Sinaloa's
Calibre 50 return with their sixth album in five years, and their follow-up to the successful
La Recompensa. Though the group's original take on Mazatlan-style norteño is still employed here, what is radically different is that rather than detail the gritty quality of urban life with narcocorridos, the quartet employs its extroverted style in a varying collection of songs, rhythms, and styles produced by Jesús Tirado Castañeda. While the duet with Alfredo "El Komander" Rios on "Qué Tiene de Malo" has garnered much attention, the set's most unlikely number, a very romantic ballad entitled "Tus Latidos," is its first single. Add to this the midtempo lovelorn corrido "Una Mala Elección" and the tender, soulful title track and you add a new dimension to
Calibre 50's range and depth. Fans have never heard this side of the band before. Other highlights include two cumbias, the Caribbean-flavored "No Te Sientas Tan Importante" and the Colombia-cum-Mexico-styled "Mi Vieja Borracha." Add to these a couple of lovely rancheras and charangas and you have the group's first mature recording. ~ Thom Jurek