album rating: ★★★★☆
Genre: Flamenco nuevo / rumba flamenca / flamenco pop. Mal de Amores ('Lovesick') is the sixth studio album by José Manuel Ortega Heredia (Madrid, 1956 – Alhaurín de la Torre, Málaga, 2004), known as Manzanita — one of the most significant figures in the development of nuevo flamenco and one of the first artists to blend traditional flamenco and rumba with Italian and Portuguese melodic influences, pop and rock elements. Before his solo career, Manzanita was a sought-after session guitarist who had played for Enrique Morente and Camarón de la Isla, and was one of the founders of Los Chorbos, a pioneering group in the Madrid neighbourhood of Caño Roto sound. After the breakthrough success of his third album Talco y bronce (1981) — which sold over half a million copies in Spain with the singles 'Un ramito de violetas' and 'Por tu ausencia' — Manzanita consolidated his position as one of the major Spanish popular artists of the 1980s. Mal de Amores followed the albums Cuando la noche te envuelve (1982) and La quiero a morir (1983), continuing his personal synthesis of flamenco feeling and accessible melodic pop. The album's lead single 'Mal de amores (La bohème)' — an adaptation of the Charles Aznavour / Georges Garvarentz song 'La bohème' — is among his most celebrated recordings.
Label: Philips Records (Spain), 1984.
Producer: Not individually credited in publicly available sources for this specific album; José Luis de Carlos had produced his earlier albums.
Recording studio: Not individually specified in publicly available sources; recorded in Spain.
Critical reception: Mal de Amores was well received in Spain, where Manzanita had established himself as a beloved figure in the popular music landscape. His distinctive approach — described as bringing 'a personal style with flamenco nuances' to Italian and Portuguese melodic traditions — was consistently praised by critics. Retrospectively he is acknowledged, alongside Paco de Lucía and Lole y Manuel, as one of the founding figures of nuevo flamenco.
Commercial success: The album achieved solid sales in Spain, continuing Manzanita's streak of commercial success that had begun with Talco y bronce. The single 'Mal de amores (La bohème)' became one of his best-known songs and is regularly featured in his posthumous anthologies. After a long period of absence during which he sang exclusively for the Evangelical church, Manzanita returned to secular music in 1998 with the album Por tu ausencia, which was certified gold.
text generated by artificial intelligence — claude, sonnet 4.6 — free version, liable to contain errors
Label: CBS Spain. (Fixing wrong info);
Producer: Jorge Álvarez (Adding missing info).