JUVENTUD EN EXTASIS Maria Daniela y su
Nuevos Ricos
Sophomore effort by the most successful act to emerge from Nuevos Ricos. The album takes its title from a book by Carlos Cuactemoc Sanchez, who was some years ago the best-selling Mexican author. Juventud En Extasis was a must-have during puberty, the book had such a momentum that parents would run and buy it because it was supposedly going to make their kids more aware of the dangers that would come with adulthood (drugs & sex most importantly). Maria Daniela takes this social-family gap and tears it apart. What has happen to that generation that was supposedly destined to collapse?
The album opens with Pecadora normal, an irregular introduction for a much more pleasing album. It follows with Pobre Estupida, perhaps I’m listening way too much to reggaeton, but I find this song to be a tiraera to another colleague. I just can’t seem to resemble the protest lyrics of the song to other genres. Track after track we begin to discover the album's intentions: to break those stereotypes on adolescence made by absurd expectations and media. But it does a fine job at not taking its themes too seriously, it has fun while revealing itself, such as in Asesine a mi novio.
Some say Maria Daniela is Belanova to a new level, truth is the former strives for electronic dance hall glory and the latter seems to find its comfort zone at the sugary romantic factory. But even with the awesome bases of the duo, the girly low note voice might frustrate more than one. Juventud en Extasis is such a great improvement to the first album, which I found somewhat overrated. We now get a confident set of songs that correlate to an idea, this time they are not floating ideas in search for an opportunity.
Engineering is top class, and is one of the few kitsch-pop albums that actually sounds great on the iPod, no annoying vibrations this time. We could call this album a revelation album, some attempt revealing sexually or politically (Calle 13, Los Pinker Tones), Maria Daniela softly endeavors a necessity to understand the youth, with the sensibility Mr. Carlos C. Sanchez seems to be unfamiliar with. The approach is a successful event, and the outcome could only be described as one of the most fun, energetic, and vigorous albums to emerge from
Key tracks: Amor Fugaz, Duri Duri, Pobre Estupida