Descanso Dominical

Descanso Dominical
Studio album by Mecano
Released	1988 (Spain)
Genre	Pop
Length	53:82
Label	Ariola Eurodisc S.A.
Producer	Mecano
Mecano chronology
Entre El Cielo y El Suelo (1986) Descanso Dominical (1988) Aidalai (1991) Figlio Della Luna Italian Edition Cover – 1989 Descanso Dominical French Edition Cover – 1990

Descanso Dominical (English: Sunday Break) is an album by pop group Mecano. It was released in 1988. This was the album that reaffirmed their stardom as worldwide artists. It was their second release with Ariola Records. Before its release, this album was intended to be a 2-disc album due to the large amount of material, but that intent was cancelled.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

This album was well received by the critics in general; it was categorized as the best release from this group. It has sold 2.3 million copies in Spain alone. The songs, such as "La fuerza del destino" (The power of fate) and "Mujer contra mujer" (Woman against woman) topped the charts all over Latin America and Spain^[2].

Spanish edition

• Six singles were released from this album. The first one was "No hay marcha en Nueva York" (There is no party in New York), which is known for its sound reminiscent of the orchestras of the 50's because of the saxophone and drums. It was released on June 20th, 1988.

• The second single was "Los amantes" (The lovers), with Ana Torroja singing high notes on this track. The single topped out at position #32 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs^[3]. It was released on August 28th, 1988.

• The 3rd and 4th singles were promoted simultaneously, "Mujer contra mujer" and "Un año más" (One year more). Mujer contra mujer is a contemplation on a lesbian love that cries for respect, while "Un año más" tells about New Year's Eve on Puerta del Sol. Both songs were released on December 5th, 1988.

"Mujer contra mujer" has versions in French and Italian, which also reached #1 in France and Italy; it was also an overwhelming hit in Latin America, and most remarkably in the cases of Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua, where homosexuality was punished in their laws at that time. Also, in Mexico the song was banned at the beginning of its promotion, but the success of the song helped to revoke the ban.

Since the very first day of its launch, "Mujer contra mujer" caused scandal and polemic; among other things, the Catholic Church threatened to excommunicate the members of the group, inasmuch as the topic of the song was considered lascivious. The video of the song also had problems of censorship; for example, in the Dominican Republic it was prohibited according to the laws of entertainment, which ban any video related to homosexuality or bisexuality. However, it was a resounding hit that was demanded by viewers all over Latin America.

"Mujer contra mujer" has been a source of inspiration for other singers and groups like Rammstein who composed a song titled "Mann gegen Mann" (Man against man) included in the album Rosenrot, also Franco De Vita based his song "Rosa y clavel" (Rose and carnation) on this song. It is considered one of the first gay anthems in Spanish.

• The 5th single was "La fuerza del destino", a romantic song composed by Nacho Cano and dedicated to the writer Coloma Fernández Armero. Penélope Cruz appeared as an actress for the very first time in the video of this song.

• The 6th single was "El blues del esclavo" (The blues of the slave). This song is a satire of the abolition of slavery in the United States and the struggle of Martin Luther King.

Tracks^[4]

1. El Cine 4:15
2. No Hay Marcha en Nueva York 4:00
3. Mujer Contra Mujer 4:05
4. Los Amantes 2:52
5. La Fuerza del Destino 5:17
6. Quédate en Madrid 2:18
7. Laika 4:37
8. El Blues del Esclavo 4:36
9. "Eungenio" Salvador Dalí 5:23
10. Por la Cara 3:04
11. Un Año Más 4:29
12. Héroes de la Antártida 5:09
13. Hermano Sol, Hermana Luna 3:33 Only on CD
14. Fábula 2:04 Only on CD
15. Une Femme Avec Une Femme 4:05 On the 2005 edition

Italian edition

The Italian edition was retitled "Figlio della Luna". This album has eight tracks from the Spain edition and two tracks from Entre El Cielo y El Suelo, all re-written in Italian, except for "Por La Cara," which is instrumental. It was the first album that Mecano recorded in a language other than Spanish, and the only one that didn't include any song in Spanish. All the songs were adapted in Italian by M. Luberti. "Mi costa tanto scordarti" (It's hard for me to forget you,') was also recorded, but it was taken out of the final selection. The album itself didn't meet sales expectations in Italy despite the success of the tracks.

Tracks^[5]

1. Figlio della Luna (Hijo de la Luna) 4:18
2. La forza del destino (La fuerza del destino) 5:10
3. Croce di lame (Cruz de navajas) 5:06
4. Uno di quegli amanti (Los amantes) 2:51
5. Fermati a Madrid (Quédate en Madrid) 2:17
6. Vado a Nuova York (No hay marcha en Nueva York) 4:16
7. Per lei contro di lei (Mujer contra mujer) 4:05
8. Il cinema (El cine) 4:18
9. Un anno di più (Un año más) 4:29
10. Por la cara (instrumental) 3:06

Singles/Maxi singles

• Figlio della Luna/Un anno di più (20 February 1989)
• Figlio della Luna (Maxi single, (20 February 1989, it includes just one song)
• Croce di lame/Cruz de navajas (1989)

French edition

"Descanso Dominical" was also edited in France in 1990 with some variants. This was the first album by Mecano to be addressed to a French audience, even though the release has just one song in French "Une femme avec une femme" (A woman with a woman), an adaptation of "Mujer contra mujer" under the supervision of P. Grosz. It had better results than the Italian edition.

The first edition of "Descanso Dominical" for France, was published in the same year as the Spain edition: 1988. The second edition, that includes "Une femme avec une femme", was not recorded until 1990. Mecano got this track to stay for 8 weeks in the French ranking of sales and the track reached the Top 50.

Tracks^[6]

1. Hijo De La Luna 4:18
2. La Fuerza Del Destino 5:17
3. El Blues Del Esclavo 4:36
4. Los Amantes 2:52
5. Mujer Contra Mujer 4:05
6. Por La Cara 3:04
7. Une femme avec une femme 4:08
8. No Hay Marcha En Nueva York 4:00
9. El Cine 4:15
10. "Eungenio" Salvador Dalí 5:23
11. Un Año Mas 4:29
12. Quédate En Madrid 2:18

Singles

• Une femme avec une femme/Mujer contra mujer (May 1990)

Charts

Album charts

#	Chart	Peak Position	Date
1.	"Billboard Latin Pop Albums"	#16[7]	16 Dec 1989
2.	"Spain Album Charts" (2nd Edition)	#32[8]	7 Aug 2005

Single charts

Date	Title	Chart Positions													B-Sides
		U.S. H.Lat.	ESP	MEX	CRI	CHL	COL	NIC	ECU	DOM	CUB	NLD	FRA	ITA
20 June 1988	No hay marcha en Nueva York	–	9	10	13	2	9	10	10	15	20	–	–	–	Laika Por la cara
28 August 1988	Los amantes	32[3]	2	10	15	10	19	9	15	10	21	–	–	–	Fábula
5 December 1988	Mujer contra mujer	–	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	–	–	–	Hermano Sol, hermana Luna
5 December 1988	Un año más	–	10	9	11	8	5	2	8	10	10	–	–	–	Por la cara
3 April 1989	La fuerza del destino	–	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	83[9]	–	–	El Cine
3 July 1989	El blues del esclavo	–	19	25	26	30	40	35	50	40	–	–	–	–	Héroes de la Antártida
May 1990	Une femme avec une femme	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1[10]	1	Mujer contra mujer

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ "Descanso dominical (reedición) : Mecano : buy in Zona de Compras". Zonadecompras.com. http://www.zonadecompras.com/eng/producto.asp?Id=35789. Retrieved 18 September 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Billboard http://www.billboard.com/#/song/mecano/los-amantes/589051
4. ^ AllMusic http://www.allmusic.com/album/r100871
5. ^ "Figlio della Luna". Grupomecano.com. http://www.grupomecano.com/figlio_della_luna.php. Retrieved 18 September 2010. 
6. ^ "Descanso Dominical (versión francesa)". Grupomecano.com. http://www.grupomecano.com/descanso_dominical_francais.php. Retrieved 18 September 2010. 
7. ^ Billboard http://www.billboard.com/#/album/mecano/descanso-dominical/78835
8. ^ Spanish Charts http://spanishcharts.com/showitem.asp?key=27230&cat=a
9. ^ Dutch Charts http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Mecano&titel=La+fuerza+del+destino&cat=s
10. ^ French Charts http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Mecano&titel=Une+femme+avec+une+femme&cat=s