★★★★★
When Rubén Blades announced recently that he would no longer perform salsa music on tour after 2016, and that he planned to return to politics in his native Panama (where he served previously as Minister of Tourism), it certainly appeared to some that the 65-year-old singer-songwriter was winding down his musical career...
- jazztimes.com
2014-08-04
★★★★★
Mundo" border=0 align="right" hspace="10"> Rubén Blades, Panamanian-born salsero, actor, and Harvard Law School graduate, delivers one of the most ambitious albums of his prolific career. Mundo is a feat of musical ingenuity, a sweeping, and occasionally breath-taking, excursion through sonic landscapes we once thought disparate...
- www.afropop.org
2010-12-19
★★★★★
Panamanian singer/songwriter/actor/ political activist Ruben Blades' latest album, Mundo, is a sweeping work intended to make a statement against racism and for global unity by fusing musical styles from all over the world. The tracks on this album mix Latin, Irish, Middle Eastern and African elements, and the globe-spanning compositions feature similarly far-flung musicians and instrumentation...
- www.jazztimes.com
2010-02-19
★★★★★
On a major label, this would have been disc two of a double-LP, relieving us of another overture. But the rock world rarely produces a song as physically beautiful (or solicitously observed) as "Carmelo, Después (El Viejo DaSilva)." Too many violins and not enough clave. But his heart and his head are in the right place.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Willie Colon's vocalist has created a salsa album so artistically ambitious that it brooks no comparison--a music drama complete with synopsis and recorded dialogue that purports to sum up half a century of NuYorican struggle. As a non-Spanish-speaker with access to a privately provided trot, I'm impressed with his reach, his grasp, and his acting ability, but as a veteran of rock opera I feel constrained to note that these things rarely work as planned even when the audience knows the language...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Although familiarity has tempered my dismay, my first response to Blades's assault on Anglophonia was embarrassment--just what WEA needed, another Jackson Browne album. Admittedly, it's a pretty good Jackson Browne album, with various class acts (Uncle Lou, Elvis C., Sting, and studio luminaries) pitching in for their (and my) favorite Hispanic liberal. When I suppress my corn immunity I'm moved by the AIDS song, the homeless song, and the barrio song...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
While its eclectic and original style may not conquer hard-core salseros or fans of Ricky Martin pop and Jennifer Lopez soul, Ruben Blades' Tiempos could be the best Latin record of the year. Reinventing yet again a career that saw him go from Willie Colon's lead vocalist to presidential candidate in his native Panama, Blades has hand-picked the Costa Rican jazz group Editus to perform the soundtrack for his cinematic song poems...
- www.rollingstone.com
2009-06-08
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