Soda Stereo

Soda Stereo is an Alternative Rock band formed in Buenos Aires Argentina in 1982 by Gustavo Cerati (vocals and guitar), Zeta Bosio (bass) and Charly Alberti (drummer), widely considered by specialized critics as the most important, popular and influential rock band in Spanish of all time and a legend of Latin American music. They were the first Spanish-speaking group to achieve massive success in Latin America and played a very important role in the development and spread of Latin American rock and rock en español during the 1980s and 1990s. During their career, they were avant-garde and they set a trend in Latin America, in which they starred in various genres such as the fun music of their beginnings, the new wave, the dark wave, the hard rock, the alternative rock and the electronic rock of its endings.

Soda Stereo has topped the all-time charts in Argentina, where several record sales and concert attendance records were set. Until 2007, the band's sales were estimated at more than seven million copies sold of their albums; however, more recent estimates from 2018 disagree, attributing more than twenty million copies sold worldwide.

In 1995 the band won the Diploma of Merit at the Konex Awards for its outstanding career in Argentine music during the decade and the Konex Platinum Award for the best Argentine rock band of the decade. In 2002 they received the Leyenda Award from MTV Latin America for their musical career, the first given by the entity. In 2006 the American magazine Al Borde published a list with the 500 best songs of Ibero-American rock, rewarding his songs "De música ligera" (No. 1, thus being considered the best song in the entire history of rock in Spanish), "Persiana americana" (No. 7), "In the city of fury" (No. 46), "When the tremor passes" (No. 84), "Zoom" (No. 129), "Signs" (No. 178), "She Used My Head Like a Gun" (No. 206), "Treat Me Gentle" (No. 417), "Spring 0" (No. 422), and "A Missile in My Closet" (No. 444). In 2002 the magazine Rolling Stone Argentina and the MTV channel published a list with the best 100 songs of Argentine rock, awarding their songs "De música ligera" (No. 4), " American blind" (No. 31), "In the city of fury" (No. 48) and "When the tremor passes" (No. 68). In 2007 the Rock.com.ar site launched a list with the best 100 songs in the history of Argentine rock, rewarding their songs “De música ligera” (No. 4), “Te hacen falta vitaminas” (No. 74) and “Nada personal” (No. 75). de la furia" (No. 1, thus being considered the best video clip in the entire history of Argentine rock). The videos for "En la ciudad de la furia" and "Ella usó mi cabeza como un revolver" were finalists and winner respectively of the then only MTV Latin music award. The video for "When the tremor passes" was nominated as a finalist at the 12th World Festival of Video and TV in Acapulco. In 2006, the American magazine Al Borde published a list of the 250 best rock albums Latin American, rewarding his albums Canción animal (No. 2), Comfort y música para volar (No. 15), Signs (No. 40) and Sueño Stereo (No. 41). In 2012 Rolling Stone USA magazine launched a list of the 10 best rock Latin American, awarding his album Sueño Stereo (No. 4). In 2007, Rolling Stone Argentina magazine published a list of the 100 best Argentine rock albums, awarding awards to his albums Canción Animal (No. 9) and Signos (No. 25). In 2007 he also published another list with the 10 best live albums of the Argentine rock, rewarding his album Ruido Blanco (No. 5).

In 1997, the band dissolved due to personal problems and due to differences in artistic criteria among its members, making a farewell tour that ended on September 20, 1997 at the River Plate stadium, known as The last concert . In mid-2007, the band announced their return to carry out a single continental tour called You will see me return, in which they gathered more than a million followers, breaking several records for attendance and number of concerts. In 2019, 5 years after Cerati's death, the remaining members of the group announced the Total Gracias Tour in order to "celebrate" Soda's legacy, which began in February 2020 and ended in May 2022 (after several cancellations). due to the COVID-19 pandemic), covering different countries in America.

In 2020, Billboard magazine compiled a list of the 25 masterpieces of rock in Spanish, including the song "Cuando pasa el tremolo".

History

From Stereotypes to Soda Stereo (1982-1984)

Program of 12 November 1981 of the Stress Group with Gustavo Cerati, Pablo Guadalupe, Sandra Baylac, Alejandro O'Donell, Carlos Amato and Zeta Bosio.

In the early 1980s, Gustavo Cerati, 22, and Héctor «Zeta» Bosio, 23, shared the same tastes and musical dreams and began a search to join a punk rockgroup. i> inspired by The Police, who visited Argentina in 1980, and The Cure, with their own songs in Spanish. They successively formed the group Stress, together with Charly Amato, Sandra Baylac and drummer Pablo Guadalupe, and Proyecto Erekto together with Andrés Calamaro, which did not meet their expectations.

In the summer of 1981, the two met in Punta del Este (Uruguay): Cerati with his Sauvage, a disco cover band, and Bosio with The Morgan i>, a band also made up of Sandra Baylac, Hugo Dop, Christian Hansen, Pablo Rodríguez, Charly Amato, Osvaldo Kaplan and Andrés Calamaro. Due to a series of incidents, Cerati and Bosio established a close musical bond and friendship that led them to start playing together.

Cerati commented on those first moments in this way:

The date is the year 82, the Falklands War. I worked at an agency like a junior. I had studied Advertising at the Faculty and with Zeta we had subjects in common, but we didn't know much. I was playing with a band. blues and rock of the area of Flores, west of Buenos Aires and he with a group that made covers. In the summer I went to Punta del Este with a band of disco music, a group to earn money. He did things about The Commodores, of rhythmic guitarist and sang with a couple of English who made the voices. The place we played broke up and we ran out of weight in Punta del Este. We tried to sell everything at the club, because the owner ran away. He sent us some unfunded checks, so we started selling everything. We rented the piano to stay, because it was good that summer. One of the few good, because there were people without silver, like us. Another place in Punta del Este was Zeta playing with a group called The Morgan. Since I had no place to stay, I went with them, and there started my relationship with Zeta. We planned the idea of having a group, and then in the classes we were meant to look for group names, to listen to music and anything but what we had to do.
We spent a long time looking for other people to do something, and finally we stayed Zeta and I with the keyboards of Andrés Calamaro, with whom we formed a band called Project Erekto, which was a techno group. But our idea was to put together a group of rock. The Police had arrived, one of our greatest influences, to Argentina (in December 1980) and we had to go to see them all.

At that time Carlos Ficcichia, the legal name of Charly Alberti, insistently called María Laura Cerati, Gustavo's sister whom he had met in the pools of River Plate, to ask her out, but she thought he was a « peso" (annoying) and he didn't want to answer it. On one occasion it was Gustavo who answered Charly's call for his sister and they started a commitment conversation in which Carlos told that he played the drums and that he was the son of a famous drummer from jazz, Tito Alberti, author in addition to the well-known children's song "El elefante trompita". A week later, Gustavo and Zeta decided to visit Charly Alberti (four years younger than Cerati) to listen to him play drums. Cerati and Bossio were impressed by Alberti's equipment and training and the three were surprised to have references to the same British bands: "it was love at first sight", Bossio and Alberti have said about that meeting. After Gustavo told Charly "you cut your hair!" the band was formed.

After examining some occurrences (Aerosol, Side Car) they adopted the name Los Estereotipos, due to a song by The Specials that the three of them were passionate about and that they used for a few months. That very early period dates back to a demo, recorded on four channels, where Richard Coleman played guitars, who was an official member of the band for a very short time in those days of 1982. The themes of the demo were the following: «Why can't I ser del Jet-Set?", "Dime Sebastián" and "I must dream" (by Ulises Butrón), accompanied by Daniel Melero on keyboards and Ulises Butrón on guitar. Later the names "Soda" and "Estéreo" emerged, giving as result "Soda Stereo", and thus partially maintaining the initial name.

On the origin and meaning of the word “soda” a journalist explained:

They say they make music with bubbles. But instead of being lavish bubbles of champagne, they claim to have assumed the everyday and popular representation of the siphon.

Tito Alberti told the following anecdote:

One day I asked them what they were going to call and they said: Soda Stereo. I was half swollen and I said to them, "Why don't they put Siphon Dragon on him? They didn't talk to me for six months. And where they came from, right?

They played for the first time under that name on December 19, 1982 on the birthday of Alfredo Lois, a college classmate who would be the future director of most of their videos and creator of all aspects related to the visual presentation of the band (hairstyles, clothing, covers, settings, etc.). Lois would be recognized by Cerati himself as "the fourth Soda".

In order to give the band more strength, they called Richard Coleman to fill the role of second guitarist, but shortly after Richard himself recognized that they sounded better before his incorporation and resigned his position on good terms, definitively confirming themselves as a trio: Gustavo Cerati, Zeta Bosio and Charly Alberti.

In July 1983, they made their public debut at the Discoteque Airport, in the Núñez neighborhood, in Buenos Aires, Argentina:

Our debut was a model parade on the Airport disc, which was close to where we rehearsed in Buenos Aires. Nobody gave us a bun. We play the three of us, with a very poor amplification system. But we liked it, even though nobody listened to us. We really seemed like a punk group, we didn't know how to play and sound very loud, even if it was just that.

From that moment on, Soda Stereo began touring the underground circuit of Buenos Aires, becoming known along with other emerging bands such as Sumo, Los Twist, Los Encargados de Daniel Melero, etc., establishing itself as a stable band in the traditional and deteriorated Cabaret Marabú, located at Maipú 359. the beach", never recorded, in addition to some others that would later appear in the second demo, recorded on eight channels in a studio. On one occasion at Café Einstein, Luca Prodan, confronted with Cerati whom he considered "a chetito", joined Soda Stereo to sing a song by The Police as a duet.

In 1983, Lalo Mir began to broadcast a second demo of the band on his 9PM program on Radio Del Plata, where there were «Why can't I be from the Jet-Set?», «Dietético» and «Te hacen falta vitamins". The band was beginning to acquire a bit of notoriety. One night they were called from a pub to fill in for the Nylon group, which was not going to be able to play. Thus began a period of constant presentations that led them to Bar Zero, an exclusive place for the Buenos Aires underground, next to Café Einstein. In the third show, Horacio Martínez, a historical "headhunter" producer of Argentine rock, listened to them and took them to record professionally for CBS, a fact that did not materialize until mid-1984, joining the Rodríguez Ares agency.

By then Soda Stereo was already characterized as the band that worked the most on its image and long before recording their first album they decided to make a video clip financed with funds from a worker's compensation. Alfredo Lois became in charge of the visual productions and the graphic design of the flyers and posters of their live performances. It was he who suggested the idea of editing the video clip before the release of the album, something common today, but totally atypical for that time. The theme chosen was "Dietético", using the sound of the second demo. The filming was done with equipment "borrowed" from Cablevisión, where Zeta Bosio worked as a production assistant.

Record debut and summer revelation band (1984-1985)

"TV Overdose" was the song chosen to present his first studio album.

The video clip "Dietético" was broadcast by the program Música Total of Canal 9 and had a considerable impact. Shortly after, in the second half of 1984, the band recorded their first album, Soda Stereo, with the production of Federico Moura, vocalist of Virus, who had established a close artistic relationship with Cerati that was expressed in the rapprochement between both bands. The recording was made in the obsolete CBS studios on Paraguay street and although the result obtained was a colder sound than that of the live performances, the musicians were satisfied. The trio was accompanied by Daniel Melero on keyboards (author of the ballad "Trátame suavemente") and Gonzo Palacios on sax, with the category of "guest musicians", a practice that they would adopt in the future and that in some cases turned out to be true members. of the band, called by fans and the media with the title of "fourth Soda".

The official presentation of the album took place on October 1 and was organized by Ares as if it were a show, something that had never been done in Argentina until then. The place chosen was a downtown fast food outlet from the Pumper Nic chain (Suipacha between Corrientes and Lavalle), the most popular among young Argentines in the 80s, and the video clip was screened. The impact in the press was good, although momentary The following day the Clarín newspaper published the following statements by the band:

We are a dietary set, seeking aesthetic paradise, Our music is dietary. It thins by eating, but in any case consult your doctor. We try to keep healthy bodies and slow minds.

The growing support of the public was manifested in their performances on ever larger stages: first La Esquina del Sol in Palermo; the Recital de Los Lagos (December 1 and 2), his first massive stage, together with other front-line bands and conduction by Badía; and finally his first performance at the Astros theater on December 14, 1984 where the album was presented live for the first time. The aesthetic was prepared by Alfredo Lois, who for the occasion decided to place 26 televisions turned on and out of tune with the musical background of the theme "Sobredosis de TV". This, added to a large amount of smoke, gave an unusual and captivating visual effect. By the end of the year, Soda Stereo was already accepted as the revelation of the year, although they were second in Pelo magazine. At that time, the first groups of fans and detractors.

At the beginning of 1985, the band changed agencies, leaving Rodríguez Ares's for Ohanián Producciones, directed by Alberto Ohanián and incorporating Fabián «Vön» Quintiero (who would later play with Charly García and Los Ratones Paranoicos) as a guest on keyboards), one of the "guest" musicians who would receive the title of "fourth Soda".

On January 26 they left Buenos Aires to play at the Rock In Bali Festival in Mar del Plata and on March 17 at the Chateau Rock '85 Festival held at the Chateau Stadium Races of the province of Córdoba. The official biography of the band attaches great importance to this presentation, indicating that they performed in front of 15,000 people and that they were the revelation of it. However, the Cordoba sources indicate that there were half the people and that "Raúl Porchetto was the most applauded and the Sodas went almost unnoticed because their first album had only been released for a few months". In any case, the performance at the Chateau began a personal relationship between the band and the young people from Córdoba and marked the moment in which the band began to take off towards the national stardom.

The success of the group began at a very particular moment, related, on the one hand, to the return to democracy in Argentina (December 10, 1983) and on the other with the notions of postmodernism and the way in which young people from the 1980s they tried to think about their role in a democratic society, which was coming out of a bloody dictatorship and a war. Years later, Zeta Bosio reflected on that moment in this way:

Democracy produced the adrenaline of something new, something that was happening, that knew it was going to change us without knowing how well. There was more air to do things and dig, and we were a bunch of pipes that we wanted to make trouble. Our attention was in the punk and trying to show that there was something else that was more direct.

On June 21, 22 and 23, 1985, they performed again at the Teatro Astros in Buenos Aires, bringing forward some songs from what months later would be their second studio album, entitled Nothing personal. For these presentations they once again worried about showing a striking aesthetic from the stage: they created a beach with dunes and Styrofoam palm trees and waves of cellophane paper.

On October 13 of that year, they performed before the general public of Buenos Aires as part of the third night of the Rock & Pop performed at the José Amalfitani Stadium of the Vélez Sarsfield club, sharing the bill with INXS, Nina Hagen, Charly García, Virus and Sumo, among others. By then Fabián "Vön" Quintiero and Gonzo Palacios were already "stable guests".

Nothing Personal: consecration in Works (1985-1986)

Soda Stereo in a press photo for Nothing personal. Buenos Aires, 1986.

Their second album, Nada Personal, was released in November 1985. During the summer the group toured the Argentine tourist centers, playing in Mar del Plata, Villa Gesell, Pinamar, Las Grutas, and Lomas de Zamora (Salón Go-es) also adding a consecratory concert at the La Falda Festival, in Córdoba.

In April 1986, Soda Stereo arrived at the Obras Stadium, known as «the temple of Argentine rock».

In April, they decided to officially present the album with a concert at the Obras Sanitarias Stadium in Buenos Aires. They performed four historic shows to a full house, adding 20,000 spectators, on the 11th, 12th and 13th of that month. During the first of the three performances, a full-length live video was filmed, edited a few months later. Bobby Flores, the well-known music critic and co-founder of the revolutionary Rock & Pop from Buenos Aires, ended his chronicle of the recital in this way:

We are facing the most powerful grouping in the country... The best parameter to measure this presentation is that it was short, it seemed to have lasted ten minutes; and the people were looking forward to more. The exit of the stadium was a general murmur of Soda Stereo's songs. The rain, the traffic cut in Libertador Avenue by those who went out and by those who came in, the last pancho of the night and a healthy feeling of well-being, leave no room for existential doubts. I put my jaw back in place, and I was singing little I'm Blue, between the rain for Libertador.

From those concerts, album sales began to grow rapidly, going from a gold record, which they had achieved during the summer, to platinum, and reaching double that figure in the following months. Without abandoning the "danceable" rhythms, this second LP achieved more depth in the lyrics and maturity in the melodies. The album meant the definitive consecration of Soda Stereo before the Argentine public.

In June 1986, after a national tour, the trio recorded their second video-clip with the song «When the tremor passes», again under the direction of Alfredo Lois, in the ruins of Pucará de Tilcara, in the Jujuy province. The video, which completed the filming of the presentation at the Obras Stadium, was nominated as a finalist at the 12th World Festival of Video and TV in Acapulco a few years later.

The conquest of America (1986-1990)

In 1986, young Chileans received Soda Stereo as popular idols. The song that expressed that first contact was “No personal”, which became a radial success.

At the end of 1986, Soda Stereo made its first Latin American tour, still within the presentation of Nada Personal. The band performed in Colombia (November 6-7-9-18 in Bogotá and November 8 in Medellín), Peru (November 12 in Arequipa and November 14-15-16 in Lima) and Chile, with the songs Nothing Personal and with considerable success. At that time, Latin rock had little support among young people in Latin America and the bands from each country did not usually tour internationally.

The success was especially massive in Chile, where they performed four recitals in Santiago (November 21-23-24-25) and one in Valparaíso (November 22). A witness remembers them like this:

I remember almost like it was yesterday that day, November 25, 1986. At that time concerts were held on Fridays or Saturdays. Friday, it was that day. It was hot shit, and the row to enter the stadium was already in four blocks. With my best smile-massed pants and my fashionable feathers, I smoked a short Advance that we shared with my cousin and a classmate, with a bar of canchers looking for some pa' engrupir mine. At 19, the stadium opened and we started in. A mine asked us to let her sneak in with two friends, ready three pa' three!!!, and we changed cigarettes. We all had gallery and we were immediately on the stage. Inside, the sellers tried to go through the tray full of Free glasses, almost impossible task. It was the second of the Free Concerts, the first had been G.I.T., but nothing compared to the effervescence that filled the then Chilean Stadium. The lights went off and at 20:30, Gustavo, Zeta and Charly, started playing. Believe me it was amazing.

Cerati tells the story from his own point of view:

The case of Chile was very surprising, because we came two or three months before playing for the first time, and what happened at that time was tremendous. Even before Viña del Mar (February 87), it was like the final explosion. It was very interesting for us because it was the first time we left the country. In Argentina the thing was much more progressive, we played in many places and we lived the scene under. After Chile we were very happy, because we wanted fame, selling many albums and we thought we were the best group in the world. In the background it is very rare not to be able to leave the hotel and all that madness, one thought he was living like a movie by The Beatles, and we had fun.

In Peru the group also achieved surprising success for a rock band:

In November 1986 Soda Stereo arrived in Peru for the first time and revolutionized the market. His sales were huge and his (three) presentations at the Coliseum Amauta, unforgettable. That time I heard screams, screams, berried and even groaning. I saw crying, fainting and countless blown kisses. Collective hysteria I think they call him. It was, indeed, a madness only compared to that of the Beatles in the Shea Stadium.

On November 10, 1986, the band released their third album, Signos («Persiana Americana», «Signos», «Prófugos», «No existes»). It was a key step because, hand in hand with growing success, expectations, pressures, the risk of failure and internal tensions increased. On the album, the trio is accompanied by Fabián Vön Quintiero (keyboards), Richard Coleman (guitar) and Celsa Mel Gowland (vocals). In addition, “Signos” was the first Argentine rock record to be released on compact disc. It was manufactured in the Netherlands and distributed throughout Latin America.

I wrote all the lyrics of a shred. We lived to the club, it seemed that we were away from art and yet it was one of our deepest albums, maybe because we weren't having a good time. (Gustavo Cerati)

Already within the Signos Tour, on December 3 they made their first presentation in Ecuador and on January 9 and 10, 1987 in Uruguay (Punta del Este and Montevideo).

On February 11 and 12, 1987, Soda Stereo performed again in Chile, this time at the 28th edition of the Viña del Mar International Song Festival, where they won the Silver Torch award and surprised the media of communication due to the quantity and passion of its fans. The Viña Festival, broadcast on television to many Latin American countries, spread the band's fame throughout the continent, which soon turned into a massive unconditional support that came to be called "sodamania". The presentation at the Viña Festival was followed by an extensive tour of Chile: Puerto Montt (2/17), Valdivia (2/19), Talcahuano (2/21), Chillán (2/22), Temuco (2/23), again in Viña del Mar (2/28) and four more performances in Santiago in two days (March 1 and 2). In total, 150,000 spectators attended.

Two months later, on April 23, he broke audience records at a rock concert in Paraguay with his presentation at the Yacht and Golf Club Paraguayo. Meanwhile, Signos went platinum in Argentina, triple platinum in Peru and double platinum in Chile.

On May 2, they were performing at the Highland Road nightclub in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires, when a landslide occurred in which five young people died and more than 100 were injured, while they were playing "Persiana Americana". With a With a very strong emotional charge, they played at Obras on May 8 and 9 to present Signos in Buenos Aires. As an expression of mourning, the group did not use the scenery or lighting games they had prepared.

That same year they undertook a second tour of the continent with an even greater impact. The group performed in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Mexico (the first performance in Mexico was on August 4, 1987, at the Magic Circus in D. F.). They performed 22 concerts in 17 cities in front of almost 350,000 people, thus opening the very idea of a "Latin rock", regardless of the nationality of each band, which would come to fruition in the following decade. With the material recorded at the different points of the trip, the live album Ruido Blanco (1987) was made, mixed on the island of Barbados and considered number 5 by Rolling Stone magazine in Argentina. º among the best live albums of Argentine rock.

When 1988 arrived, Soda Stereo was already the most important band of Latin American pop rock and they were preparing to record their new album, whose artistic production was in charge of the Puerto Rican Carlos Alomar, who had worked with David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Simple Minds, Iggy Pop and Paul McCartney among others. Double Life («Picnic in the 4th B», «In the City of Fury», «What Bleeds (The Dome)», «Corazón delatador»), recorded entirely in New York, was became the first album by an Argentine band recorded entirely outside their country. The broadcast cut of the album and its video, "En la ciudad de la furia", was nominated at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards in the International Viewer's Choice category - MTV Internacional, at a time when MTV Latin America had not yet been born.

At this point Soda had conquered a new historical record: they were the first Argentine band whose video clips were broadcast by the MTV television channel, since the channel broadcast in English.

After more than a year without performances in Buenos Aires, on December 3, 1988 the band returned to present the album Doble Vida. The idea was to return to Obras, but no longer to play in the basketball stadium like the previous time, but for something much more ambitious: play in the outdoor hockey and rugby fields, which gave much greater capacity. This is how Soda conquered a new historical record: they were the first band to give their own recital (that is, not as part of a festival) on the hockey and rugby fields of Obras. In addition, despite the fact that on the same day After the recital there was a carapintada uprising that threatened national security, people still gathered to see the band: there were 25,000 people.

To crown a great year, on December 27, 1988 they closed the Three Days Festival for Democracy that was held in Buenos Aires at the intersection of Avenida del Libertador and Avenida 9 de Julio before 150,000 people and together with Spinetta, Fito Páez, Los Ratones Paranoicos, Man Ray and others.

With the figure of one million records sold, Soda Stereo began a tour to present the new album that included 30 shows in almost all of Argentina in front of 270,000 spectators during the first days of 1989, which was followed by a new Latin American tour (the third) that, among other things, ended up consecrating the band massively in Mexico. At the end of 1989 they recorded a new version of "Languis" (song included in Doble vida) and a new song called "Mundo de chimeras", which were released in the maxi-simple Languis (1989). along with remixed versions of "On the edge" and "What bleeds (the dome)". After the album was released, Soda performed two sold-out performances at The Palace in Los Angeles, becoming the second Spanish-language rock band to present a sold-out show in the United States on December 8, 1989, only three months after the also Argentine Miguel Mateos did the same on September 7 of that year.

In the early 1990s, the band performed at the José Amalfitani Stadium, sharing the bill on equal terms with the English duo Tears For Fears in a show in front of 32,000 people. For their presentation, the Sodas had the presence of David Lebón, ex-guitarist of Pescado Rabioso and Serú Girán, who accompanied them on guitar on the song "Terapia de amor intensiva". Something very curious happened at that concert: in pre-internet times and pre-social networks, most people had organized to leave en masse when the Soda recital finished. By the time Tears For Fears arrived, the field was half empty.

The continental success led the European network MTV News to pay attention to what was happening in Latin America with rock in Spanish, dedicating a special program to the group, made unprecedented for a group of rock that did not sing in English.

Turn towards hard rock: Animal Song (1990-1992)

Meanwhile, in Argentina the situation of local rock was very different. The hyperinflation of 1989 severely affected the Argentine music industry and put a brake on the promising careers of numerous pop rock and new wave bands, which were tied to the designs of the major record labels. This caused separations at a massive level on the national scene due to the lack of opportunities. On the other hand, many of the new Argentine bands that were formed from this time adopted a self-management model (following the precedent of bands like Los Redondos), perhaps as a precaution against being trapped in inactivity again in the event of another economic crisis. As a result of all these factors, pop in Argentina had a decline in 1989, and the national scene turned towards hard rock genres, such as rock and roll, hard rock, blues, punk, heavy metal, alternative rock and neighborhood rock. Argentine rock historians have highlighted that Argentina was even two years ahead of the United States and the United Kingdom, since these two countries abandoned the sound of the '80s only in 1991, with the explosion of grunge.

In this context, in June 1990 Soda Stereo traveled to the United States to record a new record at Criteria Studios in Miami, with the idea of giving a resounding turn to their music. From the sound they had in the '80s, they would go to a hard rock taking as influences the Argentine rock bands of the '70s that the members listened to during their adolescence (Pescado Rabioso, Color Humano, Vox Dei), but also adding the present: they incorporated the contemporary trends of Anglo-Saxon underground rock that were preparing the global explosion of grunge (Screaming Trees, Smithereens and Pixies). To achieve this project, they had the conceptual contribution of Daniel Melero and the participation of Andrea Álvarez and Tweety González (all important musicians of the Argentine rock scene of the moment) as guests.

The result was the album Canción Animal (1990), widely considered one of the best in the history of not only Argentine rock but all Ibero-American rock. There is their best-known song: "De música ligera", in addition to other classics by the band such as "Canción animal", "Cae el sol", "A million light years", "(En) El seventh day" and "Tea for three."

The new album meant for the band access to the Spanish public, which would be reflected in May 1992 with presentations in the cities of Madrid, Oviedo, Seville, Valencia and Barcelona.

The result of the Spanish tour, compared to the fervor they used in Latin America, left them a certain bitter taste, although it served as a solid experience valid to balance the very high Latin American points that involved the danger of leaving them hanging in the heights, far from contact with the terrestrial. In short, Spain was not at all a failure, but it was far from the successes that the Soda were so accustomed to in Latin America, and that was good for them.

The Animal Tour (1990-1991) was a marathon tour and never repeated by any artist. In Argentina it covered thirty cities, including places where a band of the magnitude of Soda Stereo had never performed (San Juan: Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, Junín, Clorinda, Puerto Iguazú, Corrientes, Posadas, Chascomús, Mar del Plata, Comodoro Rivadavia, Trelew, Neuquén, Santa Rosa, Trenque Lauquen, Mendoza, Córdoba, Río Cuarto, Santiago del Estero, San Miguel de Tucumán, Salta, Rosario, Buenos Aires, Olavarría, Pergamino). Internationally: Santiago de Chile, Asunción del Paraguay, Punta del Este, Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Barquisimeto, Caracas, Valencia, Mérida, San Cristóbal, México, D. F., Monterrey, Guadalajara, León Gto., Mexicali and Tijuana. The Animal Tour closed with fourteen performances at the Gran Rex theater in Buenos Aires, with a capacity for 3,300 people, then a remarkable record. In each place the same show infrastructure was respected, which at that time it was unprecedented for a local artist.

From the shows at the Gran Rex came the EP Rex Mix (1991) which included live versions recorded at the last of those recitals, on the night of July 9, 1991, and remixed versions along with the new song «No I need to see you (to know)."

9 de Julio Avenue in Buenos Aires. There Soda Stereo made a free historical recital for 250 000 people on 14 December 1991.

On December 14, 1991, the historic concert was held on Avenida 9 de Julio, in Buenos Aires. Soda Stereo surprised and was surprised by bringing together more than 250,000 people to listen to the band as part of the cycle of free recitals held by the Municipality of Buenos Aires called Mi Buenos Aires Querido II , which was also televised live. The people danced madly to each song and the musicians were captured by a feeling of having reached the maximum, that there was nothing left to conquer. «That of July 9 was a very strong energy», Bosio usually remembers, «and thank God it happened to us in our city. I think it was a combination of factors that led us to feel that there was nothing left to conquer..."

After that furor came a period of dispersal. Cerati explained at the time:

It is very difficult to find clear goals after such reception. Being standing before so many people chanting your name is a very strong experience. Now we have to start over from below.

At that time Cerati began, parallel to his work with Soda, the production of an album together with Daniel Melero, Colores Santos, which included contributions from guest musicians such as Flavio Etcheto and Carola Bony.

The sonic Dynamo, later hiatus (1992-1995)

From this moment on, the members of Soda became aware that they were at the center of the scene, so they decided to give rise to musical experimentation and openly promote what would be known as the "sonic movement". At the end of 1992, Soda Stereo released its sixth album, Dynamo, presented with six recitals held at the Obras Stadium at the end of that same year. Each show had a different band as guests and thus Babasónicos, Juana La Loca, Martes Menta and Tía Newton were in support. The "sonic move", which would also include Demonios de Tasmania and Los Brujos, for example, would later lead to the so-called "New Argentine rock", with Massacre, Attaque 77 and El Otro Yo.

Then comes Dynamo (1992) that consisted of taking Animal Song and destroying it. It's as if Animal Song had been put into the water. And, at the sound level, we wanted to produce that, the songs had more to do with something hypnotic. The idea was to remix it, mix it with something more dance and include something more trance in our music. I know those who adopted that album want it and I have the same. (Gustavo Cerati)

Dynamo did not sell as expected, largely because the group decided to change record companies immediately after recording. Sony then had no intention of supporting an emigrating group and BMG could not promote a product from another company.

In November 1992, the Sodas were protagonists of an unprecedented event in Argentina: the transmission of TV in stereo. The three musicians plus Tweety González (keyboards) and Flavio Etcheto (trumpet) played almost the entire album on the program Fax en concierto, hosted by Nicolás Repetto on El Trece in Buenos Aires. With impeccable lighting and sound, Cerati sang over previously recorded tracks of the songs and reinforced guitars, bass and drums live.

In January 1993, they embarked on their sixth Latin American tour, the Dynamo Tour, visiting Mexico, Chile, Paraguay and Venezuela. However, on March 29, 1993, after giving a recital in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, Cerati got off the tour and flew to Chile, which caused the cancellation of tour dates scheduled for the United States, Spain and other countries. countries. His attitude was due to many factors: fatigue with the band, desire for a solo project (which would be reflected in the album Amor amarillo ) and accompanying the pregnancy of his wife Cecilia Amenábar, who would eventually give light to Benito Cerati.

Thereafter Soda went on a long hiatus, and the lack of news led many to say that the band had broken up, something that was denied by the members. But, by not performing shows, the band still lay in a "limbo" situation.

Over the next two years the members went their separate ways. Cerati undertook his first entirely solo project and in 1993 released the album Amor Amarillo , although he said he had no intention of pursuing a solo career. Bosio became a bulwark of young sonic rock bands, being the producer of Peligrosos Gorriones and Aguirre; but he withdrew from the public scene after July 4, 1994, when a tragic accident occurred in which his son Tobías lost his life, and his other son, Simón, suffered burns. Alberti delved into personal projects related to computing and technological innovations, investigating the possibilities that the nascent internet brought; He also formed a band called Plum with his girlfriend Deborah de Corral, going so far as to release a self-titled album in 1995.

At the end of 1994 the album Zona de Promesas was released, a compilation of remixes of classic songs by the band plus a new song of the same name.

Resumption, electronic experimentation (1995-1997)

In early 1995, after a two-year estrangement, the Sodas got together again to see how the climate was between them and began a series of rehearsals. In them, Gustavo introduced the technological tools that he had used in his solo albums, such as sequencers and samplers. After a while they had 25 songs ready for a double album, where the first disc would be standard songs, and the second disc would be electronic instrumentals. But the record label was not willing to accept that a band that had been inactive for so long would propose a similar project, and the Sodas had to make a selection among those 25 songs to place them on a single album. In spite of everything, they felt that the album lacked a hit that would support the experimental and electronic songs, and they did not trust the most radioable song they had prepared, "Paseando por Roma", because they believed that it lacked more forcefulness. It was then that during a rehearsal, Gustavo came up with "She used my head as a revolver": it was the final stitch of the album.

Three years after their previous studio album, the trio returned to the market with Sueño Stereo, their seventh and last studio album. Released on June 29, it quickly went platinum with hits like "Zoom" and "She used my head like a revolver," the latter's video clip being chosen by MTV as a People's Video (Latin) in 1996, the highest continental recognition of Latin American rock before the MTV Latin America Awards were established in 2002. In 1995 they obtained the Platinum Konex Award for their career in the last decade as the best band rock from Argentina.

Dream Stereo It took two and a half years to conceive. It would be illogical to say that this album is the masterpiece of Soda Stereo, but it was the most real thing of the group at that time, because we were stripped of the need to have a future group, or to be the best for another ten years. We had already been through many things and the group felt itself as a classic. On the other hand we were very proud of what he had promoted Dynamo and his later reading. So, Dream Stereo I had the pressure not to press. The group was a project that had to give something important, could not be a disquito. Also, it was to meet again after a while and let the music flow, without thinking too much that we had to take a step or something. In the end, Dream Stereo is one of the most innovative albums in our career, without having proposed it. By his sound combination, by his letters, by his soundness. (Gustavo Cerati)

The album was the axis of the extensive Sueño Stereo Tour, which began on September 8 at the Teatro Gran Rex in Buenos Aires, touring Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Mexico and the United States (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Miami), and closing it on April 24, 1996 at the Teletón Theater in Santiago de Chile. They performed a free recital for the celebration of the 113.er anniversary of the city of La Plata (capital from the province of Buenos Aires) before 367,294 people, with Julio and Marcelo Moura (formerly Virus) as guests.

We're looking for ways to get back together, because we were out of the training and the vertigo that we had... I think it happened to us like those couples who had a very big passion and then there's just sex.

Cerati in the radial program What is it?Mario Pergolini's Rock & Pop. From there Soda Stereo held the first concert of a Latin American band on the Internet on October 30, 1996.

In mid-1996, they were invited by MTV for their famous "unplugged" sessions in Miami. After declining the invitation several times, Soda Stereo managed to get the network to accept their proposal to play with their electric instruments "plugged in", but re-orchestrating and modifying the classical versions to make them slower and more musically complex, adding Andrea's female voice. Echeverri de Aterciopelados in a remarkable interpretation of "In the city of fury". In addition to this, the songs that were developed were: A missile in my closet, Among Cannibals, Steps, Zoom, When the tremor passes, Tea for three, Electric angel, Intensive love therapy, Eternal Disco, She used my head as a revolver, Walking through Rome and Genesis. This presentation was recorded partially on the album Comfort y Música Para Volar (1996) and completely on a new version of the album released in 2007. The album also included four new songs that had been left out of ' 'Sueño Stereo and an interactive track with comics and video images of the presentation on MTV.

On October 30, Soda Stereo was the first Latin American band to perform a concert to be broadcast over the Internet, in the program Cuál es?, hosted by Mario Pergolini on Argentine radio Rock &; Pop, from the auditorium of the Promúsica musical instrument store in Buenos Aires.

While the Unplugged tour was underway, an event occurred that left the band's spirits in a very bad state and made it enter its final stretch. The band was resting in a hotel in the United States, when the brothers Diego, Ezequiel and Pedro Fainguersch, who were guest musicians, played a practical joke: they squirted a fire extinguisher under the room door. In response, the gang members emptied another fire extinguisher in the Fainguersch brothers' room. The hotel financially sanctioned the band for destroying the facilities, and a discussion arose among the members about who should bear the fine: Zeta Bosio and Charly Alberti said that it must be the Fainguersch brothers for having started the fight, while Gustavo Cerati said that all members of the entourage should pay with a percentage discount on their salary. Throughout their career, the band had had many arguments like this, but Cerati always prevailed. But this time a new factor was added to the discussions: for the first time they voted among the band members, and the result was different.

We ended up voting Charly, Gustavo and I; the verdict was that the Fainguersch brothers had to pay for their heavy joke and when Daniel Kon made them his liquidation he retained the money corresponding to that bill for "destruction." As a result, the Fainguersch brothers left the band very angry and Gustavo stayed with a thorn stuck: he had not been able to impose.

Two days after that, on November 23, we closed as a closing event of an alternative festival that Nick Cave had participated in. Believe it or not, the discomfort that had generated the discussion about the incident of the firewalls was very large and the climate that poisoned the atmosphere of the van that led us to Ferro's court was noticeably dense. Gustavo seemed really upset and almost didn't talk. It was one of our finest concerts.

If ever—and there were many—we said that when the fun was over, Soda looked like the time had come.

Zeta Bosio in his book I know that place. (2016).

The tour ended at the end of November 1996, and after it the members distanced themselves again, each taking refuge in their inner circles.

Retirement Tour (1997)

For the next few months there was silence regarding the future of the band. The Fainguersch brothers' practical joke with the fire extinguishers, and Gustavo's defeat in the ensuing vote, had drastically damaged the climate within the band. Rumors of a separation grew and after a while they reached the newspapers, which alarmed Zeta, who contacted Gustavo to find out if they were true. Gustavo told him that he wanted to end the band right there. Zeta tried to convince him by arguing that the entire entourage was financially dependent on the band and would be out of a job if there were to be a separation, but to no avail. When Charly found out, he reacted very negatively: he threatened legal action if the band broke up abruptly, and demanded that they at least go on a farewell tour. The band's manager, Daniel Kon, got into the conflict and managed to convince Gustavo, who ended up reluctantly agreeing to do a farewell tour, but establishing his conditions: it would be a short tour with very few concerts. They all accepted.

On May 1, 1997, Soda Stereo officially announced its retirement through a press release. The next day all the newspapers covered the news and the Clarín newspaper dedicated a large space on its front page for it. Gustavo published the following day in the "Sí" (youth) supplement of the Clarín newspaper what would become "The Goodbye Letter":

These lines arise from what I have perceived these days in the street, in the fans that approach me, in the people around me, and in my own personal experience. I share the sadness that generates in many the news of our separation. I myself am immersed in that state because few things have been as important in my life as Soda Stereo. Anyone knows it's impossible to carry a band without a certain level of conflict. It is a fragile balance in the struggle of ideas that very few manage to maintain for fifteen years, as we proudly did. But, lately, different personal and musical outcomes began to compromise that balance. At the same time there are excuses for not confronting us, excuses finally for a group future in which we no longer believed as we did in the past. Cutting for the healthy is, worth redundancy, asserting our mental health above all and also respect for all our fans who followed us for so long. A strong hug.

The tour was scheduled to not be long like the previous ones, where they passed through several countries of the continent. This time they would only play in four: Mexico, Venezuela, Chile and Argentina, and they would do only six recitals.

During rehearsals for the final tour, the band left a participation in the album Tribute to Queen: Los Grandes del Rock in Spanish that would be released in October 1997, for which they recorded «Algún Día”, cover in Spanish of the song “Some day, one day” by Queen, published on their respective album Queen II in 1974. This would be the band's last studio recording.

The last concert was on September 20, 1997 at the River Plate stadium. The live concert was recorded, which was released on two separate CDs, under the name El Último Concierto “A” and “B”. Years later, in 2005, the long-awaited DVD of the historic concert Soda Stereo: The Last Concert was published. The recital ended with the epic and emotional interpretation of the song "De música ligera". Without having finished playing and extending the end of the song, an emotional Gustavo Cerati almost to tears, dedicated his remembered little speech, immortalizing this moment as one of the most exciting in the history of Ibero-American music:

Not only would we not have been anything without you, but with all the people who were around us from the beginning; some continue to this day. Thank you total!

When this was finished, the three very emotional musicians said goodbye.

Post-Soda (1997-2007)

Despite the constant reunion rumors, which ironically began shortly after the separation, there was little news about Soda, except for a TV special of The Last Concert produced by HBO. and a documentary called Soda Stereo: La Leyenda, produced by MTV. Finally, in 2002, the trio was seen again at the MTV Latin America Awards to receive the Legend Award for their musical career.

Seven years after the separation, it was very rare that there were no official releases, so at the end of 2003 it was announced that Sony Music would release the first Soda Stereo DVD and that it would contain a lot of unpublished material, provided by Gustavo, Zeta and Charly, as well as people very close to the band. It was clear from the beginning that the production would be by Sony and the production company Cuatro Cabezas (with Mario Pergolini at the helm).

The result hit the streets in November 2004 and was titled Soda Stereo: A Part of Euphoria (1983-1997). A documentary that summarized the history of the band through concert scenes, backstage, interviews, rehearsals, sound checks, TV presentations, etc. However, said DVD only contained Soda's story on Sony/CBS, excluding the stage on BMG, corresponding to Sueño Stereo and Comfort y Música Para Volar (from 1994 to 1996), which made it an incomplete document.

On September 20, 2005, a DVD was released in Argentina about the final concert that Soda Stereo gave exactly eight years before at the River Plate Stadium, with the title The Last Concert (Live). The DVD, unlike the special produced by HBO, focused on the Buenos Aires concert in 5.1 audio and included two songs that had previously been left out: "Juego de seducción" and "Sobredosis de TV". In addition, it included a multi-camera option for a rehearsal session of "Primavera 0" and a 25-minute documentary of the farewell tour with images of the concerts and sound checks from Mexico, Venezuela, and Argentina. An interview was also included with the late "cuarto Soda" Alfredo Lois, author of that work, one of the last he did before he died.

Turn You'll See Me Come Back (2007)

"You will see Me Back" (2007), recital in Peru. From left to right: Gustavo Cerati; Charly Alberti; Zeta Bosio.

"We saw you back": Soda's first concert at the Chilean National Stadium on October 24, 2007.

Me Verás Tour Logo Back (2007)

Entrance for recital in Bogotá (Colombia). Soda Stereo summoned a million people on his return.

27 October 2007. Estadio Modelo Alberto Spencer in Guayaquil (Ecuador). The public expects the return of Soda Stereo.

The reunification of Soda Stereo was the obligatory topic in any interview with its members after the separation. So much so that Zeta Bosio once declared:

One day I dreamed that I was no longer asked about Soda's return!

In 2007, 10 years after their split, the band decided to get together for once in order to go on a big continental tour. On June 6, 2007, the news broke, and on the 9th it became official: Soda Stereo would return to the stage through a single American tour called Me Verás Volver (an emblematic phrase of the group taken from the final stanza of the song "In the city of fury"). The tour would begin on October 19 at the River Plate Monumental Stadium in the city of Buenos Aires and originally contemplated the performance of 2 recitals in Buenos Aires, followed by presentations in several American countries. However, from the moment the tickets went on sale, it became clear that the original program would be completely overwhelmed and that it was facing a gigantic cultural event of continental scope. A third presentation was immediately scheduled in Buenos Aires.

Later, 2 more dates were added in Buenos Aires, and then an apparent closing date was added for December 15 in the City of Córdoba, although in the presentation in Buenos Aires on November 3 the group announced the closure of the tour planned in that same city for December 21; Therefore, the recitals scheduled in River were finally doubled and those scheduled elsewhere were expanded, including new cities to schedule presentations in Chile (2), Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama (1), Mexico (4), the United States (3), Peru (2), in a total of 13 cities.

In early July Sony-BMG released a new album called Me Verás Volver (Hits & +), a CD with 18 reissues of studio tracks which were remastered in 2007. The album It does not contain new songs, but includes a code to access exclusive content on its website, including recordings of the songs performed on the tour. The album reached the first position in sales in Argentina and Chile.

On September 20, exactly ten years after their last concert, Soda Stereo held their long-awaited press conference at the Club Museum nightclub, installed in a historic building in the San Telmo neighborhood designed by Gustave Eiffel in which years before they had filmed the video "En la ciudad de la furia". The surprise was that at the beginning they offered a mini-recital of two songs, which meant their formal return to the stage. The songs chosen were "Sobredosis de TV" and "En la ciudad de la furia", which were enjoyed in their original versions. The themes were performed only by the three of them and their instruments. In said conference they clarified that as of 2008 they plan to return to their respective individual activities. When asked by a journalist about what would be the equivalent in 2007 of the "total thanks" with which they closed the 1997 recital, Cerati replied:

I have no idea what I'm going to say now: that's why I'm aWaves totals”, tsunami by means.

In October 2007 Sony-BMG released Comfort and music for flying in its DVD version. The difference that said DVD has with respect to the CD released in 1996 is that the complete unplugged is included.

Faced with the continental commotion (named as “the tremor”) that produced the return of Soda Stereo, producers of all origins, including those responsible for the Viña del Mar Festival, began contacts to book new concerts for the group. In all cases they found a conclusive sentence by Gustavo Cerati:

The union is a bubble in time.

Finally, on October 19, the expected return of Soda Stereo took place at the River Plate Stadium. At the time, a huge poster contained a phrase composed with titles of their songs:

When the tremor passes in the city of fury it will sound light music and we will be fugitives behind the American blind.

The band performed accompanied by one of the main "soda rooms" in their history, Tweety González (keyboards), as well as Leandro Fresco (keyboards, percussion and background vocals) and Leo García (guitar and vocals). The recital lasted more than three hours and they played 28 songs, opening with the reproduction of an excerpt from "Algún Día" (the song they recorded 10 years earlier for the Tribute to Queen album) while images of Soda Stereo's musical history were shown., until the appearance of Gustavo, Zeta and Charly on stage to start playing "Juego de seducción" and closing with "Nothing Personal" and "Te hacen falta vitaminas", three of their oldest songs, a set-list that they kept in all the recitals of the tour.

After three recitals in Buenos Aires (October 19, 20 and 21) Soda performed in Santiago de Chile (October 24 and 31), with an intermediate presentation in Guayaquil (October 27) together with Daniel Sais in the song "Prófugos", returning to perform two more concerts in Buenos Aires (November 2 and 3) and then travel to Mexico where they performed in Monterrey (November 9), Zapopan (November 12), D.F. (November 15 and 16), Los Angeles (November 21), Bogotá (November 24), Panama (November 27), Caracas (November 29), Miami (December 4 and 5), Lima (December 8 and December 9) and Córdoba, Argentina (December 15); in all cases with sold-out tickets except in Los Angeles. In total, the return of Soda Stereo will have summoned a million people.

Among the dialogues that Gustavo Cerati had on behalf of the band with the fans during the recitals, the moments in which he thanked the applause with a "thank you" and the people responded "totals!", as well as when he sang "A million light years" ("don't come back for no reason") and said:

We have a great reason to come back: you!

On December 21, 2007, the last recital was held at the River Stadium in the city of Buenos Aires, including three songs that were not on the rest of the tour: «Si no fuera por…», «Terapia de intensive love» and «What bleeds (The dome)». Added to the band and the three guest musicians who made the tour were Andrea Álvarez (“Pic-nic en el 4to B”), Richard Coleman (“You don't exist”), Fabián “Zorrito Vön” Quintiero (“Danza rota” and “Danza rota” and “ Prófugos"), Carlos Alomar ("What bleeds (La dome)" and "Intensive love therapy") and Gillespi ("Signs" and "It was"). Cerati once again uttered his famous expression, "total thanks", after playing the song "De música ligera" and broke the guitar at the end of the final solo in "Sueles dejáme solo".

The critics have been coincident in highlighting the high level of rehearsals and the good assembly of the band, as well as an atmosphere of understanding between the musicians, something that Gustavo Cerati also highlighted from the stage, at the same time that he said goodbye with a "until ten years from now".

In August 2008, the Sony BMG label released the DVD of the “Me Verás Volver” tour, which contains the songs performed by the band in the concerts as well as the testimonials of Gustavo Cerati, Charly Alberti and Zeta Bosio and special guests. In addition, a double CD with the same songs was released on July 18, 2008, and was marketed separately.

Death of Gustavo Cerati and Seventh Day (2008-2020)

In March 2010, Zeta Bosio said in an interview that Soda Stereo planned to return to the stage with a new studio album. However, on May 16, Cerati suffered a stroke from which he failed to recover. After four years of being in a coma, he passed away on September 4, 2014.

In 2015, Cirque du Soleil announced a themed tribute show to the band titled Sép7imo Día - I will not rest, presenting it between 2017 and 2018. Zeta and Charly reunited to produce the soundtrack, remixing original tracks of different songs. In March 2017, the remix album SÉP7IMO DÍA was published, which includes the 18 tracks performed at the event. As a result of this, they began to consider the idea of playing together again.

Total Thanks (2020-2022)

Soda Stereo in Buenos Aires, May 17, 2022. On the left you can see the white light on the stage floor, symbolizing the presence of Gustavo Cerati, on the site where he was located. He didn't turn off at any time during the recital.

In October 2019, the remaining members of Soda Stereo announced the Gracias Totales tour through a video and a letter to their followers on their social networks. It began on February 29, 2020 at the El Campín Stadium in Bogotá, Colombia. They are scheduled to visit Argentina, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, the United States, among other countries in America during the tour. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all remaining concerts on the tour had to be rescheduled to 2021 and 2022.

On the tour, Bosio and Alberti were accompanied by various singers both live and through pre-recorded videos, including Richard Coleman, Zorrito von Quintiero, Chris Martin, Adrián Dárgelos, Rubén Albarrán, Álvaro Henríquez, Mon Laferte, Juanes, Simón Bosio (son of Zeta), Benito Cerati (son of Gustavo), Julieta Venegas, Catupecu Machu, Gustavo Santaolalla, among others, as well as showing videos of Cerati.

On June 23, 2021, they presented their first animated video for the song "Why can't I be from the Jet-Set?" on his official YouTube channel. During that year and early 2022, they released the animated videos for the songs "Sobredosis de TV", "Imágenes Retro", "Danza rota", "Prófugos", "En camino", "El ritmo de tus ojos", "Lo That Bleeds (The Dome)", "A Million Light Years", "Among Cannibals", "Red Moon", "Take the Route", "Star Cream" and "Walking Through Rome".

On November 7 and 8, 2022, Zeta Bosio and Charly Alberti were invited by Coldplay at the Monumental Stadium to perform "Persiana Americana", "De Música Ligera" and "Yellow" by the British group, on the Music of the Spheres World Tour.

Musical style

Influences

Soda Stereo was a band that particularly explored new sounds, especially inspired by the creative desire of Gustavo Cerati; and they always sought that none of their albums sounded the same as the previous one. One of his main and clearest influences throughout the group's musical career was the one he received permanently from the new wave. Artists who influenced Soda during his career include The Smiths, Fine Young Cannibals, and the solo works of George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon; The Police, New Order, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Television, Echo & The Bunnymen, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Virus, XTC, The Specials, Squeeze, Pink Floyd, Queen (as seen in the tribute song "Someday"), My Bloody Valentine, and the Cocteau Twins. Regarding each one separately, some of Cerati's biggest idols were Sting (vocalist of The Police) and Luis Alberto Spinetta. Likewise, the song Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix and the virtuosity of Ritchie Blackmore were the motivation for him to take his first steps with the electric guitar; Zeta learned to play bass by watching his idol Paul McCartney; and Charly learned a lot from his father Tito Alberti and also admired Stewart Copeland, drummer for The Police.

1980s

In their beginnings, they had a new wave sound with pop rock, with many ska rhythms, which can be heard on their first self-titled album Soda Stereo, a tributary of bands like The Police and The Specials. As time went by, they abandoned the ska sound and the new wave sound matured. Influenced by bands like The Cure and Television, they added influences from post-punk and emerging alternative rock. That was how, on the albums Nada Personal and Signos, hits ("Juego de seducción", "Persiana americana", "El rito") coexisted with darker songs ("No you exist”, “Echoes”, “Final Black Box”).

Toward the end of the decade, the group decided to change course. To do this, Gustavo Cerati hired the experienced musician Carlos Alomar (among others, David Bowie's guitarist for many years) as a music producer and they went to live in New York for more than a month to work on their fourth album Doble Vida. Thanks to this, they added to the new wave sound, influences from North American music, especially funk and soul, and sophisti-pop, although there would be exceptions, such as the "gothic" from "In the city of fury".

1990s

The change of decade marked a before and after in the band's musical style, leaving aside its characteristic new wave sound, for one more based on the protagonism of the guitar. That was how Canción Animal came to light in 1990, an alternative album with influences from hard rock, with the songs Canción Animal, Entre Caníbales, Un million años luz, Sueles leave me alone, On the Seventh Day and what the specialized press considers the hymn of Latin rock: Of light music, it would also become their most successful album, the most acclaimed, they performed the Animal Tour for more than 100 cities in Latin America and the United States but, to the surprise of many, the most radical change was yet to come.

In 1992, and after completing the extensive and successful Animal Tour, they returned to the recording studio. Influenced by some independent styles of the late 80's and early 90's in England, the band decides to renounce the massiveness, the radio and the sounds of raw rock, to give a complete turn to their music., releasing that same year Dynamo, with a powerful and dark sound that mixed shoegazing, madchester, noise, dance and many other subgenres of alternative rock.

In 1995, and after almost separating, they decided to return to their origins with what would be their last studio album, Sueño Stereo. Although they kept a predominant alternative sound, they made it more melodic and softened. In addition, a notable influence of electronic music, psychedelia and dream pop was appreciated. This translated into a resounding success for the album, especially hits like "She Used My Head Like a Gun" and "Zoom." The band also took the time to experiment, especially with the last three songs on the album.

The path the band wanted to follow if they had continued together is a mystery, although it seemed to be oriented towards electronic music, as Gustavo Cerati would show in 1999 with his album Bocanada, the first after the break of the group.

Legacy

Soda Stereo together with the then president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in 2007.

Soda Stereo has been considered one of the pioneering bands of Ibero-American rock.

They were the first band to step decisively outside the local limits of their country of origin and consider Ibero-America as a cultural space unified by language. The result was a widespread popularity and identification of Latino youth, above of the countries, which was already a fact for Anglo-Saxon rock, but it was not for Latin rock, rock in Spanish and rock Ibero-American i>rock, different variants of the same cultural-musical phenomenon.

Soda Stereo paved the way for the massiveness of Latin rock by finding a way to break the “rock vs. pop” dilemma that traditionally tore apart Latin American popular music, the former supported by the middle and wealthy social sectors with strong Anglo-Saxon rock influences and the second implanted in the broad popular sectors and workers linked to "Latin" and "danceable" rhythms; one and the other despising each other. Gustavo Cerati referred to this dilemma in 1996 when he declared:

We are a pop group with a strong and absorbed rock culture.

Soda Stereo meant the beginning of an internationalization that incorporated local musicians into a great continental rock current, to the point of leading local analysts to wonder if "does it make sense to continue talking about national rock?" In many parts of Latin America, such as Colombia, Soda Stereo expressed the musicality and pose of a new generation, which sought to differentiate itself from the "thirty-eighties" who liked Dominican merengue, to start listening and singing rock in Spanish. In Chile, Soda not only marked an entire generation with its "look", its lyrics and its music, but also the intense emotional relationship established between the band and its fans It was a determining factor to "denationalize" the group and make it an expression, not only of the youth of a given country, but of youth as a uniform social sector with common problems and languages, something that rock and roll had not been able to achieve. until then in Spanish-speaking countries due to the language barrier.

We left Argentina and started going to Chile, Peru, we started going up and in some countries it happened that we arrived and had never been a rock band. They told us that this was one thing from the other world and it wasn't going to work... Now it is a joy to see that it works and has its own strength.

Of course, the musical-cultural phenomenon that Soda Stereo expressed in Latin America exceeds the band itself and is inserted into the deep reasons related to youth identity, which have made rock and roll a global cultural movement, as well as in the sociocultural conditions of Latin American youth from the 1980s (exit from dictatorships, globalization, postmodernism, information society, exacerbation of social inequalities). When Soda Stereo starred in the continental explosion of Latin rock, each country in Latin America was a breeding ground formed by a "movement of new bands", as it was called in Venezuela.

The decisive influence of Soda Stereo on Latin rock music of the 1990s and early 21st century has been reflected in the opinion of the most prominent musicians on the continent:

All my life I've been a fan of Cerati when he was part of Soda Stereo and before I met him he had already gone to three of his concerts. Both Gustavo and Santana have enriched me, are my little miracles. (Shakira)

Soda Stereo is one of the most emblematic bands in Latin America. (Gustavo Santaolalla)

'The 'temblor' was the first song I heard from them, it was the one that sounded in Colombia of first. I love (to meet). Why not, if they're alive? They're a total legend. They have marked a very important story for all young Latin Americans and see them together again because it will be a great, great event. (Johns)

Soda Stereo is a wonderful group. I am very happy (for the new tour). It's one of the best Latin rock bands. (John Louis Guerra)

Records, achievements and data

• First Latin American musical group to use the CD format with the album Signs(the first Latin American artist to publish on CD was Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau, who published in 1982 one of the first CDs in history).
• First Latin American group to have a television broadcast with stereo sound, during the presentation of their Dynamo album on the Fax program in 1992.^{[chuckles]required]}
• First Spanish rock group to present in the United States as the only group of the event.
• More dates followed at the Gran Rex Theatre of Buenos Aires; 14 presentations during the Animal Tour of 1991. In 1993 the brand would be overtaken by Sandro with 40 presentations. In 2004, the record was overtaken by the Argentine pop band Bandana, with a total of 180 shows (+590 000 spectators).
• First Spanish band to perform a tour of Latin America. Formerly Spanish rock groups rarely left their country of origin and if they did, they did not get much success. Soda Stereo was the first group to exploit the idea of expansion throughout the region.^{[chuckles]required]}
• First Ibero-American band to include an interactive track on its record material. In this case with his Unplugged album by MTV, Comfort and Music to Volar, 1996.^{[chuckles]required]}
• First Ibero-American band to broadcast a concert via the internet (1996), in the Argentine radio program What is it? de la Rock & Pop.
• In his tour Me Verás Back 2007 he reached the record of performing six recitals at the River Plate Monumental Stadium on the same tour, surpassing the previous five mark, which only the Rolling Stones had reached and which would then be overcome by Roger Waters in 2012, with nine recitals; and later by Coldplay in 2022 with ten recitals.
• Before the Me Verás Tour Back, Robbie Williams held the record of more tickets sold in Argentina in less time (run a River Plate stadium in five days), but the record was overtaken by Soda Stereo in 2007 when selling two River Plate stadiums in less than 24 hours.
• In Peru, the "SOLD OUT" was achieved in just 5 days of tickets for sale, opening a new presentation in Lima for December 9, 2007. The rock group gathered 100,000 souls, on the two dates they presented, thus being the most massive paid concert in the country.
• During the tour You will see me back 2007 were present in Ecuador 55 000 spectators at the Alberto Spencer Stadium in Guayaquil. The biggest concert ever in the history of Ecuador.
• In Chile it is the international band that most people have taken to the Chilean National Stadium, surpassed only by the Prisoners, who hold that record with their two presentations in 2001.
• Record of assistance to a paid concert in Venezuela by bringing together more 65 000 fans at the Hippodrome de la Rinconada in Caracas, in 2007, during the Me Verás Back tour.
• One of the biggest attendances to a paid concert in Colombia by bringing together 70,000 people at the Simón Bolívar Park in Bogotá in 2007, during the Me Verás Back tour, although the attendance record in Colombia has Metallica.
• Récord de asistencia a un concert pago en el Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama, con 22,000 spectators, el 27 de noviembre de 2007.
• Récord de asistencia a un concert pago en Estadio Chateau Carreras de Córdoba, con 65 000 spectators, el 15 de diciembre de 2007. With this fact, he snatched the Patricio Rey band and his Redonditos from Ricota the record he had made years ago at that Cordoba stadium.

Awards and nominations

MTV Video Music Awards

MTV Video Music Awards Latin America/ Los Premios MTV

Members

• Gustavo Cerati - vocals, guitars, samplers, synthesizers, piano Rhodes, percussion, rhythm boxes Roland 707 and MPC60, bass without frets (1982-2014)
• Zeta Bosio - bass, choirs, samplers, synthesizers, percussion, Chapman Stick, bass, harmonic, guitar (1982-presente)
• Charly Alberti - drummer, percussion (1982-present)

“The Fourth Soda”

It is common, both among fans and in the specialized press, to refer to the "Soda room" to qualify certain people who have been very important in the work of Soda Stereo. Both the keyboard player Tweety González and the late Alfredo Lois, in charge of the image and videos, have stood out among the collaborators and repeatedly received the nickname "el cuarto Soda". But other musicians have received recognition from "cuarto Soda" such as Daniel Melero, Fabián "Vön" Quintiero, Richard Coleman and Daniel Sais.

Exceptionally, we speak of fifth and sixth Soda, to refer to the other main accompanist musicians. Rolling Stone magazine has highlighted saxophonists Gonzo Palacios and Marcelo Sánchez, percussionist Andrea Álvarez as well as Axel Krygier, Alejandro Terán and Flavio Etcheto as the "fifth Soda".

Collaborating musicians

Soda Stereo adopted a method of hiring "guest musicians" to complete the band for both recording and live performances. The following is the list of those musicians ordered chronologically.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1984: Soda Stereo
• 1985: Nothing personal
• 1986: Signs
• 1988: Double life
• 1990: Animal song
• 1992: Dynamo
• 1995: Dream Stereo

Remixes and Live

• 1987: White noise
• 1989: Languis
• 1991: Rex Mix
• 1993: Promise zone
• 1996: Comfort and Music to Fly
• 1997: Last Concert A and B
• 2007: See me Back Hits & +
• 2007: Comfort and Music to Fly
• 2008: Tour Me Veras Return 1 and 2

Music tours

• 1983-1984: Under Tour
• 1984-1985: Soda Stereo Tour
• 1985-1986: No Personal Tour
• 1986-1988: Sign Tour
• 1988-1989 Double Life Tour
• 1989-1990: Languis Tour
• 1990-1992: Animal Tour
• 1992-1993: Dynamo Tour
• 1995-1996: Stereo Dream Tour
• 1996: Comfort Tour and Music to Fly
• 1997: The Last Concert
• 2007: Me Verás Back
• 2020-2022: Thank you Total - Soda Stereo

Videography

VHS

DVDs

Streaming

Video clips

Long duration