'Ladies and gentleman - hail the
new Queen of Rock!!!'
I'm not sure who the old Queen was, but
this is '91 and Alejandra Guzman is looking good in her new role
as L-Am's Rock Goddess. However, looking good is nothing if you
don't have the necessary goods to back it up. It's probably just
as well then that Ale has delivered on the promise shown on her
last album ETERNAMENTE BELLA. FLOR DE PAPEL is a 100% bonafide
rock platter - and just to be a little more specific, this is a
'glam-rock' album.... at least it is in this author's humble
opinion! Following in the tradition of glam-rock acts such as
Kiss, Motley Crue, Poison, Sweet, Twisted Sister, Joan Jett and
her all-girl band The Runaways - Ale delivers a meaty, full-bodied
collection of rockers and rock ballads all neatly wrapped in
superficial glitz and ready to sell to the masses waiting to buy
into a dream. This is Rock done Hollywood style!
Some of you reading this might wonder
about my mention of The Runaways? Although they were not generally
regarded by some music historians (i.e. critics!) as a glam-rock
act, they were as near to lipstick and rock 'n' roll as to seem
pointless arguing about it - and Joan Jett is worth particular
mention here because, whether Ale was aware of this or not, there
is something of the old JJ 'up yours!' swagger about this album.
However, you don't have to scratch very
far beneath the glam and glitz surface to discover that our Ale is
in a pretty nasty mood here! Some of the sentiments expressed here
on FLOR DE PAPEL are downright acerbic at times. Written for Ale
by the albums lyricists JR Florez, the lyrics reflect a period in
her life when she had become a very high profile public figure in
great demand. It is against this backdrop that Ale grabs the
opportunity to take a sideswipe at the media circus - as in the
song 'Quiero Armar un Escandolo', an excellent strident rocker ala
Motley Crue. As with many glamorous and photogenic public figures,
Ale too had to put up with gossip, scandals, flashing lights and
paparazzi stealing intimate pictures that somehow had the tendency
to end up in public magazines. But, as the song title suggests,
Ale was actively causing much of this notoriety herself. Perhaps
hypocritical is too strong a word, but it does seem that after
purposefully attempting to exploit the media in order to raise her
own profile and portray herself as a Rock Rebel, she now has the
nerve to complain about the media exploiting 'her'! - Rock Stars,
eh!?
At the other end of the lyrical scale,
the albums opener, 'Provoaccion' deals with street-level city life
with screaming neighbours, landlords after your rent, war on TV,
and generally the sort of stuff that life throws at you with it's
intention of screwing your head up. The track has a nice memorable
guitar hook, some beefy drumming, and you know from the outset
that, behind our Diva, there's a pretty decent rock band backing
her up.
'Hacer el Amor Con Otro' is a guitar-lead
unlucky-in-love power-ballad that builds gradually from a sparse
beginning. It's a slow burner that takes a few listens to
appreciate. Not an immediate favourite but it grows on you and it
is a fine song. Unfortunately, it has the bad luck of being
overshadowed by the album's other ballad, the masterly 'Rosas
Rojas', a dreamy 5-minute near-religious epic. The touch of genius
behind this one is that underlying haunting melotron that lends
the song a similar feel to Procal Harem's 'Whiter Shade of Pale'.
Ale is again unlucky with her lovelife, but if her apparent bad
luck can inspire such brilliance as this, who cares? Let's have
more of this, please! (D'ya think I'm being a bit insensitive to
her plight here!?)
'Guera' is a hairy little monster of a
track that boasts an exceptionally bitchy performance from Ale.
It's the kind of rocker that luminaries such as Kiss or Alice
Cooper would turn their noses up at, and I love that Edgar
Winter-ish sax solo. In contrast, 'La Ciudad Ardio' is a pleasing
soulful semi-ballad with a very strong melody. However, the
pleasing tune belies a darker lyric about our heroine's obsessive
love for a man who is obviously no good for her. A tale of blind
passion, deceit and love without pride.
In 'Reina de Corazones', Motown meets
glam-rock head-on to produce one of the finest examples of driving
power-pop you'll hear this side of heaven. This is Wham/George
Michael good time pop, but with a lot more balls! And when you
throw in a riff that is a virtual anagram of The Stones' classic
'Satisfaction'.... well, as I said, heaven! And talking of
classics, 'Vivir Contra Corriente' sounds like a not-too-distant
cousin of Free's 'All Right Now'. The theme of the song is
rebelling against accepted public trends that seems to underline
the stance that Ale had apparently chosen to adopt at this stage
of her career. The song itself probably won't hold the same kind
of affection in the annuls of rock history as the aforementioned
Free classic, but it certainly deserves an honourable mention.
Kicking stuff.
'Me Cuesta Mucho Armarte' -
instrumentally, there's lot crammed into this prog-rock mini-epic.
The song is introduced by Ale's 'na-na-na' vocal duet with lead
guitar before launching into an interesting stop/start, slow/fast
jerky sort of track with a lot of chunky familiar sounding riffs.
Probably more than any other track on this album, this one
demonstrates the band performing at it's very peek - wonderfully
loose and inventive. In contrast, 'Dame un Martillo' is a short,
tightly produced, aggressive little number with a lyric that
reflects the real life soap opera world that Ale had found herself
in, and the wish to break free from the restrictions that this
world had imposed on her. As with many successful acts, everyone
it seems wanted a piece of our Ale. However, you have to wonder if
this really is a plea to break free, or whether it's just her wish
to have more control over the script? Personally. I'm inclined to
believe that latter. There's no doubting that Ale wanted her fame
to continue, craved it even - but she wanted it to continue on
'her' terms.
FLOR DE PAPEL is an album where feelings
are laid bare like never before on any of her previous releases.
There's enough anger, angst, melodrama and downright bitchiness
here to provide inspiration for countless Hollywood soap operas.
Some of the lyrical sentiments expressed here, particularly the
thinly veiled swipes at the media, may be better appreciated today
than they probably were back in '91 when this album was first
released. You somehow get the feeling from listening to this album
that Ale was playing a dangerous game on several levels. Firstly,
she ran the risk of alienating the young pop audience she had
initially won over with her debut BYE MAMA by making this an
out-an-out rock album. After all, it was only 3 short years ago
and this album is a pretty sharp change in attitude and musical
direction. But perhaps more riskily, she was also biting back at
the media-hand that was feeding she drive towards ever increasing
notoriety, whilst still hanging onto her status as 'Star'. It's as
the 'powers that be' might say - 'We made you - and we can break
you!' - and takes some nerve/guts to have a go at the 'powers that
be' for not playing the fame-game by 'her' rules. This would seem
to suggest that Ale possessed supreme arrogance and
self-confidence in equal measures if she felt that her star-status
was strong enough to withstand any flak that the media machine
might throw her way.
Mind you, I should stress that this
modest little essay is a purely retrospective observation from
afar by someone who wasn't even there at the time. But whatever
opinions I might hold, it doesn't alter the fact that FLOR DE
PAPEL is an excellent glam-rock album from a Rock Diva in top form
- and yes, I still maintain that this is a 'glam-rock' album above
any other type of rock. She also comes across like the natural
successor to Joan Jett - her of 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll'
fame!
Ale's first 'real' rock album was also
the last of 4 album in a hectic 3 years with Melody Records. But
severing ties with this record label did not spell the end of
Ale's recording career - no way! As many of us fans now know - her
best work was yet to come!