CD Review: A.B. Quintanilla III Presents From Kumbia Kings To Kumbia AllStarz

The long awaited Kumbia AllStarz album is here and, according to EMI, A.B. Quintanilla Presents From Kumbia Kings to Kumbia AllStarz went platinum in the U.S. its first day on record store shelves.

The immediate success of the album may be due, in part, to the ongoing controversy surrounding the King's cofounders Quintanilla and Cruz Martinez. When A.B. Quintanilla III presents Kumbia Kings Live! was released, Quintanilla (who owns the Kumbia Kings name in the U.S.) announced that it would be the last album by the popular Texas band. A few months later, he announced the formation of the Kumbia AllStarz, taking lead singer and teenage heartthrob PeeWee with him to headline the new band.

In the meantime, Quintanilla has generated even more furor as the Mexican press reported that he had been heard denigrating Mexicans, and that the ad hoc comments were documented on video. Even though A.B. rushed to apologize, the National Association of Actors (ANDA) in Mexico retaliated by approving only 7 out of the 25 concert dates that the AllStarz had planned on performing in Mexico.

Still, the Kumbia AllStarz album is already gold in Mexico, proving once again, that there is no such thing as bad press.

CD Cover Courtesy EMI International