El Cielo Puede Esperar

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El Cielo Puede Esperar

Studio album by Attaque 77

Released

1990

Genre

Punk-Rock

Length

34:16

Attaque 77 chronology

Dulce Navidad
(1989)

El Cielo Puede Esperar
(1990)

Rabioso! La Pesadilla Recién Comienza
(1991)

"El cielo puede esperar" (Spanish for "Heaven can wait") is the second Attaque 77 album. It was released in 1990 by the Radio Tripoli label (then the primary source for punk rock releases in Argentina). With much improved sound and songwriting in comparison with their first LP, "Dulce Navidad", this album established the band as a regular feature in mainstream Argentine rock. Originally released only on vinyl, it was released on CD in 1991 (coupled with the first LP). This CD pressing has since being deleted, and both albums were later released separately.

Stilistically it follows the guidelines of their debut, mostly '77 punk rock, but if the first album was too centered on The Ramones as an influence, this one expanded the showcase to the Sex Pistols, The Clash (actually a heavy influence on the band) and the Buzzcocks. However, the media and audience in Argentina hammered the concept of Attaque 77 as an exclusively Ramones-driven outfit, mostly due to ignorance of other punk references in the media and the general public.

Lyric-wise, the album centered on life in the working class suburbs and young men's expectations being somewhat crippled by life. The juvenile tone of the first album remains but the joking lyrics are gone.

Although it wasn't originally one of the singles cut for radio promotion (a honour reserved to the title track and "Donde las aguilas se atreven"), the mid-tempo ballad "Hacelo por mi" was a smash hit on its own in early 1991, and Attaque 77 actually became a crossover band for a while (there was even a TV show named after the song). This first great upsurge of popularity lasted about a year, and the band actually stopped playing the song for years, being sick of it (and their hardcore fans were wary of it because it was a commercial hit). Since then they've make peace with their old hit and they're playing it again.

The song "Espadas y serpientes", written from the point of view of a jailed man giving hope to his girlfriend who's awaiting for him to be released, is particularly cherished by the fans and has become a live classic, and it can be considered Attaque's signature tune.