Trópico is yet another in a series of
Ricardo Arjona compilations, the third in three years, and while it's filled with high-quality music and is surely a welcome addition to his catalog, fans shouldn't mistake it for a new studio album. A quick glance at a track listing reveals that every other song is performed by
Arjona and that the intervening others are performed by an impressive lineup of tropical music superstars, including
Gilberto Santa Rosa,
Víctor Manuelle,
Elvis Crespo,
Tito Nieves,
Eddie Santiago,
Melina León, and
Huey Dunbar. Moreover, the songs themselves might look familiar, as they're all
Arjona compositions: those performed by him are culled from his back catalog, primarily the one-off tropical effort
Galería Caribe (2000), whereas those performed by others are covers that were originally released on
Arjona Tropical (2001), a various-artists compilation arranged and produced by
Angel "Cucco" Peña for Sony Music that went out of print years ago. In other words, fans with
Galería Caribe and
Arjona Tropical in their collections will already have the bulk of what's compiled on
Trópico. In fact, there unfortunately isn't any new material on
Trópico. Everything here is previously released. The few songs that aren't culled from
Galería Caribe and
Arjona Tropical are "Elle y El," a tropical ballad from
Si el Norte Fuera el Sur (1996), and two re-recorded greatest hits from the double-disc best-of collection
Quién Dijo Ayer (2007): a salsa version of "Historia de Taxi" performed in collaboration with
Marc Anthony and a ska version of "Si el Norte Fuera el Sur" with
Panteón Rococó. Though it's disappointing that there's nothing new on
Trópico, particularly because it's yet another in a series of
Arjona compilations, it's a worthwhile listen, especially for those unfamiliar with the out of print
Arjona Tropical material. If anything, it's good to have all except two of the tracks from that excellent various-artists compilation back in print. ~ Jason Birchmeier