Caifanes: Classic or Dud/Search and Destroy

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Caifanes, Mexico City's answer to mope rock.

Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Thursday, 20 November 2003 20:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Caifanes: not so great.
Jaguares: pretty good (Cuando La Sangre Galopa anyway, and they're great live).

Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Thursday, 20 November 2003 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd reverse that somewhat, if only because what little Caifanes I heard was pleasant and what little Jaguares I've heard was pointless Bon Jovi (ie, Bon Jovi).

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 November 2003 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Damn. One of my best friends is a HUUUGE fan. I'll get back to you on this. I haven't listened to enough songs of theirs as the Caifanes to have a strong opinion. I wonder if Ned's into them. They seem like they would be right up his alley. (Although he seems to dislike them as Jaguares, as you should!)

Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

WELL, THAT QUESTION'S ANSWERED!

Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Hurrah!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Never liked them. My main problem is their lyrics. Stuff like
"Let's go around the sky to see what is eternal"

daavid, Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

The lyrics do indeed look silly translated. Fortnately, I don't speak Spanish. Either way, Phil Freeman's post is incredibly wrong.

In order:
1. El Silencio, 1992 -- one of the best rock albums of the '90s, period.

2. El Diablito, 1990

3. Caifanes, 1988 -- but you REALLY need to get the version put out a couple years later, with their version of the apparently traditional cumbia "La Negro Tomassa" on it; it's one of their greatest tracks, not to mention one of Latin America's biggest rock hits ever.

4. El Nervio de; Volcan, 1994: See, thing is, they went WAY down hill when their genius Argentinan guitarist Alejandro Marcovich left, after El Silencio. They're a trio here, I believe, as opposed to a quintet. The Zep comunication breakdown and Roxy sax-glam quotients fall drastically, and Saul Hernandez -- one of the most beautiful rock falsettos of all time -- is starting to lose his high register, like say Axl Rose around the time of Use Your Illusion.

5. Jaguares's live album, which is all you will ever need by the bland hacks these guys have turned into. The difference between *El Silencio* and Jaguares is approximately the same as the difference between, I dunno, *Physical Graffiti* and the Firm. Or *Foxtrot* and a bad Phil Collins solo album, maybe. You get the idea, right?

chuck, Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:47 (twenty-one years ago)

PS) Caifanes in Mexico City in 1992 is one of the best rock concerts I've seen in my life. The two times I went to see Jaguares years later, I was so frustrated I left before the show was over.

chuck, Thursday, 20 November 2003 21:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Never liked them. My main problem is their lyrics. Stuff like
"Let's go around the sky to see what is eternal"
-- daavid (dvdmontie...), November 20th, 2003.

That psuedo new-age bollocksy crap goes down better in Spanish, as it sounds vaguely more 'poetic'. I tell ya this, 'cuz that's really the main problem with most rock en español: really mediocre lyrics and few great lyricists.

Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Friday, 21 November 2003 00:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Spanish is an easy language to rhyme in. (I guess everyone knows that.)

Rockist Scientist (rockistscientist), Friday, 21 November 2003 00:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I bought a comp. of theirs called "La Historia" a while back and I'm afraid I was somewhat underwhelmed - struck me as somewhere between (the blander bits of) The Cure, The Police and U2.

Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 21 November 2003 11:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Totally classic...grew up with this stuff, can't possibly deny love for it

manuel (manuel), Friday, 21 November 2003 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

seventeen years pass...

El Silencio sounding pretty great at the moment

swing out sister: live in new donk city (geoffreyess), Sunday, 16 May 2021 00:06 (four years ago)

two years pass...

This song is grebt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8TtE-enslA

CeeLô Borges (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 June 2023 00:36 (two years ago)

Didn't realize we had a Caifanes thread... short as it is. Yep "Viento" is great. Check out El Silencio and El Diablito if you haven't already, both great albums

Vinnie, Thursday, 8 June 2023 01:28 (two years ago)

doing some US gigs now

curmudgeon, Thursday, 8 June 2023 04:32 (two years ago)

wow, had no idea they ever reunited

Vinnie, Thursday, 8 June 2023 05:35 (two years ago)

Their discography is fairly short: 4 albums as Caifanes - and I think also 4 as Jaguares but almost no highlights in there.

Viento is a classic. I’m not a huge Caifanes fan but there’s some good ones in there. I think other than Viento my favorite is “ayer me dijo un ave” - lovely guitar and synth work.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 8 June 2023 13:51 (two years ago)

#Caifanes #Nashville #Charlotte #Raleigh #tennessee #northcarolina
8, 9 y 10 de junio @RodrigoBaills @diegoherreramar @SaulHernandezE @AlfonsoAndre @marcorenteriao pic.twitter.com/UyRQbfcBup

— CAIFANES (@CAIFANESMEX) June 8, 2023

curmudgeon, Thursday, 8 June 2023 15:45 (two years ago)

Apparently Marcovich was in an earlier version of the reunion until a decade ago, at least.

CeeLô Borges (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 10 June 2023 19:31 (two years ago)


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