Canciones Elegidas 93-04 - Gustavo Cerati

For such a popular artist, Gustavo Cerati certainly released a lot of difficult and often frustrating albums over the years. That's why Canciones Elegidas 1993-2004 is a recommended starting point for the uninitiated, since it gathers highlights from each of his solo releases and offers a revealing overview of his solo catalog. Granted, Canciones Elegidas isn't a true best-of, because it does gather its highlights even-handedly, representing selections from even his least-representative releases; however, such even-handedness does ensure a representative sample of highlights, even if you may wish that the couple instrumental remixes included had been supplanted by further highlights from Cerati's best albums. The DVD half of Canciones Elegidas is also worthwhile, keep in mind, as it includes videos for songs not found on the CD, most notably three songs from 11 Episodios Sinfonicos (2002), a live recording of an orchestral performance. So overall, between the CD and DVD contents, Canciones Elegidas 1993-2004 is an ideal Cerati primer, sampling a little bit of everything from his catalog, from the obvious to the esoteric, from the must-have to the must-avoid. Indeed, there's enough music here that Canciones Elegidas might be all the Cerati you'll need. Thankfully, in addition to serving as an overview, the collection does stand well on its own, sequenced not chronologically but certainly logically, flowing from track to track like a carefully engineered mixtape. On the other hand, if Canciones Elegidas whets your appetite for more, rest assured that there's plenty of quality music remaining in the Cerati catalog. In particular, consider Bocanada (1999). The first full-length released after the official disbanding of Soda Stereo, it's far and away the standout of the era, incorporating not only the surging guitar, passionate singing, and atmospheric production of Cerati, but also the electronic and orchestral experimentation that would ultimately polarize the ranks of his remaining Soda Stereo fan base. Secondarily, Amor Amarillo (1994) is a short yet satisfying album similar to latter-day Soda Stereo, for it was recorded in the wake of Dynamo (1993) and released prior to Sueño Stereo (1995); and Siempre Es Hoy (2002), conversely, is a long and quite exhausting album most dissimilar to Soda Stereo, heavily laden with electronics yet at times wonderful, if difficult overall. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide