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Rating:
The idea of a live album with only two solo records behind it is a bit of a stretch. Especially when you consider that, conveniently, a contract with Virgin France requires the release of at least three albums with the major label. One could therefore conclude that good old Mr. Chao did this decent work to 1) Finally say goodbye to Virgin (which had caused great accusations of inconsistency against him) 2) Show the public the other side of his first albums.
The result is, therefore, a mediocre "en vivo" album, where the hits from Clandestino and Esperanza are sped up unbelievably, consequently swimming in a very repetitive ska, and the old pieces from Mano Negra are played without energy. From the start, you can feel that Radio Bemba doesn’t hold the stage as well as their predecessors: the musicians are all technically very talented but totally lack imagination, perhaps because they are limited by Chao himself, whose voice does not withstand comparison with vocalist Bidji. Even the Radio Bemba interlude doesn’t warm up the audience sufficiently and needs two more Que Paso? and Pinocchio. The remakes of The Monkey and especially King Kong Five are poor. Luckily (and by the singer's own choice), the boring Me Gustas Tu, commercial to revolting levels, is spared in this album. Not that this is a bad record, but it certainly doesn’t live up to the previous ones.
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