** Various artists, “Tributo a Queen,” Hollywood....

** Various artists, “Tributo a Queen,” Hollywood. Queen’s operatic excesses and crafty hooks always seemed tailor-made for the fiery Latin American sensibility, which might explain why some of the biggest names in Latin pop and rock en espan~ol are present in this unusual tribute album.

But like many hommages of its kind, “Tributo a Queen” fails because it mixes musicians with proven track records (Aterciopelados, Fito Paez, Fobia and Soda Stereo) with less seasoned players.

Interestingly, the most seasoned names don’t labor to give the songs a Latin American feel. Instead, personal interpretation of the songs themselves is the focus, and the results are mixed. The rap treatment of “Another One Bites the Dust” by Argentines Illya Kuryaki & the Valderramas is a grandiloquent faux pas, while Mexico’s Molotov offers a delightfully crass approach on its sacrilegious “Rap-Soda y Bohemia.”

But it is Andrea Echeverri’s Spanish version of “Play the Game” that steals the show by successfully translating the original’s sheer sense of melody. At this point, it seems as if her band, Colombia’s Aterciopelados, can do no wrong.

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* Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two (fair), three (good) and four (excellent).