A Puro Fuego

• Artist: Olga Tañón
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 26, 2003
• Type: Compilation (best of), Enhanced CD-ROM
• Genre: Latin

Review

Dethroned by dismayed merengue devotees who resented her obvious pop-crossover ambitions, onetime Queen Olga Tañón found herself in an uncomfortable position circa 2003, a half-decade after she began her rocky drift toward the middle of the road. Sure, she scored some big hits along the way ("Tu Amor," "Miénteme," "Asi Es la Vida") and certainly broadened her appeal internationally because of her poppier mannerisms. Yet this success didn't match the success she experienced during the mid-'90s when she was recording strictly tropical music. In fact, each of Tañón's pop-crossover albums fared less well than its predecessor, and her latest, Sobrevivir, didn't even break the Top Ten of the Top Latin Albums chart, the first time since 1994 she hadn't done so. Hence the impeachment of the Queen of Merengue. Then in 2003 came A Puro Fuego, which seemed like an act of appeasement. It was Tañón's first beginning-to-end merengue album since Llévame Contigo (1997), and it's probably the best beginning-to-end album in her entire discography -- to date, and probably ever after, too. That's because it's a compilation of her greatest merengues ever, topped off by two versions of a fantastic new song, "Cuándo Tú No Estas." This new song, featured here in both tropical and reggaeton versions, is partly so fantastic because it teams Tañón with Sergio George, as sure-fire a hitmaker of this type as any. A Puro Fuego remarkably reaches all the way back to 1992 ("Me Cambio por Ella") in its quest to compile the ultimate merengue album by Tañón, and it does so perfectly, rounding up all the key songs, including such superlative barnburners as "Así Es la Vida [Versión Merengue]," "El Frío de Tú Adíos," "Como Olvidar [Versión Merengue]," and "Entre la Noche y el Día." If unassuming observers mistook it for a new album, that would be understandable -- it had been a long time since Tañón had released an album like this -- and if those dismayed merengue devotees suddenly began to reconsider their dethronement of the Queen, well, that would be understandable, too. A Puro Fuego is indeed a persuasive declaration of peerlessness -- one assembled from the past, sure, but a peerless one all the same. Long live the Queen. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Cuándo Tú No Estas [Versión Tropical]	Mikey Perfecto	Olga Tañón
Así Es la Vida [Versión Merengue]	Manny Benito, Alejandro Campos	Olga Tañón
El Frio de Tú Adíos		Olga Tañón
Ahora Soy Mala	Raldy Vázquez	Olga Tañón
Como Olvidar [Versión Merengue]	Jorge Luís Piloto, Gustavo Arenas	Olga Tañón
Entre la Noche y el Día	Gustavo Márquez	Olga Tañón
Es Mentiroso	Rodolfo Barreras	Olga Tañón
Presencié Tu Amor	Olga Tañón	Olga Tañón
Vendras Llorando	Sady Ramírez	Olga Tañón
Me Cambio Por Ella	Raldy Vázquez	Olga Tañón
Llegó el Amor	Alex Enamorado	Olga Tañón
Muchacho Malo	Raldy Vázquez	Olga Tañón
Ya Me Cansé	Ray Lopez	Olga Tañón
Míenteme	Jose Gaviria	Olga Tañón
Cuándo Tú No Estas [Versión Reggetón]	Mikey Perfecto	Olga Tañón
Cuándo Tú No Estas [Versión Tropical][Multimedia Track]	Mikey Perfecto	Olga Tañón

Credits

Olga Tañón (Main Performer), Jon Fausty (Engineer), Carlos Perez (Graphic Design), Carlos Perez (Art Direction), Bernd Schoenhart (Guitar), Ignacio Pineiro Martinez (Estilista), Sergio George (Piano), Sergio George (Arranger), Sergio George (Keyboards), Sergio George (Producer), Sergio George (Drum Programming), David Lang (Make-Up), Raul Agraz (Trumpet), Adolfo Pérez Butroñ (Photography), Juan Ortiz (Engineer), Mikey Perfecto (Rap), Mikey Perfecto (Coros), Mikey Perfecto (Guest Appearance), Robert Quintero (Percussion), Mike Rivera (Production Coordination), Joe Fiedler (Trombone), Peter Cardón (Hair Stylist), DJ Kazzanova (Programming), Jake R. Tanner (Engineer), Jake R. Tanner (Assistant)