Los Prisioneros

Los Prisioneros was a Chilean rock band formed in San Miguel, Santiago, Chile in 1982. They began as a local band during the early 1980s, playing small shows in their neighborhood and high school. After selling a limited press number of their first album in Chile under the independent Fusión producciones label, they signed to EMI in 1985, re-releasing the same album on an LP record and Cassette. From that point on they reached mainstream success in Chile, then Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

Most of Los Prisioneros song lyrics have substancial social critiques which made them popular as Chile was under an opressive military regime in the 80s. In terms of musical development in Chile Los Prisioneros marked the beginning of a new era by leaving behind folk inspired music that emerged with Victor Jara and Violeta Parra in the 60s. Los Prisioneros legacy has been recognised by bands such as Glup!, Javiera y Los Imposibles, Lucybell, Los Tetas and La Ley who together made the tribute album Tributo a Los Prisioneros.

Eventually in the early 90's their albums were re-released completely in remastered Compact Disc form, this is when Chile was no longer run by a military regime which oppressed their music in the late 1980s. Throughout the 1990s their music spread out, reaching all of South and Central America as well as some parts of the U.S., Canada and Europe.

According to the magazine Rolling Stone Chile, "La voz de los '80" is in the third place of the best chilean albums. In addition, "Corazones" is in the ninth place, and "Pateando piedras" in the fifteenth place.

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