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Beginning in 1989 with his breakthrough album Ojala Que Llueva Café, Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra shook the Latin pop world by writing music that was successful both artistically and commercially. Without losing sight of the dancers on the dance floor or of hook-driven radio, Guerra reworked Dominican merengue, and later the romantic, bolero-like bachata, with sophisticated jazz harmonies, poetic lyrics, and top-shelf pop-style production. He even made some astute connections between modern Caribbean and West African pop. But in 1994 he disappeared from view. Ni Es lo Mismo ni Es Igual shows an artist finding his way back, looking for the markers he left behind but not wanting to simply re-create the past. He has a couple of potential hits in "Mi PC," a catchy merengue in which Guerra romances using the imagery and language of our computer world, and "El Primo," a witty, crisp merengue about a cousin who "knows Michael Jordan and is an actor / Breathes underwater and is a painter / Is a sociologist and pilot planes...." The highlight of the disc is "El Niagara en Bicicleta," a merengue-rap that deals with the tragicomic miseries of health care in the contemporary Dominican Republic and shows Guerra at his very best: a devastating social critic with a fine-tuned pop sensibility. No Es lo Mismo is solid rather than impressive. But still, solid, for Guerra, is already better than most anything else on the Latin music charts. --Fernando Gonzalez

Juan Luis Guerra takes another look at his long, successful career on Colección Romántica, a lavish, two-disc affair that finds the Dominican Republic native revisiting and remixing some of his most successful songs. The collection's 20 tracks could have arguably fit on only one CD, especially considering that Guerra has already released two greatest-hits albums in 1994 and 1996. Still, this is a compulsively listenable affair, marked by Guerra's trademark dabbling in jazz harmonies, African music, and pop flavors. The collection's first five tracks--"Tú," "Razones," "Ay Mujer," "Quisiera," and "Amor de Conuco"--have been transformed from their original salsa and merengue versions into polished ballads. The trick works, and it sets the exotic, candlelit mood that figures throughout the album. Other hits such as "Burbujas de Amor" and "Bachata Rosa" have never sounded better, thanks to studio remastering. Even if Guerra's previous hits albums are already in your library, Colección Romántica deserves a prime spot on the shelf. --Joey Guerra

Release Date: 2004-09-07, Audio CD, Sony International

Release Date: 2004-11-16, Audio CD, Sony International

Release Date: 2004-12-14, Audio CD, Sony International

Release Date: 2006-06-20, Audio CD, Sony International

Release Date: 2006-08-01, Audio CD, EMI Latin

Release Date: 2006-09-19, Audio CD, Sony International

Singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra applies his tropical big band magic on Christian-themed tunes on this CD but the result is the same--infectious rhythms that induce dance fever. Guerra's strength has always been his seamless blend of the spicy salsa and carnivalesque merengue rhythms and layering the music with elaborate vocal and horn arrangements to produce irresistible melodies. Guerra penned all 12 songs here; thay all deal thematically with God and devotion. Highlights include "Eres," which blends blues sentiment and gospel fever. Crisp piano and powerful horns drive the title track and "Las Avispas," a tune about walking with renewed confidence. Acoustic guitars introduce "Tan Solo he Venido," a mellow song about willing to give it all up for the Lord. As a singer, Guerra in top shape, his vocals conveying the variety of emotions from pain and longing to hope and celebration. As a bandleader Guerra hasn't lost his edge. He is a musical genius who knows how to fuse complex arrangements with tuneful hooks. --Ramiro Burr