El Cuarteto de Nos

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El Cuarteto de Nos
The group posing for a photo.
The group performing live a song from their Raro album.
Background information
OriginMontevideo, Uruguay
GenresRock, Alternative rock, Comedy rock, Rap rock, Rock en español
Years active1984-present
LabelsWarner Music Group
Orfeo
Sony BMG


Websitewww.cuartetodenos.com.uy
MembersÁlvaro Pintos
Santiago Tavella
Roberto Musso

Past members

El Cuarteto de Nos (stylized as Cuarteto de Nos) is an Uruguayan rock group formed in 1980 in Montevideo, Uruguay. Over the years the group has cultivated an immense amount of popularity and praise in Latin America and Hispanic countries due to its particular sound that mixes elements of hip hop, alternative rock, comedy rock and latin music.

El Cuarteto is the oldest active Uruguayan band.[citation needed] It has gained universal praise transcending local culture through universal themes and engaging everyday pathos in a humorous light. They have released a total of 16 studio albums since 1984, as well as two compilation albums La Misma Porquería (1995) & Lo Mejor de... Cuarteto de Nos (2010) alongside many record labels, such as Ayuí/Tacuabé, Orfeo, Sony BMG, Koala Records, Manzana Verde, Bizarro Records, EMI, and Warner Music. They have experimented with many genres, and are one of the most important and recognized bands from Uruguay and Latin America in general. They have only had one change of formation since their official establishment in 1987.

Summary[]

The group was started conceptually by the Musso Brothers (Roberto Musso, vocals and guitars, and a.k.a. Riki Musso, guitars and keyboards) ever since they were little children, listening to The Beatles and other bands that served as inspiration, as well as playing and creating an imaginary town named Tajo, with its characters, places, and situations inspiring the music in their first records. They were later joined by bassist Santiago Tavella, with whom they started playing instrumentals and Beatles covers at schools and theaters. They were skeptical at first to play original material, which was written by all three of them with a lot of comedic elements that went from dark humor to slapstick, but contrary to what they expected, they began attracting more people as they allowed their ideas to shine. Once the Civic-military dictatorship of Uruguay was over in 1985 (prior to this music was heavily censored and punished in the country) the indie record label offered the group to release a shared album with artist Alberto Wolf, to which they agreed, resulting in their debut record , which featured one side with music from the group and guest drummer Leonardo Baroncini, and the other half by Alberto.

In the same year, they perform officially in front of a stage for the first time ever, at the "Feria de Villa Biarritz" with their newly recruited drummer, Alvaro Pintos. They performed with outfits made out of tin and balloons attached to their heads, inserting themselves in the public with a creative identity. They also assisted the biggest-to-date music festival in Uruguay called the , with an audience of 60,000. In 1987 they release their first stand-alone LP titled (I am a Pea), followed by  [es] the next year. For their third individual record, they drove away from the topics of Tajo in terms of general song-writing, and put together a more cohesive and mature sounding album that was only released on cassette by their new label, Orfeo. The 1991 album (Songs from the Heart) represented an important era in the band's catalog, delivering the first hits by the group with songs such as "Al Cielo No" (Not to Heaven) and "Corazón Maricón" (My Gay Heart) which showed a more experimental side of their music.

However, their fame in the country came with the 1994 album (Another Christmas in the Trenches), a longer album that incorporated sounds of salsa, electronic music and hard rock, with a ton of sarcastic and politically incorrect lyrics. This was their first record released in a CD format, an unused format at the time, and to this date it is the best selling Rock album in Uruguay, obtaining 4 and a massive popularity for the band over night. This wave of massive success for the group extended to the 1995 (Downhill), and their 1996 (The Bullet Train), which was also the first and only time that the government tried to censor an album, ever since the dictatorship had ended, due to the polemic song "El Día que Artigas se Emborrachó" (The day Artigas got Drunk).

The popularity of the band, however, started to decline mid-1997 when they were working on their eighth studio album, (This one!! Magazine), which was released in 1998 to lukewarm sales and reception, a result that extended to their 2000 decade opener (Killjoy), an album which has gained cult following over the years, but was left behind at the time. This album also resulted in Riki Musso leaving the group for most of 2001, due to issues he had with the album cover. Their fate would completely change in 2004, however, when they decided to go for international success by re-recording the best songs from every album to date with a better, more consistent production achieved by Juan Campodónico, and they released their self-titled Greatest Hits, making noise outside of Uruguay. Two years later they release their most famous and acclaimed record, the 2006 grammy nominated Raro (Weird), an album which, according to many,[according to whom?] marks the breaking point between the old and new Cuarteto de Nos, given the change in music style to a more rap-centric lyricism, and a more straight alternative rock.

In 2009 they released Bipolar [es], the last album to feature Riki Musso (who left due to creative differences) resulting in the follow-up (Obstinate) featuring two new members: on guitars, and on keyboards. It also gave them several Latin Grammy Awards in 2012. Two years later, they released (Your Mirror is Talking), a more ballad-centric record which goes further into experimentation with synthesizers and instrumentation that sounds more radio friendly, but applies many layers of arrangements. A similar formula was repeated on the successful 2017 album (Zombie Apocalipse), and their last record to date, Jueves (Thursday), released in 2019.


History[]

Beginnings[]

In 1984, El Cuarteto de Nos played their first show, an instrumental set in the "El Tinglado" theater.[1] They also played at the "La Máscara", "El Circular", "Teatro de la Alianza Francesa" theaters while developing their own musical style. In 1984, their first album was released, in collaboration with Alberto Wolf, whom had six of the twelve songs; and drummer Álvaro Pintos joined the group afterwards.

In 1985, they stepped on a stage, located in a fair from , dressed up with aluminum foil on their legs and balloons tied to their heads.[2]

First albums[]

In 1986, they edited their first LP, Soy una Arveja (I am a Pea), on which they performed some hits,[1] and the following year, at a concert they performed, the members were dressed up as old ladies, promoting the song Soy una Vieja (I am an Old Lady).[2] In the following year, their second album was released, Emilio García (by then, the fictional manager).[2]

In 1991, the album Canciones del Corazón (Songs of the Heart) was released in cassette, and it was a great commercial success for the band.

Unexpected success[]

In 1994, after four years of hiatus, they released their album Otra Navidad en las Trincheras (Another Christmas in the Trenches), which achieved quadruple platinum status almost instantly, making them the first Uruguayan band ever to achieve it.[2] This album has a wider musical amplitude, having mixed salsa, music, and electronic music, in the band's usual mocking style, the most successful songs of this album were "Sólo un rumor" (Just a Rumour), "El primer oriental desertor" (The First Uruguayan Deserter), "Soy un capón" (I'm a Eunuch), "Bo Cartero" (Hey, Mr. Postman; a mocking, Spanish version of "Please Mr. Postman"), "El putón del barrio" (The Biggest Slut in the Neighbourhood) and "Me agarré el pitito con el cierre" (I Caught My Peepee in the Zipper, being said in a childish manner).

Mocking their success, they call their 1995 album Barranca abajo (Downhill), this album is acknowledged as darker than their previous works, and exploiting the success generated by Otra Navidad en las Trincheras, they released in the same year, the album La Misma Porquería (The Same Rubbish), a compilation of their first three albums.

Controversy[]

In late 1996, they released their seventh album El Tren Bala (The Bullet Train). This album was controversial in Uruguay, since one of its songs, named El día que Artigas se emborrachó (The Day Artigas Got Drunk) makes an allusion to José Gervasio Artigas, the founding father of Uruguay, which led to attempts to ban the song,[2][3][4] delaying the release of the album, being the reason of the creation of their own label, Manzana Verde (Green Apple, mocking the Beatles' Apple Records).[4] Because of the diversity of musical styles presented, the reception of this record was very high, becoming a gold record in a week.[4]

Decay[]

In 1998, the group signed a contract with Sony BMG, and released Revista ¡¡Ésta!! (This one!! Magazine), which was received poorly, as was its next album, Cortamambo (Killjoy), released in 2000,[citation needed] leading into a hiatus for some time while the band picked up things together from the brief disbanding that took place when Riki Musso, complaining about the sexual character of the album's cover (a woman's breasts are seen on both back and front cover) left the band for over a year.

Revival[]

In 2004, they released El Cuarteto de Nos, a compilation album of their all-time hits played and recorded again, plus three new songs, called "Hay que comer" (We Have to Eat), "No quiero ser normal" (I Don't Want to Be Normal) and "Fui yo" (It Was Me), the album was made in a more rocker style and had a coherent production.

During 2005, they were dedicated to presenting a new album, as well as celebrating the band's 21st anniversary with a show, having as special guests the musicians Gabriel Peluffo and , amongst other famous musicians of Uruguay.[citation needed]

On May 20, 2006, the album Raro (Weird) was released. It was a major commercial success, it rose to the top of the Uruguayan charts, reaching gold status only a few weeks later.[citation needed] In 2007, El Cuarteto de Nos was nominated for Latin Grammy with "Yendo a la casa de Damián" on their album Raro. They started a trip around the world including stops at the Vive Latino Festival in Mexico, as well as the Rock al parque in Colombia. The album was truly the biggest success they had seen since Otra Navidad en las Trincheras, and with the positive reviews and feedback it was safe to say they had found their new representative sound.

In 2008, they performed for 2008, a huge festival in Argentina, along with other big bands and solo artists.

Departing of Ricardo Musso and the releasing of Bipolar[]

On May 27, 2009, in the midst of the development of their album Bipolar, it was said that Ricardo Musso had artistic and administrative differences with the course the band had taken. Majareta Productions announced that the band would not split, but would undergo structural change.[citation needed] With the departure of Ricardo Musso, two new musicians had joined the band, replacing Musso's guitar, and the keyboardist . Finally, after many setbacks (such as the departure of Musso and the leaking of the album in Taringa![citation needed]) when it was still in the making, the album was released in September 2009. This album was well received, winning five Graffiti Awards in June 2010.[5]

Closing of the trilogy, present and future[]

When listening to Raro and Bipolar it is clear that they are similar albums in the topics they tackle, the style of the music and guitars, as well as the overall feel of the records.[according to whom?] This started a theory upon the release of the following album, Porfiado on 2012 that the three albums were somehow connected and made up a trilogy, after all the latter does follow that line of talking about topics such as life and its meaning, the different personalities and character traits found in people, and a diverse genre of musical rock styles. Roberto said publicly that this was not the case and that the albums were not intended to be connected, however many fans and sometimes even themselves do refer to this period of their careers as the "trilogy", since most of the songs that they play nowadays come from the three albums which gave them a setlist to go from when touring, almost completely abandoning the 10 albums that came before.

In 2014 Habla tu Espejo was released, breaking the topics of the so-called "trilogy", and being a darker album which focused on deep and sentimental topics such as stories related to Roberto's family (his mother's Alzheimer's is touched on in the song "21 de Septiembre" (September the 21st), his daughter's fears and his own fears as a parent make the lyrics of "No Llora" (She Doesn't Cry), and so on) as well as a look to themselves on songs like "Roberto" and "De Hielo", with poetry often being referenced through the grim record. It was especially well received, and the music video for "No Llora" went viral online through mid-2015. Their next album was supposed to be a concept album for different problems in modern society being perceived as monsters in a sort of zoo, which resulted in the album Apocalipsis Zombi, showcasing once more the clever song-writing of the band in tracks like the title number, which mocks use of social media in the modern day and repetitive musical genres, while using a beat that sounds just like a modern . Finally, the last album released by the quintet so far, Jueves was released without a storyline or concept, the only concept being the random nature of itself in having songs that do not relate to each other, spanning the hit tracks "Mario Neta" (Puppet displayed in a way that seems like it is a person's name), "Punta Cana" and "Contrapunto para Humano y Computadora" (Counterpoint for human and computer).

Members[]

Current members
  • Roberto Musso - "Robertito" (Guitar and vocals)
  • Santiago Tavella - "Santi" (Bass guitar and vocals)
  • Álvaro Pintos - "Alvin" (Drummer and vocals)
  • Gustavo Antuña - "Topo" (Guitar)
  • Santiago Marrero - (Keyboardist)
Former members
  • Ricardo Musso (Riki) (guitar and vocals): 1984-2009
  • Andrés Bedo - (Keyboardist): 1984-1988
  • Leonardo Baroncini (Drummer) (invited): 1984

Discography[]

  • El Cuarteto de Nos - Alberto Wolf - 1984
  • Soy una arveja - 1987
  • Emilio García - 1988
  • Canciones del Corazón - 1991
  • Otra Navidad en las Trincheras - 1994
  • Barranca Abajo - 1995
  • La misma porquería - 1995
  • El Tren Bala - 1996
  • Revista ¡¡Ésta!! - 1998
  • Cortamambo - 2000
  • El Cuarteto de Nos - 2004
  • Raro - 2006
  • Bipolar - 2009
  • Lo mejor de... Cuarteto de Nos - 2010
  • Porfiado - 2012
  • Habla tu espejo - 2014
  • Apocalipsis Zombi - 2017
  • Jueves - 2019

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Rarezas del Cuarteto de Nos en escena" (in Spanish). LaRed21. June 22, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Historia del Cuarteto de Nos, un grupo raro (in Spanish) retrieved June 7, 2010.
  3. ^ El día que "El zurdo" se emborrachó (in Spanish) retrieved June 7, 2010.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Cuarteto De Nos - Biography (in Spanish) retrieved June 7, 2010.
  5. ^ Premios Graffiti 2010: Ganadores (in Spanish) retrieved June 7, 2010.

External links[]

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