ladronaso, you are an awesome intellectual force.

Surprise!!!

I love "Bachata Rosa". And I got the LP !! in Germany. At this time I was only on holidays here. Now Im living Here. And at this vacations I was most of the time in the "Campo" where say played a lot of Bachata. Only in the bigger towns it was not usually because they said, this is music for the "Campesinos" and this ment only for poor people with no education! But now its changed and unfortunatelly its diffelcult to hear nice merengue in a bar.
Aventura in my oppion is boring when you hear more than 3 songs in the row.
my favorite one is Frank Reyes

Humbly, I accept your opinion and view of my persona. However in no way do I intend to impress or purport to be more than what I am. I simply try to express my views, and experiences, and the many views and opinions of others that have been silent for so long.

well, the sincerity and evenhandedness with which you assess things has served to germinate this high opinion i have of you. some guys believe that as long as it is Dominican, it has to be great. in certain cases , that has the unintended consequence of pointing to areas of weakness. i personally like some aspects of dominican food, but it is not one of the strongpoints of the society. and to speak of the bachata as if it is the new worldwide rage causes people to snicker at you, wondering which planet you are describing. and europeans in europe , who have been to the DR, will tend to seek out a bachata album or two, for fond memories. but it will not be mainstream acceptbility. it is like some guy going to Barbados on a two week vacation , then returning to New York and searching out liquor stores looking for Mount Gay rum.

100% co-sign!
I think they can do waaaay more with it and they tend to follow the same formula.
Now there has been some creativity with the urban type bachatas, but these too have become one more formula to copy.
The other thing I don't like is the incessant use of non-original lyrics (taken from Colombian Vallenato) which Colombians never fail to bring up! lmao
I mean, it also doesn't help that these songs then become the more famouse ones, while the original Vallenato song is unknown.

Those groups specialize in Mambo/street merengue which has become the dominant form.

Just in case anyone's wondering, I love bachata. I am not 'anti-bachata' , I am addressing the problems I see with the genre.
I wish more DR artist would step up to the plate and truly come up with some really creative bachata, with the proper marketing they would be major hits in all of LatinAmerica.
Some people may hate Aventura, but they are what most non-DR Latinos think of when you mention bachata.

Question: Does anyone know if the classical bachata "soy un pobre Diablo' has original lyrics?
By the way, here in Northern NJ when they play that old style bachata (to my surprise), people love it! I'm talking about non-DR latinos.

If anyone's wondering . Just because I am often vocal/verbal/typo-graphic about my views this does not discount the fact that I too love the motley arrangement of my culture. I love to hear my bachata my Merengue and my salsa as well as pop old school hip hop/rap oldies goldies (50-60's), jazz and my classic rock. But music is like food. What I eat depends on the mood. In New York I can easily have a bag of chips with a hero made with Italian or French bread from any bodega or deli just the same as having a nice medium rare steak with a glass of wine. It depends on the mood. But one thing that is definite, I cannot tolerate steak every day.

yes. ladronaso, therein lies the rub. fortunately, you have had the exposure to different musical genres that most people have not. i have a female friend from santiago who never listened to anything but merengue, salsa and bachata before she met me. one afternoon i played her some music by a now defunct fusion group from San Diego called Caldera. it is ferocious music, and, in my opinion, the guitarist, Jorge Strunz, blows away Carlos Santana. she sat mesmerised and speechless, with this appreciative smile on her face. from that day forward, all she wanted to hear was some jazz selection. maybe, if some of these bachateros listened to other musical idioms, they would become more creative in their stylings. just a thought.