Barrabas was born in 1970 at Fernando Arbex's initiative after Alacran's disbanding. Arbex was the creator of the name and musical ideas based on a funky-salsa sound wich had been thinking over for some time. For this purpose, he composed songs such as "Wild Safary" or "Woman" and started to contact with the first members of the band, who were Ignacio Egaña, Tito Duarte, Miguel and Ricky Morales, Joao Vidal and Arbex himself on drums and as a producer. Once the first demos were presented to RCA's director, Mr. Gil Beltran, who was delighted with the project, a production agreement was signed with Fernando Arbex and a commercial artists contract with the members of the band. The first LP was recorded at RCA studios in Madrid and the master was cut in London at Trident studios with the engineer David Jones. This first LP meant the worldwide promotion of Barrabas wich managed to get into the USA Billboard with the song "Woman" in the Canadian lists. This event opened the doors to the group in the international market, and both market as well as the public remained faithful to the band throughout their long musical career. Barrabás recorded eight albums more with some significant changes in the group, such as the new lead singer, José Luís Tejada. Barrabás is undoubtedly the most important band as well as the most internationally known group of the spanish music business witin the last few years. A classic!.
Tracklisting:
1. On the Road Again (Arbex) - 5:49
2. What's Happened (Arbex/Maning) - 4:01
3. Hard Line for a Dreamer (Arbex/Moll/Moll) - 4:34
4. Please Mr. Reagan, Please Mr. Breznev (Arbex) - 5:47
5. Wild Cat (Arbex) - 4:52
6. Jeronimo (Arbex) - 5:17
7. Be the Way to Be (Arbex/Gordaliza) - 3:37
8. Laura (Arbex/Moll/Moll) - 4:57
Recorded in 1981-1982
AMG Review:
Released the same year as Bestial, Piel de Barrabas sees Fernando Arbex carrying his Barrabas further into synth-dominated territory. Where early Barrabas albums presented the sound of a dance band playing dance music (and occasionally rock & roll), the early-'80s edition of the group sounds like a rock band playing dance music (and occasionally rock & roll). "Laura" is probably the worst culprit of all here, resembling what Genesis and the Steve Miller Band sounded like when they employed dance rhythms and heavy use of synthesizers. Early Barrabas remained plugged into the styles that they were covering; Piel de Barrabas, on the other hand, comes closer to interpretations of interpretations, rather than something they'd be much more comfortable tackling. Despite the fact that the skill is readily apparent, the album comes off as being very confused and watered down.
