Areíto (album)
Areíto is the sixth album by Juan Luis Guerra with his band 440, released in 1992. The album, meant to be a tribute to the indigenous tribes of the Dominican Republic, is named after a dance that the aboriginal inhabitants of the Greater Antilles (taínos) accompanied with songs during their festivals and religious rites. Guerra's songs continued to show a strong influence from African and Aboriginal music. Famous Congolese musician Diblo Dibala played guitar in the song "El Costo de la Vida", which was a Spanish cover of his own soukous song "Kimia Eve", while the last  track on the album, "Naboria daca, mayanimacaná", is sung in Arawak, the language of the Taíno people. Areíto was originally set to be released on early April 1992, was pushback to the end of October 1992 and was finally released on December 15, 1992. According to Guerra himself, Areíto did not serve as a follow-up of Bachata Rosa. The album received universal acclaim from critics. It considered one of Juan Luis Guerra's most classic and important albums, along with Bachata Rosa (1990) and Ojala Que Llueva Cafe (1989). It was also his most introspective, as witnessed by the  socio-political themes addressed in some songs. However, it faced some controversy due the strong social lyrics in some protest songs, and the music video of the album's third single, "El Costo de la Vida" was banned in several countries. The song album contains lyrics about poor conditions in many Latin American countries, the celebration of the 'discovery' of America and the double standards of first-world nations. Some critics' and detractors labeled this as anti-capitalist tendencies. Despite this "El costo de la vida" was his first number-one hit in the Hot Latin Tracks. Areíto was nominated  for Best Tropical Latin Album at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards and three nominations to Lo Nuestro Awards, including Tropical/Salsa Album of the Year. To promote this album, he embarked the Areíto World Tour in 1993, his largest tour at the time. The album was a commercial success selling over 2 millions of copies. Critical reception. The album received positive reviews from critics. Enrique Lopetegui from "Los Angeles Times" gave a positive review and wrote "Areito, is less spectacular than 'Bachata Rosa,' but no less ambitious". Achy Obejas from the "Chicago Tribune" gave it for 4 out 4 stars  and praised the album's lyrics and wrote "Songs on Guerra's latest release, Areíto bemoan the rising cost of living in the Dominican Republic and throughout the Third World". Jason Birchmeier from Allmusic gave it 4.5 stars of 5 and wrote "It's an otherwise magnificent album that, along with its two predecessors, is one of Guerra's classics". "Billboard" also praised the record calling it "[Guerra's] most wide-ranging, satisfying effort to date." Commercial reception. Album. Areíto was well received by the music industry. It had one of the largest initial shipments ever for a Spanish language  album, with 400,000 units in the US and 2 million worldwide. In the United States, Guerra was named top selling tropical/salsa Latin artist of 1993 and Areíto the second best selling tropical/salsa Latin album of 1993. Areíto was also a commercial success in Latin America and was certified Gold and Platinum in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Spain and Venezuela. In Spain, Despite the high expectations, the album peaked at number 2. It eventually sold over 300,000 copies and was the 7th best selling album of 1993 in Spain and 5th best selling album by a foreign artist. . In  Mexico, Areito sold 125,000 copies and was certified Gold. By 1993, the album had sold 1,500,000 copies worldwide, eventually selling 2 million copies worldwide. However, sales figures from Areíto were significantly less in comparation of Bachata Rosa. Some attributed that one of the reasons was because Areíto did not have the same formula of mixed rhythms that caused his predecessor reached new audiences and universal acclaim. Instead, the album musical structure was based more on Traditional-Bachata, Meregue and Bolero, causing some disappointment on the most recent fans at the time. Singles. "Frio Frio" was the first single released from  the album. It peaked at 4 on the "Billboard" Hot Latin Songs chart and 5 in Uruguay. "Señales de Humo" was the second single released from the album. It reached number six on the Hot Latin Songs chart, number 9 in Peru, number 1 in Venezuela, number 9 in Mexico and 7 in Dominican Republic. "El costo de la vida" was the third single and was released from the album shortly after being released. Despite the controversy, it was the first number one "Bllboard" Hot Latin Songs and peaked at number 2 in Venezuela. Tour. To promote the album, Juan  Luis Guerra and 440 embarked at their largest and intense tour at the time, Areíto World Tour. It started on July 3 in New York and ended on October 16 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. In the United States, the first show in New York was sold out. However, attendance at July 9 show at the James L. Knight Center in Miami was disappointing, 4,000 of the 6,000 seats, significantly less than the sold-out show in Miami Arena on the Bachata Rosa Tour in December 1991. In Spain, the Madrid concerts on September 14 and 15 at Las Vegas were sold  out with attendance of 40,000 fans and 9,000 fans at Sevilla on September 22 concert. During the tour dates in Spain, Areíto comeback to the top 10 due album sales surge. The two concerts in Barcelona at the Palau Sant Jordi on October 5 and 6 were sold out with 41,644 seats, grossing . A concert at the La Romareda in Zaragoza on October 10 had an attendance of 28,541 (of 30,000 seats) grossing and the Las Palmas concert on September 30 at the Insular Stadium had attendance of 18,517 (of 20,000) with a gross of . In the Netherlands, the concert  in the Ahoy in Rotherdam on October 16 was sold out, with over 10,000 tickets sold, becoming the first merengue artist to do so.