Union is the third album by Puerto Rican

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 rock band Puya

Puya (band)

-History:Formed under the name Whisker Biscuit in 1988 and originally playing only instrumentals, the band added vocalist Sergio Curbelo in 1992 and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they created a mix of salsa and heavy metal with the assistance of Jeff Renza and the Noiz Boiz production...

, released by MCA

Music Corporation of America

MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...

, in 2001.

Background

Union fuses elements of salsa

Salsa music

Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...

, rap metal

Rap metal

Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock which fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop music with heavy metal.-History:Rap metal originated from rap rock, a genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with rock...

, Rock en Español

Rock en Español

Rock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

. Jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and mambo musician Tito Puente

Tito Puente

Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...

 agreed to record a timbale

Timbales

Timbales are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing, invented in Cuba. They are shallower in shape than single-headed tom-toms, and usually much higher tuned...

solo on Unión, but died before he could do so. Because sales did not meet MCA's expectations, the label did not renew the bands contract after it had expired in 2002.

Track listing

All songs written by R. Ortíz, except where noted.

1. "Ride" (Hopkins) - 3:52
2. "People" - 3:30
3. "Erizo" - 2:29
4. "Socialize" - 3:49
5. "Numbed" (Curbelo, Ortíz) - 3:09
6. "Bridge" - 4:04
7. "Si Aja" (Hopkins) - 5:39
8. "No Interference" - 5:58
9. "Semilla" - 1:08
10. "A Matter Of Time" - 3:03
11. "Pa'ti Pa'mi" (Hopkins) - 4:42
12. "Ahorake" (Hopkins) - 6:56
13. "Unión" (Hopkins, Ortíz) - 16:39