Los Prisioneros

Los Prisioneros ("The Prisoners") was a Chilean rock band formed in San Miguel, Santiago, in 1982. Considered one of the most influential Latin-American bands of all time, they've been evaluated as pioneers of Rock en español (Rock in Spanish) by Latin American media and musicians, and one of the strongest socio-political impactful bands in Chile. The group developed a new wave sound that had its roots in British punk rock, in particular the Clash, and incorporated rockabilly, reggae and ska influences, and later synthpop. They became known for their controversial, witty and subversive lyricism that criticized the socio-economic structures, education and societal attitudes of dictatorship-era Chile and Latin America as a whole. This would cause their music to be banned by the Chilean mainstream media between 1985 and 1990, but their music would continue to spread there, aided by word of mouth and shared homemade cassette tapes. The band initially met in high school, studying at San Miguel's Liceo 6, and formed as "Los Vinchukas" (a play on the Beatles, one of their biggest influences), with Miguel Tapia on the drums, Claudio Narea on guitar and Jorge González serving as their lead vocalist, bassist, main songwriter and de-facto leader. After changing their name to Los Prisioneros, they recorded their first album, La voz de los '80, and released it on the independent record label Fusión Producciones. It initially struggled to achieve mainstream popularity before signing to EMI Records in 1985 and re-releasing their first album on vinyl records and cassettes. Throughout the 1980s, the band saw an increased popularity in Latin America, in particular in Chile and Peru. Starting with the release of 1986's Pateando piedras and 1987's La cultura de la basura, González began to experiment with synth pop, influenced by the growing popularity of Depeche Mode. Tensions between González and Narea escalated during the production of their 1990 album Corazones, when Narea learned of an affair between González and his wife and left the band, being replaced by Cecilia Aguayo on keyboards, and Robert Rodríguez on bass. The quartet remained active for two years before disbanding in 1992. Following the release of the compilation album Antologia, su historia y sus exitos, Los Prisioneros reunited in 2001, and played two reunion shows in Santiago's Estadio Nacional to a total of almost 150,000 people, the largest Chilean concert at the time. They recorded a self-titled reunion album in 2003, but Narea left the band shortly after due to heightened tensions with the group. Los Tres frontman Alvaro Henríquez later joined the band, recording the cover album Los Prisioneros En Las Raras Tocatas Nuevas De la Rock & Pop. Shortly after, Sergio "Coty" Badilla and Gonzalo Yáñez joined the band, and would form part of the lineup that would record their sixth and final studio album, Manzana, and would go on tour in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Chile. On 18 February 2006, in Caracas, Venezuela, the band performed their last concert. Musically, Los Prisioneros marked the beginning of a new musical era in Chile, leaving behind the 1960s folk-inspired music of Víctor Jara and Violeta Parra, and starting the new era of Nuevo Pop Chileno (New Chilean Pop)., setting the stage for many other Chilean bands, such as Aparato Raro, Cinema, Upa!, Valija Diplomática, Aterrizaje Forzoso, Electrodomésticos, Banda 69, Fulano, among others. Songs like "La Voz de los '80", "Muevan las Industrias", and "Tren al Sur" are among the most famous, important, and musically influential songs of Latin America, and the song "El baile de los que sobran" became an anthem for the 2019-2022 Chilean protests. In 2023, Rolling Stone would name Corazones among the 50 best Latin-American albums of all time.

Genre: rock-en-espanol, latin-rock

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