Band: Soda Stereo
Label: Sony Music
Year: 1986
The Players: Gustavo Cerati – Guitars, Vocals
Zeta Bosio – Bass, Backing Vocals
Charly Alberti – Drums, Percussion
I can still remember waking up on Saturday mornings to the sound of my mother’s stereo system blasting out some of her favorite tunes. She would always rotate between Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, the John Lennon compilation Lennon Legend and Soda Stereo’s Signos. At the time I was five, so Dark Side was too creepy for me (especially the song “Time”) and I couldn’t tell the difference between John Lennon and Elton John (again, I was 5), so Signos has been the one record I have always remembered enjoyed listening to my entire life. Released in late 1986, this record proved to be Soda Stereo’s commercial and critical breakthrough, making the band a household name in their home country of Argentina, rock legends and pioneers in Rock music on Latin America.
“Sin Sobresaltos” (Without Shocks) starts the album off with a very melodic piano before the drums come in, setting motion for your typical, but always ear-soothing Rock N Roll build-up, but what you get instead is a full-on, bombastic, over-the-top chorus and a bass that sounds so loud and crisp in the mix, it’s scary. In the verses, Gustavo Cerati sings while the piano provides the necessary melodic accompaniments for the singer’s observations regarding fame, meteor storms and prodigious children, apparently singing to a woman who’s up to no good. Guitars jingle, (a Gustavo Cerati trademark) drums beat steady and the chorus intertwines so well with the trumpet line that it makes it for one the coolest moments in this album, while the outro is perhaps as stirring as the beginning of the track with all the instruments coming together for the ending of the song.
Strange synth sounds start off the second track called “El Rito” (The Rite), definitely settling down the pace for the listener, yet it still manages to sound as melodramatic as the first track with female choruses and jazzy organs leaving their mark for a fairly easy-going song. “El Rito”, is definitely one of the less standout songs on the album; however, on a record in which every song sounds like a top-40 hit in Spanish and which has no definite track, this is not a bad thing for fans of this track.
Then comes “Profugos” (Fugitives), the hit single, the dance floor filler, the song your mother remembers, and although it starts out in a rather strange manner, it’s got the catchy guitar riff, the female Ohh Ahh’s, the epic chorus and a great guitar solo by Mr. Cerati, in other words, the big seller. A recurring theme about this album is that Cerati always seems to be speaking about the strange adventures he has with his female companion(s). Apparently he likes his women wild, and to listen to everything he has to say, no matter how much of it, could be his fault. Cerati’s guitar solo is another great moment in this album, one of the reasons being because is one of the few guitar solos present on this album.
“No Existes” (You Don’t Exist) is probably one of the most difficult songs in Signos, due to its slow, low-key build up. By now, you’d be expecting even more 80’s jangle guitar warfare, but what you get instead is a very simple drumbeat and a slow but steady chord progression for the first half of the song. Then the entire band kicks into high gear with a heavy-with-delay guitar solo. I personally loved the fact that Gustavo Cerati even mentions the word “Polaroid” in one of his songs; this helps really convey the message that this is Argentina in the mid 1980’s.
The second single from the song, and perhaps the moment where Charly Alberti truly shines as a drummer, is called “Persiana Americana” (Venetian Blind), and at this point, this song basically follows the “El Rito” and “Profugos” formula, which sometimes, could get a little repetitive, yet it still manages to stand out as one of the key tracks on the album, with its distinct drumbeat and gipsy adventure-like lyrics.
Signos is also one of those few albums where the best is saved for last, in this case, the last three tracks, which are pure Rock en Español gold. “En Camino” (On The Way) has a very distinct sound, with prominent harmony vocals, and an acoustic guitar that drives the song in the background until a bass solo by Zeta Bosio takes his already noticeable bass lines into the foreground. Of course, similar to The Police, every member of Soda Stereo is always subtly fighting for the spotlight while the others have it, whether it is the drums turning louder and with different percussion sounds or the bass sounding clearer and busier than usual. Of course, then there’s Cerati, the master of ceremonies, who just like in “En Camino”, manages to completely change the speed and mood of the song into the middle eight with some pretty nice electric guitar finger work.
Enter the title track. Why this song wasn’t released as a single or why was it barely played live is beyond me as I believe this song is among the two best tracks Soda Stereo ever did. Again the acoustic guitar rears its neck again, and this time, Cerati plays it with such precision and finesse during the chorus that it makes for a great compliment when he imperatively and demandingly yells “Signos”. Another cool thing about this track is that all the guitar work Cerati does in this song, whether it be hardcore strumming, or slow fingerpicking with a delay pedal, is through an Acoustic Guitar, and not a lot of people did that at the time, except for Robert Smith but then again, The Cure's influence is all over this record and this band.
“Final Caja Negra” (Black Box Final), the last song on the album, owes a lot to its predecessor,as it sort of follows the same pattern, yet manages to sound more of a Prog rock version from “Love Song” by The Cure, cheesy synth line included. Cerati and Co. couldn’t think of another way to finish this album, since as much as anyone hates listening to a great record end, the band makes sure the last minute or so are the best seconds from the entire album (i.e. Pink Floyd), and with a slowly built fadeout, we hear the last of Signos as it ends on such a high note which could have potentially dwarfed any other music they released after, unless of course, you’re a song called “De Musica Ligera” (Of Light Music)
With the release of this album, Soda Stereo proved that it was OK for Spanish bands to sing and play like American bands. This album had nothing “South American” about it, except for that great polaroid imagery in “No Existes”, as everything from the lyrics, to the drum sound and the production took cue from other rock records being released at the time. Signos would prove to be one of the greatest Spanish-Spoken records of the 1980’s and one of the greatest pieces of art that came out of Argentina making Soda Stereo bigger than Evita down there.
Rating: 9/10
Bands Mentioned (which are worth reading about)
-Pink Floyd
-John Lennon
-Elton John
-The Police
-The Cure
Albums Mentioned (which you may end up buying in a near future)
-The Dark Side Of The Moon
-Lennon Legend
Songs Mentioned (which you should check out on Youbube)
-Love Song - The Cure
-De Musica Ligera - Soda Stereo
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