Me Cambiaste la Vida

There was a time when younger Mexicans tended to think of banda as old-fashioned — it was, like mariachi, music that your parents or grandparents listened to. But the banda boom of the '90s and 2000s has given banda a younger, hipper image in the regional Mexican market; these days, a lot of Latin stations in the southwestern United States play banda extensively because it helps them attract that younger demographic. And one of the artists who has been an enjoyable part of the banda revival of the '90s and 2000s is Rogelio Martínez, who finds a variety of things to do with the brassy banda sound on Me Cambiaste la Vida. The CD's most traditional tracks include "No Tiene Razon la Vida" and "De Amores Nadie Muere"; meanwhile, romantic tunes like "Y Me Equivoque," "Necesito un Amor," "Y Tu No Estas," and the title song favor more a banda/Latin pop mixture. And on "Corazón Herido" and "Angel Rebelde," Martínez moves into somewhat tropical territory and reminds you that even though regional Mexican music is his primary focus, he can draw some inspiration from the cumbia/salsa/merengue/bachata realm on occasion. For those who don't watch Spanish-language television, it should be noted that "Angel Rebelde" is the theme song from one of Univision's many telenovelas (Latin soap operas). In the Spanish-speaking world (or for that matter, Portuguese-speaking Brazil), having one of your recordings used in a novela can be valuable exposure — so Martínez must have been elated when Univision began airing the Angel Rebelde novela. Me Cambiaste la Vida is not meant to appease banda purists 100 percent of the time, although the disc is easily recommended to anyone who is open to hearing the banda instrumentation used in a variety of ways.