I'm a huge fan of Mano Negra and Manu Chao and it's been interesting to see how the sound has evolved over the years. "Clandestino" is an immense solo album, and "Proxima Estacion:Esperanza", while lacking some of the spiritual depth of the first effort, is still a great album exploring different themes. The whole CD sounds like a journey, and is a great CD to add to your road trip collection. Manu definitely takes a lighter approach mood-wise with this album compared to "Clandestino", which is refreshing - otherwise we'd have "Clandestino II". Still, the tracks are standouts in their own Manu way. "Denia" isn't full of Middle Eastern instruments, yet with the minimal vocals, Arabic calling, smooth guitar and steam whistles somehow I feel like I'm on a train in Morrocco anyway. "Papito" is nothing but silliness, and there's nothing wrong with that. Not every song has to be talking about the plight of the world for him to prove he's "matured" as an artist. He does take the musical background of "Bongo Bong" and instill it in a number of tracks here ("Mr.Bobby" & "Homens"), and the music starting with "La Primavera" (a track that I prefer over the hit "Me Gustas Tu") continues throughout the CD as well. There could have been a bit more originality there, but needless to say, there's some great laughs, some high energy, and some mellow moments, which makes this definitely one of the CDs that travels with me whenever I go anywhere. I wish I knew all 5 languages (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, English) that appeared on this album (I only know 3), but that doesn't take away from enjoying Manu at his zany best. Hope another one comes soon...Pma
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