For such a popular artist,
Gustavo Cerati certainly released a lot of difficult and often frustrating albums over the years. That's why
Canciones Elegidas 1993-2004 is a recommended starting point for the uninitiated, since it gathers highlights from each of his solo releases and offers a revealing overview of his solo catalog. Granted,
Canciones Elegidas isn't a true best-of, because it does gather its highlights even-handedly, representing selections from even his least-representative releases; however, such even-handedness does ensure a representative sample of highlights, even if you may wish that the couple instrumental remixes included had been supplanted by further highlights from
Cerati's best albums. The DVD half of
Canciones Elegidas is also worthwhile, keep in mind, as it includes videos for songs not found on the CD, most notably three songs from 11 Episodios Sinfonicos (2002), a live recording of an orchestral performance. So overall, between the CD and DVD contents,
Canciones Elegidas 1993-2004 is an ideal
Cerati primer, sampling a little bit of everything from his catalog, from the obvious to the esoteric, from the must-have to the must-avoid. Indeed, there's enough music here that
Canciones Elegidas might be all the
Cerati you'll need. Thankfully, in addition to serving as an overview, the collection does stand well on its own, sequenced not chronologically but certainly logically, flowing from track to track like a carefully engineered mixtape. On the other hand, if
Canciones Elegidas whets your appetite for more, rest assured that there's plenty of quality music remaining in the
Cerati catalog. In particular, consider
Bocanada (1999). The first full-length released after the official disbanding of
Soda Stereo, it's far and away the standout of the era, incorporating not only the surging guitar, passionate singing, and atmospheric production of
Cerati, but also the electronic and orchestral experimentation that would ultimately polarize the ranks of his remaining
Soda Stereo fan base. Secondarily, Amor Amarillo (1994) is a short yet satisfying album similar to latter-day
Soda Stereo, for it was recorded in the wake of
Dynamo (1993) and released prior to
Sueño Stereo (1995); and
Siempre Es Hoy (2002), conversely, is a long and quite exhausting album most dissimilar to
Soda Stereo, heavily laden with electronics yet at times wonderful, if difficult overall. ~ Jason Birchmeier