La Grasa de las Capitales

La Grasa de las Capitales is the second album by the Argentine progressive-rock supergroup Serú Girán, released in 1979. After its deeply criticized debut album Serú Girán, the band went in search for a different sound, one that could be closer to the fans' expectations. They grew distant from symphonic rock and became closer to traditional rock and pop while keeping a considerable jazz fusion element in the music, which also was present in the debut album, and to a lesser extent some progressive rock along the way.

La Grasa de las Capitales
Studio album by Serú Girán
Released	August 1979
Recorded	June to August 1979
Venue	ION Studios, Buenos Aires
Genre	Progressive rock, jazz-fusion, progressive pop[1]
Length	43:43
Label	Sazam
Producer	Charly García
Serú Girán chronology
Serú Girán (1978) La Grasa de las Capitales (1979) Bicicleta (1980)

The word "grasa" means "grease" in Spanish, but in Argentina it is also slang for "tacky".[2] As such, the title of the album was a criticism of the superficiality of Argentine society at the time (which was living under a military dictatorship following the 1976 coup) among other aspects what it was considered then "commercial" music (as opposed to the more elaborate lyrics and musicianship supposedly present in genres such as prog-rock) with disco music being parodied in the self-titled first track.[3][4][5][6] The cover of the album is a spoof of popular gossip Gente magazine, with members of the band presented as improbable celebrities (Aznar an obscure office worker, Moro a butcher, Lebon a rugbier and Garcia a petrol station worker - a criticism to petrol companies who "stuff themselves with money and run the world" according to Garcia[7][8]) one of the headlines announcing a romance between Aznar and "Olivia Neutron-Bomb" (cf Olivia-Newton John, the star of that year's blockbuster musical "Grease").

The album spurred three hit singles. Pedro Aznar's "Paranoia y Soledad" (Paranoia and Loneliness) which was a cryptically metaphoric song talking about a man's descent into insanity; "La Grasa de Las Capitales" (The Grease/Tackiness of the Capitals) which presented a sharp criticism on the paparazzi and the frivolous magazines (as showed on the album cover) and briefly parodied disco music, and the final track, "Viernes, 3 A.M." (Friday, 3 A.M.) which had lyrics graphically depicting a man's suicide, which was banned from radio play by the dictatorship due to it "encouraging suicide". Luis Alberto Spinetta later referred to the track as "something even Lennon and McCartney would've wanted to write".[9]

In 2007, the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone ranked it 17 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Albums of National Rock".[10] In 2019, the album was remastered and reissued for its 40th anniversary.[11]