Barretto's second album for the Fania label and maybe his finest ever; that's saying a lot about a legendary conguero who's had over 50 releases spanning the 60's to the present. "Acid" (from his first Fania release) may be the tune that got many heads turned on to Barretto, but as the original liner notes say, "I think Ray has accomplished the impossible... 'Hard Hands' tops 'ACID'!" This LP is a defining snapshot of both the Fania label and Nuyorican music in general. You can clearly hear the transition from boogaloo to salsa, with prime examples of both present. "Love Beads(1)" is an archetypal soulful boogaloo instrumental with a supremely hooky piano line, and "New York Soul(2)" has ripped up many a dancefloor (check for the monster bass break halfway thru). For the salseros we get "Mirame de Frente", one of the first pure salsa tunes. Many tracks have ridiculously heavy bass intros, check the percussion whirlwind of "Abidjan(3)" and the top notch dance scorcher "Mi Ritmo Te Llama(4)". Even the lesser known tunes have far too much personality to be filler, and I didn't even mention "Ahora Si", a midtempo classic that was covered prolifically over the years to come. If you have any interest at all in Latin music, you must have this album. Sorry to get all Dusty Groove on ya, but Wow! Stunning!! Groundbreaking!!! Essential!!!!

reviewed by monk