| MTV Unplugged: Los Tigres del Norte and Friends | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | May 24, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | February 8, 2011 at theHollywood Palladium,Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | Norteño | |||
| Language | Spanish | |||
| Label | Fonovisa | |||
| Producer | Gustavo Borner, Los Tigres del Norte[1] | |||
| Los Tigres del Norte chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from MTV Unplugged: Los Tigres del Norte and Friends | ||||
| ||||
MTV Unplugged: Los Tigres del Norte and Friends is alive album byRegional Mexican bandLos Tigres del Norte. It was recorded before a live audience at theHollywood Palladium inLos Angeles, California, on February 8, 2011 and released byFonovisa Records on May 24, 2011.[1] The album includes featured performances byAndrés Calamaro,Calle 13,Zack de la Rocha,Juanes,Paulina Rubio andDiego Torres.
The album became a commercial success peaking at the top of theMexican Albums Chart, entering the top five on theBillboard Top Latin Albums in the United States, and also being the twenty-third number 1 album by the band in theRegional Mexican Albums chart. It was certifiedDiamond+Gold by the MexicanAsociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. To promote the album, Los Tigres del Norte released "Golpes en el Corazón", first included in their albumEl Ejemplo (1995), and re-recorded for the live album with fellow Mexican singer Paulina Rubio. "La Jaula de Oro" (featuring Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes) and "América" (featuring René Pérez of the band Calle 13), were released as second and third singles, respectively.
Hailed as the firstMTV Unplugged recording for the Regional Mexican genre and as a significant release for the Mexican music scene, the album earned aLatin Grammy Award for Best Norteño Album at the12th Latin Grammy Awards, and aGrammy Award forBest Banda or Norteño Album.
In December 2010, Jason Lipshutz ofBillboard magazine reported thatLos Tigres del Norte was set to record aMTV Unplugged album forMTV Tr3s. The album was to be taped in the first quarter of 2011, and would feature special guests includingJuanes,Calle 13,Andrés Calamaro andZack de la Rocha.[2] By February 2011, it was announced thatPaulina Rubio andDiego Torres would join the band for the album recording session.[3] For the band this presented a unique opportunity to re-invent their music and share the stage with talented performers.[3] "When MTV invited us to record the show, we were a little tense, this was something different for us becauseUnplugged albums on MTV are usually recorded by artists from different genres from us," the band said about the recording.[1] Jesús Lara of MTV Tr3s called the production "historic", since the band has been culturally a part of the life of theHispanic community in Mexico and the US.[3]
Los Tigres del Norte recorded their performance on February 8, 2011, at theHollywood Palladium inLos Angeles, California. Invitations to the event were issued to fans through MTV's website starting January 27, 2011.[4] The audience waited four hours before the show started.[5] In preparation to the show, the band sent a list of their songs to the featured performers and asked them to choose the song that better fit their own repertoire.[6] The band performed twenty songs during the show, releasing only twelve on the standard edition of the album, and thirteen on the deluxe version.[7][8]
The first song was "Jefe de Jefes", followed by "Camelia La Texana", "Señor Locutor", "Contrabando y Traición" and "Cuestión Olvidada".[5] When the band started to play "Mi Curiosidad" and "Una Camioneta Gris", Jorge Hernandez, the band lead member, asked the audience to clap their hands.Paulina Rubio was the first guest to appear and perform "Golpes en el Corazón", with anorchestral arrangement written by Marcelo Wilson.[5]Diego Torres joined afterwards to share lead vocals on "Mi Buena Suerte". "La Puerta Negra", "Prisión de Amor" and "Lágrimas del Corazón" followed.[5]
The band andAndrés Calamaro recorded two tracks: "La Mesa del Rincón" and "Quiero Volar Contigo", the former to the rhythm oftango (with threeviolins and acello), and for the latter, Calamaro playedmarimba and changed the original rhythm of the song tocha-cha-cha.[7] This performance had to be re-taped since there was a technical failure.[5]Zack de la Rocha performed "Somos Más Americanos", whileJuanes playedguitar on "La Jaula de Oro", a song he had to "rehearse many times".[5] De la Rocha recorded his part twice, incorporating more Spanish lyrics on the second take.[7] Juanes and De la Rocha were the only featured performers selected for their work for immigration rights in the United States, a social cause important to the band.[6] The final song recorded was "América"; the band shared the stage withCalle 13 who, by request of their lead member René Pérez, changed the instrumentation, quickened thetempo and added trumpets and violins.[5][6] The costumes the band wore on the show were donated to theHard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles after the show.[5]
The new recorded version of the song "Golpes en el Corazón", featuring Paulina Rubio, was selected as the first single from the album and was released on April 19, 2011.[9] The original version of the track can be found on the Tigres' studio albumEl Ejemplo (1995). Upon release it peaked at number 2 in theBillboard Top Latin Songs.[10][11] The version featuring Rubio was named "one of the most pleasant songs" included onMTV Unplugged byAbout.com.[12] TheLos Angeles Times referred to it as a "sea of lushLatin pop", with Rubio sounding likeJulieta Venegas in a "parallel universe".[13] This version became very successful in Mexico, peaking atop theMonitor Latino general charts and the Mexican Airplay Chart fromBillboard International.[14][15] The track also reached number 39 on theBillboard Top Latin Songs,[11] number 31 on the Regional/Mexican Airplay,[16] and was the first song by the band to appear on the Latin Pop Airplay chart, reaching number 29.[17] At the12th Latin Grammy Awards, the song received a nomination forRecord of the Year, losing toCalle 13's "Latinoamérica".[18][19] Rubio joined the band at the Latin Grammy ceremony to perform the song.[20]
"La Jaula de Oro" was selected as the second single from the album. The track, recognized as one of the band'ssignature songs, features Colombian singer Juanes performing and playing guitar and was named "one of the best tracks and guest performances in the whole album" by About.com.[12] With this release the record label sought to reach a younger audience for Los Tigres del Norte.[21] "América" was the third single released which reached number five on the Monitor Latino general chart.[22]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| About.com[12] |  |
| Allmusic[23] |  |
| Los Angeles Times[13] | |
An advance copy of the performance was sent to the media a few days before the first showing on MTV Tr3s. Spanishnews agencyEFE announced that the band was celebrating "Latino pride more vigorously than ever."[24] Another positive review came from theLos Angeles Times, which awarded the album three out of four stars.[13] At the review, the newspaper named the album "one of the most anticipated Latin albums of the year", highlighting that it is the firstMTV Unplugged album of the Regional-Mexican genre.[13] They also praised the band for their performance on the first track, "Jefe de Jefes". About the guest performances by Andrés Calamaro, Juanes and Diego Torres, stated that they were "intriguing".[13] Carlos Quintana ofAbout.com hailed the show as an important music event for the Latin music, emphasizing that this recording would allow Regional-Mexican music to gain new audiences around the world.[12]Allmusic reviewer Mariano Prunes named bassist Hernán Hernández, the "musical heart of the band", especially when joining Zack de la Rocha, playing theriff ofRage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name". He also praised "América" for the participation of Calle 13 with their "razor-sharp rap" intervention. Prunes also stated thatMTV Unplugged would get Los Tigres a deserved recognition outside their own community.[23] The participation by De La Rocha was also subject of a negative review by Oscar Barajas ofThe Young Folks. Barajas noted that De La Rocha sounded "out of place" on "Somos Mas Americanos", trying to turn the track into a rendition of his own song "Bulls on Parade".[25] Barajas also was critical of the song selection, but eventually lauded the album for being "lean and mean", with a musical urgency almost comparable to theRamones.[25]
MTV Unplugged: Los Tigres del Norte and Friends earned theLatin Grammy Award for Best Norteño Album at the2011 ceremony.[26] The album also was awarded theGrammy Award for Best Banda or Norteño Album at the54th Grammy Awards,[27] and the awards for Best Popular Album and Best Norteño Album at the MexicanPremios Oye!.[28]
This track listing adapted from the liner notes.[1]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jefe de Jefes" | Teodoro Bello | 3:24 |
| 2. | "Contrabando y Traición" | Angel González | 3:52 |
| 3. | "Golpes en el Corazón" (featuringPaulina Rubio) | Víctor Valencia | 4:41 |
| 4. | "La Manzanita" | Tomás Gutiérrez | 3:09 |
| 5. | "Mi Buena Suerte" (featuringDiego Torres) | Enrique Franco | 3:41 |
| 6. | "Lágrimas del Corazón" | Rafael Rubio | 4:09 |
| 7. | "La Puerta Negra" | Ramón Gutiérrez | 4:29 |
| 8. | "La Mesa del Rincón" (featuringAndrés Calamaro) | Bello | 5:07 |
| 9. | "Quiero Volar Contigo" (featuring Andrés Calamaro) | Jesse Armenta | 3:50 |
| 10. | "Somos Más Americanos" (featuringZack de la Rocha) | Enrique Valencia | 4:10 |
| 11. | "La Jaula de Oro" (featuringJuanes) | Franco | 3:02 |
| 12. | "América" (featuringCalle 13) | Franco, René Pérez, Rafael Arcaute, Eduardo Cabra | 4:42 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "La Camioneta Gris" | Rubén Villarreal | 3:05 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Intro" | 0:33 | |
| 2. | "Jefe de Jefes" | Teodoro Bello | 3:29 |
| 3. | "Contrabando y Traición" | Angel González | 4:09 |
| 4. | "Golpes en el Corazón" (featuringPaulina Rubio) | Víctor Valencia | 5:11 |
| 5. | "La Manzanita" | Tomás Gutiérrez | 3:16 |
| 6. | "Mi Buena Suerte" (featuringDiego Torres) | Enrique Franco | 4:04 |
| 7. | "Lágrimas del Corazón" | Rafael Rubio | 4:17 |
| 8. | "La Puerta Negra" | Ramón Gutiérrez | 4:41 |
| 9. | "La Mesa del Rincón" (featuringAndrés Calamaro) | Bello | 5:24 |
| 10. | "Quiero Volar Contigo" (featuring Andrés Calamaro) | Jesse Armenta | 3:59 |
| 11. | "Somos Más Americanos" (featuringZack de la Rocha) | Enrique Valencia | 4:54 |
| 12. | "La Jaula de Oro" (featuringJuanes) | Franco | 3:41 |
| 13. | "América" (featuringCalle 13) | Franco, René Pérez, Rafael Arcaute, Eduardo Cabra | 4:43 |
| 14. | "Credits" | 1:10 | |
| 15. | "Interviews" | 5:28 |
The album debuted and peaked at number 3 on theBillboard Top Latin Albums chart, behindManá'sDrama y Luz andPrince Royce's self-titleddebut album.[29]MTV Unplugged became the band's twenty-third number 1 album in theRegional Mexican Albums chart.[30] In theMexican Albums Chart the album debuted at number 92,[31] before jumping to number 2, behindLady Gaga'sBorn This Way.[32] The following week the album surpassed Gaga's set and peaked atnumber 1 in Mexico and also reached the top of the charts in Colombia.[33] The album spent seventeen consecutive weeks at the top of the Mexican chart, received a Diamond+Gold certification by theAsociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas and ended the year as the best-selling album of 2011 in Mexico.[34][35][36] The album was certified gold in Colombia by theAsociación Colombiana de Productores de Fonogramas.[37]
Charts[edit]
| Certifications[edit]
Year-end charts[edit]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source:[1]
