Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time.
They were a power trio formed in 1982 by lead singer-songwriter and guitarist Gustavo Cerati, bassist and backing vocalist Héctor "Zeta" Bosio, and drummer Charly Alberti at Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Soda Stereo were the first Latin rock group to achieve success throughout South and Central America. They helped popularize the Rock En Español, Ibero-American Rock, and Latin Rock genres to a mainstream audience. The band established what would become the template for many other popular Spanish-speaking rock music groups. Soda Stereo has topped the all time lists in much of Latin America and in their native Argentina, where they set landmarks in record sales and concert attendances.
In theirs active career they sold over 7 million of albums only in Latin America and this number has continued to rise after the separation of the band. In 2002 Soda Stereo was awarded the Legend Prize by MTV Latin America, the first prize to be awarded of its kind.
Their career spanned from 1982–1997, followed by a short comeback tour in 2007-2008. Soda Stereo began as a new wave outfit influenced by The Police, The Specials, Television, The Cure, XTC, and other Argentine rock. Their music evolved toward a heavier alternative rock sound throughout the 90’s, eventually drawing influences from classic rock, grunge, progressive rock, shoegaze, and Britpop.
Four of their albums have been included in the list of Top 250 all time Latin rock: Canción Animal (Nº. 2), Comfort y Música Para Volar (Nº. 15), Signos (Nº. 40), Sueño Stereo (Nº 41), and two of their albums have been included in the Rolling Stone Argentina list, "Los 100 mejores discos del rock nacional" (The 100 best albums of national rock): Canción Animal (No. 9) and Signos (No. 25).
Regardless of the constant rumors of a reunion, which ironically started shortly after the breakup, little was heard regarding Soda, except for a TV special on “El Ultimo Concierto” (The Last Concert) produced by HBO and an MTV documentary titled Soda Stereo: La Leyenda (Soda Stereo: The Legend). Finally, in 2002 the trio was reunited at the MTV Latin Music Video Awards where they were awarded the Legend award in honor of their musical and visual trajectory.
Seven years after the breakup and the absence of any new official releases seemed odd. Near the end of 2003 Sony Music announced the release of the first DVD by Soda Stereo, on that contained much unreleased material from compiled by Gustavo, Zeta, Charly, and people close to the band.
The finished product arrived on the streets on November 2004. It was titled, Soda Stereo: Una Parte de La Euforia (1983–1997) (Soda Stereo: A Part of the Euphoria (1983–1997)). On September 20, 2005 an Argentinian DVD of Soda’s last concert, which took place exactly 8 years before at River Plate stadium was released. It was titled El Ultimo Concierto (En Vivo) (The Last Concert – Live). The DVD, in contrast to the HBO production, featured a 5.1 audio and included two songs that were not aired on the HBO concert, “Juego de Seduccion” and “Sobredosis de TV.”
It also included a multi camera option for a soundcheck of “Primavera 0” and a 25 minute documentary about the tour featuring footage of sound checks and concerts in Mexico, Venezuela, and Argentina. It also featured an interview with the long lost “fourth Soda” Alfredo Lois, the director of the DVD, one his last works before his death.
In 2007, ten years after the breakup, the band decides to reunite for one time with the goal of accomplishing a grand continental tour. On the 6th of June 2007, the official news came out: Soda Stereo will return to the stage with a sole American tour called Me Veras Volver (You Will See Me Return), a phrase that’s emblematic of their song “En La Ciudad de la Furia”
On the 21st of December 2007 the last concert was held at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. Three extra songs were played for this show, “Si No Fuera Por,” “Terapia de Amor Intensiva,” and “Lo Que Sangra (La Cúpula).” The band was joined by Andrea Álvarez for “Picnic en el 4B”, Richard Coleman for “No Existes”, Fabián “Zorrito Vön" Quintiero for “Danza Rota” and “Profugos”, Carlos Alomar for “Lo Que Sangra (La Cúpula)” and “Terapia de Amor Intensiva,” and Gillespie for “Signos” and “Fue.” Cerati returned to use his famous expression “gracias totales,” and after playing “De Musica Ligera.” Finally, Cerati played the riff of “Sueles Dejarme Solo” and smashed his guitar.
