como Olvidar
6. Entre la Noche y el D¿¿a
7. Es Mentiroso
8. Presenci¿¿ Tu Amor
9. Vendras Llorando
10. Me Cambio Por Ella
11. Lleg¿¿ el Amor
12. Muchacho Malo
13. Ya Me Cans¿¿
14. M¿¿enteme
15. Cu¿¿ndo T¿¿ No Estas
16. Cu¿¿ndo T¿¿ No Estas

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Olga Tanon   Primary Artist
Bernd Schoenhart   Guitar
Joe Fiedler   Trombone
Raul Agraz   Trumpet
Mikey Perfecto   Rap,Guest Artist
Sergio George   Piano,Keyboards
Ignacio Pineiro Martinez   Estilista
Robert Quintero   Percussion

Technical Credits

Ray Lopez   Composer
Jorge Luis Piloto   Composer
Jose Gaviria   Composer
Mike Rivera   Production Coordination
Raldy Vazquez   Composer
Olga Tanon   Composer
DJ Kazzanova   Programming,Production Assistant
Manny Benito   Composer
Gustavo Marquez   Composer
Gustavo Arenas   Composer
Jake R. Tanner   Engineer,Assistant
Alejandro Campos   Composer
Sady Ramirez   Composer
Rodolfo Barreras   Composer
Sergio George   Arranger,Producer,Drum Programming
David Lang   Make-Up
Carlos Perez   Art Direction,Graphic Design
Mikey Perfecto   Coros,Composer
Alex Enamorado   Composer
Adolfo Perez Butron   Photography
Juan Ortiz   Engineer
Peter Cardon   Hair Stylist
Jon Fausty   Engineer