La Arrolladora Banda El Limón De Rene Camacho

Mazatlán is the heart of the banda style of Mexican music and one of its greatest practitioners, La Arrolladora Banda el Limón de Rene Camacho, has been active since the mid-'60s. Led by their namesake clarinetist, they specialize in rhythmic, horn-driven banda -- cousin to conjunto and norteño music. For nearly three decades the group was a nationally celebrated live attraction prior to its 1997 breakthrough album Mas Arrolladora Que Nunca. They signed with Disa for 2004's Huele a Peligro, and topped the Latin Albums charts consecutively with 2007's Para Ti en Exclusivo, 2009's Más Adelante, and 2010's Todo depende de Tí. Nine more titles, including 2014's En Vivo Desde el Coloso de Reforma, 2019's Labios Mentirosos, and 2022's Prefiero Estar Contigo charted inside the Top 200. In 2023, they released the Aquí Hay Para Llevar, and in 2024 delivered three simultaneously released 15-song volumes of romantic songs and heartbreak ballads titled Terapia Arrolladora. Led by clarinetist René Camacho, La Arrolladora Banda el Limón are a banda group from Sinaloa who made their commercial recording debut in 1997 and quickly rose to the top of the Mexican regional music scene. Comprised of over a dozen bandmembers, the group perform a range of Mexican regional music including rancheras, corridos, ballads, and cumbias. Founded by Camacho in El Limón de los Peraza, a town approximately 80 kilometers north of Mazatlán, the second-largest city in the state of Sinaloa in northwestern Mexico, La Arrolladora Banda el Limón were active for many years prior to making their full-length album debut with ¡Mas Arrolladora Que Nunca! (1997) on La Sierra Records. The group released a total of eight albums on La Sierra Records between 1997 and 2001, often releasing two per year. From the beginning, all of the group's albums were produced by Fernando Camacho and arranged by René Camacho. As La Arrolladora Banda el Limón grew in popularity, building a fan base that spread from Mexico to the United States, they moved to the Univision Music Group affiliate Disa Records and made their debut on the label with Grandes Boleros Arrolladores (2002). New albums followed on a regular basis, often more than one per year. In addition to studio albums, the group released live albums including En Vivo Desde Culiacán, Sinaloa (2004), Para Ti Exclusivo en Vivo Desde Arandas, Jalisco (2007), and Sold Out Desde Los Angeles (2009). While the success of La Arrolladora Banda el Limón continued to grow with each passing year (including their first-ever Billboard chart-topper Más Adelante in 2009), their pre-Disa material was repackaged by Sony Music on a series of compilations including Personalidad: 20 Exitos (2002), La Historia de la Arrolladora (2008), and Lo Esencial de la Arrolladora Banda el Limón (2009). The group and its labels issued numerous compilations along themed lines -- cumbias, romanticas, hits, etc. -- over the next several years. A recording of new studio material titled Ojos en Blanco was issued in February 2015. It landed at number one on the Mexican Regional album charts, and also placed well inside the general Top 200. The album was nominated in the category of Best Banda Album at that year's Latin Grammy Awards. Another full-length, Libre Otra Vez, followed a year later, and also reached the top of the U.S. Latin charts. In 2018, René Camacho and La Arrolladora Banda el Limón returned with Calidad y Cantidad, which hit number 11 on the Top Latin Albums chart. Another full-length studio LP, Labios Mentirosos, arrived in 2019. The band toured for months afterwards, and their break coincided with the onset of the pandemic. The band returned in 2022 with the charting, eight-track Prefiero Estar Contigo EP. They followed it in 2023 with Prefiero Estar Contigo (Deluxe), adding an additional six tracks to the previous eight. All were produced by Fernando Camacho. Among the unissued cuts, opener and single "Te va a ir Bien," written by Edén Muñoz and Ernesto Martínez, put the long-player in the Top Ten at Mexican Regional Albums. Following a lengthy tour, the group hit the studio and emerged with the charting 12-song Aquí Hay Para Llevar. Camacho and company returned to the recording studio early in 2024 and delivered three separate, simultaneously issued volumes of romantic songs and heartbreak ballads titled Terapia Arrolladora ("Overwhelming Therapy"). ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi