Cafe Quijano Prepares Latin Rock Assault

Cafe Quijano's fourth Warner album, "Que Grande Es Esto del Amor!," is the Spanish rock group's long-awaited follow-up to its hit 2001 album, "La Taberna del Buda." That set sold more than 500,000 units in Spain and 200,000 in the U.S. and Latin America.

The new album was released Nov. 10 in Spain and is scheduled for releases across Latin America and in U.S. Latin markets in the new year. Already, first-week sales of almost 50,000 indicate Quijano's continuing appeal, according to Warner. It is No. 3 on Spain's album sales chart this week.

Singer/group leader Manuel Quijano wrote all the lyrics, which have a didactic edge. Brothers Raul and Oscar make up the teetotal triangle. Their first single, "Tequila," is a warning about the dangers of alcohol abuse.

"This is our most perfect album so far," Manuel says. "It has a more rock sound, and the songs are the best we have done, all of them denouncing falseness and hypocrisy. But the title means that love is the greatest of all the senses-in the satisfaction, in the suffering and in the surprise."

Spain's biggest-selling Latin rock band, whose three previous albums have sold 2 million units worldwide, again recorded in Los Angeles' Westlake Studios with Humberto Gattica (Celine Dion, Chicago, Barbra Streisand).

Dion guests on "Nadie lo Entiende," a song about a car crash that nearly killed the band's manager two years ago. The Dion contribution, unusual for a rock band, was recorded in Las Vegas. Of Dion, Manuel says, "The grandeur of Celine Dion is her humility."

Cafe Quijano is the only Spanish group to have ever been nominated for a Grammy Award (in 2001, in the Latin rock/alternative category). Its appeal in its native Spain seems boundless. "La Taverna del Buda" spent an impressive 75 weeks on Spain's top 20 album chart, rising to No. 4 after 70 weeks.

Only Virgin act Amaral has equaled this in recent years. Its CD "Estrella de Mar" was at No. 20 in the first week of November after spending 91 weeks in the top 20. Quijano and Amaral both achieved slow-but-steady sales boosts following lengthy tours. The La Taberna del Buda tour took in more than 200 concerts between June 2001 and October 2002.

"We'll tour the U.S. and Latin America next March and April, then Spain starting in May, but not as extensively," Manuel says.

Asked how important it is for a Spanish Latin rock band to record in Los Angeles, Manuel says: "Los Angeles gives us the chance to record with artists we like, American musicians with a Californian sound. That's what our new album has."