Presente! Review

August 23rd marked the release of Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor’s album Presente! . La Maquina de Cuba, as the band is often referred to as, delivers an album truly showing they’re still here, and here to stay. This week we give our opinion on the album.

Our Thoughts in One Sentence

Andrea: “Every time I’ve listened to this album I keep finding more flavor each time”

Alexa: “Through and through Salsa Mayor reminds everyone of their past, present, and future.”

Our Top 3 Songs

Overall Rating

Andrea: 8/10

Alexa: 7.5/10

Overall Takeaways

Both of us are major fans of Salsa Mayor. To say we were anticipating this album for months, is an understatement. Truly both of us enjoyed it, and have been listening to it on a daily basis. When we played the first song, it was an explosion of sound and liveliness to the orquesta’s iconic sound. The rush of the opening made us feel like we were seeing them live in concert, and brought back great memories of the other times we have seen them.

Most of the songs feel very much like reliable Salsa Mayor, which is great because we love their music. Both of us were just looking for a little bit more in their sound because all of their albums have helped evolve the genre, and this one felt great but a little safe. We’re looking at album where 3 out of its 10 songs were already released as singles MONTHS ago. Then 2 more songs that are homages. Bodeguero while a really fresh take on the iconic cha cha cha song, is fun and a nice change of pace for them, still feels safe. As for the second song, well I guess it’s more of our fault. We are major super-fans of the Popurri, and listen to it all the time, so with the release of this album after so many iconic song released since, well hopes were high. It’s a fun song, and the collaborators are absolutely stacked, but we wanted the band to shine through more, the transitions felt choppy. We wanted more.

The rest of the songs, the brand new ones, I mean we love them. The Pedrito Martinez highlight in Deja Que Tu Sientas Eso and Alain Perez in Superalo are favorites for a reason. These songs in the album feel original and still play to the core of their sound. We see most of these songs being danced and enjoyed at socials. The album is definitely a plus and a great piece for the Timba genre.

If you haven’t listened to it yet, what are you waiting for? Go, and tell us what you loved about it. For those of you who have taken a listen, tell us your favorite part in the comments below. We hope you play these spectacular songs at your socials, in your car, at home…please fill the world with Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor.

Bueno…ya tu sabes.