La Banda del Carro Rojo [CD/DVD]

• Artist: Los Tigres del Norte
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 01, 2006
• Type: Soundtrack
• Genre: Latin

Review

Corridos (Mexican folk narratives) existed long before los Tigres del Norte's formation in the late '60s, but los Tigres played a seminal role in the rise of a certain type of corrido: the narcocorrido, which describes the dangerous, violent and tragic world of narcotraficantes (drug smugglers). Los Tigres wrote the book on narcocorridos, helping to pave the way for everyone from Grupo Exterminador to los Tucanes de Tijuana to the late Chalino Sánchez. And narcocorridos are a major priority on La Banda del Carro Rojo, a best-of that Fonovisa assembled in 2006. This release is hardly the only Tigres best-of that Fonovisa has put together; there have been quite a few others. But La Banda del Carro Rojo will be especially interesting to those who associate los Tigres with narcocorridos, which is not to say that all of the selections fall into that category. One of the most famous non-narcocorrido tracks is "La Jaula de Oro," which was covered by Latin pop/rock en español star Julieta Venegas (in an intriguingly non-norteño fashion) and is a poignant account of a frustrated Mexican immigrant who has been working in the U.S. for ten years but still hasn't been granted citizenship. And "Tres Veces Mojado" is about a Salvadoran man who -- in the process of gradually making his way from El Salvador to Arizona -- has been an indocumentado (undocumented worker) in Guatemala, Mexico and the United States. But narcocorridos dominate La Banda del Carro Rojo, which -- unlike all the Tigres best-ofs that have focused on their '90s and 2000s output exclusively -- also boasts some of their groundbreaking narcocorridos of the early '70s such as the title track and "Contrabando y Traición" ("Contraband and Betrayal"). Some musicologists have compared narcocorridos to gangsta rap, although the outlaw country tradition of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Paycheck and Merle Haggard is an equally valid comparison -- and whatever comparisons one prefers, La Banda del Carro Rojo is full of gems that are essential listening for narcocorrido enthusiasts. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Los Tres Amigos (30 Segundos Para Morir)	Ramiro Cavazos, Jose Villalobos	Los Tigres del Norte	(3:53)
Carrera Contra la Muerte	Enrique Valencia	Los Tigres del Norte	(2:58)
Contrabando y Robo	Reynaldo Martinez	Los Tigres del Norte	(2:58)
Contrabando y Traicion	Angel "Tucán" González	Los Tigres del Norte	(3:27)
El Hijo de Camelia	Angel "Tucán" González	Los Tigres del Norte	(3:03)
El Tahur		Los Tigres del Norte	(3:38)
La Bronco Negra	Ruben Villarreal	Los Tigres del Norte	(3:05)
La Camioneta Gris	Ruben Villarreal	Los Tigres del Norte	(3:17)
La Fuga del Rojo	Paulino Vargas	Los Tigres del Norte	(3:14)
La Jaula de Oro	Enrique Franco	Los Tigres del Norte	(2:45)
La Puerta Negra		Los Tigres del Norte	(3:25)
Los Tres Gallos	Paulino Vargas	Los Tigres del Norte	(3:11)
Ni Parientes Somos	Enrique Franco	Los Tigres del Norte	(2:40)
Tres Veces Mojado	Enrique Franco	Los Tigres del Norte	(2:53)
La Banda del Carro Rojo	Paulino Vargas	Los Tigres del Norte	(3:06)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
La Banda del Carro Rojo [DVD]		Los Tigres del Norte

Credits

Adriana Rebold (Graphic Design), Adriana Rebold (Art Direction)