Marc Anthony - Contra la Corriente [Smoke]

Marc Anthony was already salsa's brightest young voice when he made Contra la Corriente, and this reissue gives the 1997 album a smoky vinyl makeover.

His third salsa album, following Otra Nota and Todo a Su Tiempo, it cemented the New York singer as a superstar across Latin America and beyond, shortly before his move into English-language pop. The arrangements are lush and muscular, horns blazing over rolling piano montunos and crisp percussion, but it is that voice, soaring and fearless, that carries everything.

Y Hubo Alguien opens the album as a sweeping, dramatic love song and became one of his signature hits. No Sabes Cómo Duele is pure heartbreak delivered with operatic intensity, Si Te Vas burns with longing, and the title track lives up to its name, pushing against the current with defiant energy.

It is romantic salsa at its finest, built for dancing but just as powerful when the lights go down and the lyrics take over. Every song gives him room to stretch out, and he never wastes a single moment of the space he is given.

For fans who first fell for Marc Anthony on the dance floor, this smoke pressing brings one of his landmark records back into the spotlight.