Trozos de Mi Alma, Vol. 2

It isn't hard to understand why, in 2006, Fonovisa was excited about releasing a Marco Antonio Solís album titled Trozos de Mi Alma, Vol. 2. The first Trozos de Mi Alma ("Pieces of My Soul"), released in 1999, was a big seller for the Latin pop superstar, and the title Trozos de Mi Alma, Vol. 2 is a definite attention grabber for those who are familiar with Solís' history (which, of course, is a huge amount of people all over the Spanish-speaking world). Solís isn't as big on concept albums as, say, Luís Miguel, but Trozos de Mi Alma, Vol. 2 is one of his more conceptual efforts — and the 40-minute CD's basic concept is Solís providing new versions of well known songs he wrote for other Latin pop artists. Over the years, the prolific Solís has written a ton of songs for other vocalists, and on Trozos de Mi Alma, Vol. 2, he revisits material that is associated with estrellas latinas (Latin stars) such as Laura Flores ("Antes de Que Te Vayas"), Marisela ("Dios Bendiga Nuestro Amor") and the late Spanish icon Rocio Dúrcal ("Yo Creía Que Sí" and "Extrañándote"). Because of Dúrcal's fondness for mariachi and ranchera music (she was a pop singer first and foremost, but regional Mexican music was definitely an influence), she was affectionately called "la española más mexicana" (the most Mexican Spanish woman) in Mexico — and the creative relationship that Dúrcal and Solís enjoyed was mutually beneficial. It should be noted that the new version of "Antes de Que Te Vayas" that appears on this disc was used as the theme for the hit Mexican telenovela (Latin soap opera) Mundo de Fieras, which was aired by Televisa in Mexico and Univision in los Estados Unidos. Although Solís' '90s and 2000s albums are generally solid, not all of them are essential. But the excellent Trozos de Mi Alma, Vol. 2 will easily go down in history as one of Solís' more essential releases of the 2000s.