Ska-P
Planeta Eskoria

THE REVIEW

The Ska-P return after the cheerful Eurosis with a more aggressive CD which, in my opinion, is also less beautiful compared to the previous two released. The Madrilenians title their fourth album "Planeta Eskoria" (Planet Garbage) and this theme is revisited often throughout the CD. 13 tracks of good Rock-Ska without distinction or disgrace, with some good songs standing out above the others, but also tracks of an abysmal musical level.
Honestly, I expected more from this CD when I went to buy it, even though I am not a big fan of Ska-P and even though I don’t care about politics in music, after a friend’s recommendation.

It starts with two of the best songs on the CD (In the end, I will count five very beautiful ones, with at least 3 1/2 stars: "Planeta Eskoria", "Veguenza", "Derecho de Admision", "A La Mierda", and "Tio Sam") that almost make you think of a masterpiece; one, "Planeta Eskoria", from which the album also takes its name, talks about the world's general problems, from hunger to drugs, including wars and crime, while the other, "Verguenza", is a clear anthem against bullfighting (And here I agree with the Ska-P), considered "criminal" and "against human intelligence" by the most renowned Ska group in Europe, both at the time and now. Then follows three mediocre songs, one, another one, against the "non-legalization" of drugs, one that doesn’t really make sense to exist ("El Autentico") and that I consider the worst song of the Ska-P and among the worst I have ever heard in my life in general, and the fourth track is a predictable attack against the police and the society without however offering particularly interesting reasons. Then we arrive at a quartet, the best part of the CD, very pleasant, with two songs like "A La Mierda" and "Derecho De Admission" that stand out more for the beauty of the pieces, which flow smoothly and are catchy, from "La Mosca Cojonera", a funny attack against the Catholic Church, "Eres Una Mas" is roughly on the same theme as "Naval Xixon", the fourth track of the album, but musically better and more considered. We reach the duet "A La Mierda - Derecho De Admision", where the first one goes against wars in general but especially against those who want these wars, while the second is an anthem against the privileges often enjoyed by those who belong to the richest classes, both among the best songs of the Spaniards, in my opinion, although "A La Mierda" is indeed a bit monotonous. Then comes the classic duo preceding the true masterpiece of the CD, number 11, "Tio Sam", which opposes the first Gulf War in a manner both ironic and effective, and turns out to be the real gem of the CD. Planeta Eskoria closes with two nice but not too extraordinary songs, such as "Violencia Machista" and "Mestizaje", where perhaps it is mainly the lyrics over the music that distinguish them.

Having said that, all things considered, "Planeta Eskoria" was an album where Ska-P completely matured musically, even though the lyrics in the end are always the same and somewhat predictable, honestly, but especially a transitional album between the excellent "El Gato Lopez" and "Eurosis" and their best record, "Que Corra La Voz". I don't mind that they split up anyway, not because I don't like them, but because this kind of bands, so-called "political", in the end turn out to be predictable and lose credibility, a thing Ska-P did with the bad commercial move of the Cd + DvD live, just to sell a few more copies of their latest album. It’s a pity, I liked you, you ruined yourselves with time, or rather, you fell with this album, you recovered with "Que Corra la Voz", you sank again with the very bad commercial move. I won’t miss you.