The Bottom Line
Two years after his successful Corazon, Colombia's Fonseca is back with an album that won't disappoint his many fans. There's lots of the familiar Colombian rhythms fused with pop/rock but Gratitud shows the artist's growth and range while retaining the mellow, upbeat style that has brought him this far.
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Pros
- Good mix of familiar Colombian fusion with some new styles
Cons
- None
Description
- 13 tracks (3 bonus) of Colombian vallenato, cumbia, bullerengue rhythms with pop, r&b and more
- Co-produced by Grammy Award winning Bernardo Ossa and Fonseca
- Released May, 2008 by EMI Latin
Guide Review - CD Review: Fonseca - 'Gratitud'
Fonseca wrote his first tune somewhere around the age of 12 and composed all but 2 ("Arroyito", "Perdon") of the album's tracks. If he didn't have such a good voice and charismatic stage presence, he could still make a great living writing songs for other artists. His lyrics are inspiring and upbeat. But where he really seems to excel is at finding that hummable tune and then applying all sorts of engaging instrumentation and arrangements to it.
That was a big part of the charm of Corazon but Fonseca takes it further in Gratitud. There's plenty of the Colombian vallenato, bullerengue and cumbia/pop-rock fusion here ("Catalina", "Como Te Extrano", "Perdon") and the first half of the album is a familiar & friendly. Then Fonseca moves to something new with "Beautiful Sunshine", a classic rock style track with jazzy overtones. The ballad "San Jose" and "Paraiso" introduce R&B to the mix, to great effect.
There are 2 versions of the single "Enredame" on the album, the first version making the rounds on airwaves while the second is a lovely acoustic version.
Gratitud proves Fonseca is just starting to show what he can do.