Tester de violencia

The band that accompanied Spinetta on this recording consisted of Carlos Alberto Rufino on bass, Juan Carlos Fontana on keyboards, Guillermo Arrom on lead guitar, and Jota Morelli on drums, in addition to Luis Alberto's own vocals, guitar, and programming. The album carries a special dedication to his mother, Julia Ramirez. This work emerged at a complex moment, following Spinetta's experience with Fito Páez on the album Lalalá and the tragic loss of Páez's mothers during the presentation concerts. This event, which Spinetta felt somehow linked to the violence in the songs they had created together, profoundly marked his work. The social and political context of Argentina in the late 80s, with the return to democracy and subsequent military conflicts, also filtered into the musician's state of mind. In fact, at a concert at the Chateau Carreras in Córdoba in March, Spinetta expressed his rejection of military uprisings by modifying the lyrics of "No seas fanática" to sing "No seas milico, no seas Rico".

Originally, Spinetta had planned to release this album in 1987, but a series of personal and other setbacks postponed the start of recordings until April 1988. This additional period allowed him to refine the material and, above all, give it a clearer conceptual direction. The idea for the title, Téster de violencia, was born from the connection he felt with Fito Páez between 1986 and 1987, following the murder of the latter's mothers in Rosario. Luis Alberto saw himself as a "tester" of the surrounding violence, a role he illustrated with anecdotes such as those experienced at the Festival de La Falda, where musicians had to overcome aggression with objects thrown from the audience. On one of these occasions, Guillermo Arrom recounted how Spinetta intervened to calm the situation. The songs "La bengala perdida" and "Al ver verás" were performed by Spinetta years later, in 2009, during his concert Spinetta y las Bandas Eternas, with the participation of Mono Fontana.