Search - Graciela Beltran :: Historia (Bonus Dvd)

Graciela: A Treat for the Eyes as well as the Ears

D. Miller | Foothill Ranch, CA United States | 06/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Graciela Beltran is becoming more and more like The Who of Regional Mexican music. Her labels have released more greatest hits and compilations than studio albums, it seems. At first glance, this one appears to be another last-ditch effort by EMI-Latin to make money off of Graciela's name after she had already split the label to record her latest studio effort, "No Me Arrepiento De Nada," for Univision. In fact, EMI-Latin already released a much more comprehensive, remastered, double-CD greatest hits package in late March called "30 Exitos Insuperables," so, is this really necessary? Well, even after you've already seen all these tunes on dozens of other compilations, the answer is yes, because what separates this from the rest is the bonus DVD featuring several of Graciela's videos. Spanning her career from 1993 ("Pilares de Cristal") to 2002 ("Que Va" from her last EMI-Latin studio release, "A Los Grandes"), these videos give testament to Graciela's growth as an artist, a singer and a woman (well, in reverse perhaps, because the DVD begins with the newest video and ends with the oldest). All the videos tell some sort of happy or sad love story, which can get a bit old (especially seeing too many "beefcakes" that take too much screen time away from Graciela), but at least the themes are varied enough to keep things interesting visually and musically. "Se Me Notan Tus Besos" is a little on the suggestive side, actually, though compared with so many of the shallow Latina hoochie vidoes that hog the screen these days (read: J-Low), it is rather tame. "Sigue Tu Ruta" is the best. Graciela dismisses man after man (from beefcake to dirty old man to cholo) who want more from here than just a ride in her convertible ;^ ). The only thing missing is any video from her award-winning "Tuya" Mariachi album. If you only have a few if not any of Graciela's previous compilations, and if you have a DVD player, this is the perfect visual summation of her career to this point and time (if just an average audio one). It is a fun listen, though, and it's fun to watch, too."