Retro Album Review: Rivermaya Isang Ugat, Isang Dugo

Here's another old album review I dug up in the internet. Rivermaya's isang Ugat Isang Dugo tribute album based on the 1980's indie compilation album "10 of another kind". This was Rico Blanco's last album with Rivermaya. Months later, he would leave the band to pursue other interests in his life as well as taking a break from music related business. 

Rivermaya: Isang Ugat, Isang Dugo

I first heard of Isang Bandila on Abs-Cbn’s Bandila newscast program. And from the start, I knew it was from Rivermaya. Isang Bandila is one of those signature Rivermaya tracks that we have been hearing for decades. It kind of reminds me of Awit ng Kabataan for its Battle Cry type of message, and Alab ng Puso sound wise. And I was immediately hooked. As for thefollowing songs… A little disclaimer must be put in place first. I have always been an advocate of original songs. I really don’t appreciate bands covering songs from other bands and have it released and be included in a band’s full-length album. Well, tribute albums are an exception, because it’s a tribute album. And to know that Rivermaya’s next full-length album would consist of roughly 93% of cover songs, I was a bit disappointed at first. Because the band has been making excellent songs for decades now, and I believe for sure that they are still capable of making a new batch of excellent songs (well not unless they are in an artistic rut and their creative juices have been sucked dry). That was my initial reaction when I first heard of the album’s concept. Then I came across what Mark Escueta posted on the Ground a couple of months back that the reason why the concept was such would be explained in the album. This made me more eager to purchase their album at the soonest time possible. I spent two weeks since the release date was announced scouring the record bars here in CDO which unfortunately still did not carry the album. I got my copy from Cebu.

What followed next was one of the most liberating musical experiences that I have ever had (one was the between the stars and waves album). Rivermaya selfishly released their own tribute album in a market flooded with tribute albums (Eraserheads and Apo anyone?), and I meant it in a good way. Eraserheads and APO have been time and again a commercial success. Reaping the monetary rewards with their excellent music and songwriting creations. But for the bands whose songs Rivermaya is covering for their new full-length album, they are the exact opposites. Most if not all of them  are not heard of for such a long time already. They in a way represented  the underground music scene of the 80’s. An era where bands struggled to have their music recorded and released. The underground scene where excellent bands came into existence but eventually died down as a result of the young artistic spirits moving on to seek greener pastures in the corporate world because their music never put food on their tables. I personally never heard any of these songs before. I don’t know of any of you have heard them before (siguro yung mga nakakatanda, you’ve heard them na, but don’t admit it lest you want people to know you are old hehehe). But this is the reason why I am now appreciating the album very much. These are songs that are in a way new to me because they were never really big mainstream successes. They were raw 80’s underground music. Listening to them is just like listening to a new song that Rivermaya has penned. Each and every song was a mystery waiting to be unlocked. And just like the previous musical liberty that I have experienced with Between the stars album, I am now looking forward to knowing and hearing more about the bands that Rivermaya has chosen to cover. Hoping that this effort by Rivermaya would in a way reawaken the original bands in this album's young artistic spirits and just for the fun of it and for the love of music, Reunite and record one reunion album for this generation to hear and discover.

Rivermaya covers the Wuds' Inosente lang ang nagtataka with Raimund Marasigan

I am elated to know that Rivermaya is not just a band who creates their own music for other people to consume. But they are also a band willing to humble down and rework, rerecord and unearth old classics that never saw the light of day during this new generation. Songs that had began to die down and never to be appreciated, never to be heard of again. We are a lucky bunch. We are a lucky generation that Rivermaya is doing this not for them selves, but for us, and for the bands that had their songs included in Rivermaya’s new album.

I can’t comment much and compare the songs with the original versions because I never heard any of them. But I totally enjoyed each and every song. Makes me feel the re-emergence of 80’s music once more. Tracks that stood out for me aside from Isang Bandila were Golden Boy, a reworking of a song by Ethnic Faces. Things Are Getting Complicated and Healing by Dean’s December, Ilog by Joey Ayala (which also featured Rico’s cousin, Kitchie Nadal), My Sanctuary and Sumigaw, Umawit Ka by Identity Crisis, And lastly, Things Within by Silos. I’m looking at this album as a tribute album. And what makes this tribute album so special is that it came from the heart. This was no marketing gimmick that a recording company had thought of in order for them to cash on. This was no project wherein the hottest and the biggest bands of the current year were grouped together, and in a way using their popularity to give life to classic surefire hits. This was a project that Rivermaya had only originally intended to be for their listening ears only. Well, not until they made a realization to share these songs to the new generation, songs that influenced them and made them who they are now. And guess what? The album is one big Jammingan ng Rivermaya as fans! With that being said. Rivermaya’s Isang Ugat, Isang Dugo is hands down the best tribute album ever released. Way much better than the Eraserheads and Apo tribute albums!