Joaquin Sabina - Dimelo En La Calle (2002)

After recovering from a serious disease he had the year before, Sabina released this album. As he himself once said, this was supposed to be his first "undrugged" album. But, in fact, the result doesn't differ much from his previous efforts, even though there are less references than expected from a songwriter known for adding personal stories to well-crafted songs. It's a good and strong 14-song collection that took more than a year to record. The production was by two longtime collaborators: Antonio Garcia de Diego and Pancho Varona.

There are many guests in the album: Pasión Vega put her voice on "La Canción Más Hermosa del Mundo," while actor and director Santiago Segura sings on the bonus track "Seamos Diferentes." As with most of Sabina's albums, he plays with many genres: There is son in "Ya Eyacule," tango in "Cuando Me Hablan del Destino," and rock in "Vámonos pa'l Sur." There are also many references and tributes to many Latin American icons and cities. One song is dedicated to the Mexican José Alfredo Jiménez, one is inspired in a letter that Subcommander Marcos write to Sabina, while "Cuando Me Hablan del Destino" seems to be a sour portrait of Buenos Aires and some of its inhabitants, like Charly García and Fito Páez. You won't find anything new on this album, but Sabina's songwriting is still sharp -- and that's a lot.~Dimelo en la Calle Review by Iván Adaime