Gloria Estefan Album: “Essential Gloria Estefan”

"The Essential Gloria Estefan," a two-CD retrospective on the English-language career of Gloria Estefan (with a few Spanish highlights such as the anthemic "Mi Tierra" thrown in for good measure) presents the singer as something more than the pop songstress she has been labeled as. Disc one, the fast disc, highlights most of Estefan's dance hits, opening with the 80's kitch of the sadly underrated "Dr. Beat" (which also closes the disc in a remixed form that topped European dance charts again last year, twenty years after its initial release). And all the Miami Sound Machine songs that brought Gloria to the top of the charts are accounted for: the timeless and wonderfully Latin-tinged "Conga," which not only opened the door for crossover success but broke it down, "1-2-3," "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," and "Get On Your Feet." ("Essential" also marks the first time that "Bad Boy" and "Falling In Love (Uh-Oh)" appear on an Estefan compilation, righting some of the wrongs committed on 1992's "Greatest Hits.") But more than just solidifying Gloria's status as an 80's pop icon, the disc showcases her transcendence from bubblegum to progressive. 1989's "Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice)" is a delightful and poignant commentary on acceptance that breaks into full-on flamenco guitar; "Turn The Beat Around" and "Everlasting Love" (a duo of songs from 1994's covers album, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me"), the former going all-out in Latin percussion and the latter unabashedly celebrating the glory days of disco, typify recreation; and 1998's "Heaven's What I Feel" (from the buoyant "Gloria!" album) is perhaps her most mature concoction of dance-pop to date. And then there's the caliente-ness of "Oye," a dance-floor throw-down with an undeniable salsa rhythm, that arguably bridges the gap between American and Latin flavors better than "Conga" did. Disc two, the slow disc, however, is the one that presents Gloria in perhaps her best light-as a songwriter who possesses the gift of capturing the most complex of human emotions with the simplest of words. All those broken-hearted love songs that you remember well are here (including "Words Get In The Way," "Can't Stay Away From You," "Cuts Both Ways,' the superior "Here We Are" and the number one smashes "Anything For You" and "Don't Wanna Lose You"), but it's the post-prime material that beckons for a second listen. "I See Your Smile" (previously only available on "Greatest Hits") is a stunning, piano-driven, tear-jerker; "I'm Not Giving You Up" (from 1996's sorely under-appreciated masterpiece, "Destiny") combines the Afro-Cuban rhythms explored on her Spanish albums with English pop sensibility; and the folkloric "Wrapped," the only song representing her most recent, and most personal, output from 2003's autobiographical "Unwrapped," is, with its poetic lyrics and unique use of mandolin and panpipes, unlike anything you will hear elsewhere. But it's the anthemic songs, such as 1991's gospel-infused "Coming Out Of The Dark" and 1996's Olympic theme "Reach," as well as the poignant "Always Tomorrow," that perhaps best represent Estefan as an artist: they are hopeful and inspiring, and they speak to the resiliency of the spirit, which is something Gloria Estefan has done effortlessly for the past two decades. "Essential" is the long-overdue musical portrait of an woman who rose to fame with an infectious dance ditty and then went on to redefine herself as a viable and serious voice of her generation.

This CD set is above and beyond excellent. Now, I do wish that "Can't Forget You" and a remix of "Tres gotas de agua bendita" were included. But, the set list is great! I hope that as the years go by Gloria will continue to amaze us

Released in conjuction with "Oye Micanto: Los Exitos", her Spanish retrospective, "The Essential Gloria Estefan" covers Gloria's English material over two discs. The first disc focuses on her upbeat and dance oriented material, while the second deals solely with her ballads.

Prior to this, Gloria had released a hits set in two volumes, the first coming in 1992, the second in 2001, & a Spanish ballads collection in 2004. While those collected majority of her hits, there were some glaring omissions & missteps.

This is what makes this collection a must for any hardcore fan or new fan starting out, because it includes all of her typical staples. Amongst those, songs that had been left off of her previous sets are here: "Dr. Beat", "Cuts Both Ways", "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me", "Falling In Love (Uh-Oh)", "Don't Let This Moment End". There are others that not only are featured for the first time, but are being featured in the versions that were played at radio: "Bad Boy", "Go Away", "Live For Loving You", "You'll Be Mine (Party Time)". Gloria even drops in a few Spanish hits("No Me Dejes De Querer", "Mi Tierra", & "Si Senor!") to add curiosity to her Spanish work, which again, is covered well on the "Oye Micanto: Los Exitos" collection.

There are still some omissions that only the true Gloria heads may notice: "Betcha Say That", "Out of Nowhere", "I Got No Love", "You Can't Walk Away From Love", "Higher", "It's Too Late", etc. But many of these were minor, minor singles often only released in a promotional capability.

The packaging is nice as well, including some pretty good photos of Gloria, & an excellent essay on her & her contribution to popular music, & Latin music in particular.

The music is timeless, so the chronological order that is lacking here doesn't hurt, because Gloria has had the knack to maintain quality througout her 20+ years career. From authentic Latin flavored dance floor bangers, or the heart string tugging ballads, Gloria's rich, emotive voice has fueled them all.

Before Jennifer Lopez or Shakira, Gloria was breaking ground in the music world. This collection is a celebration of Gloria's work, & if you haven't experienced the joy of her music, this is the perfect place to start. Highly recommended!

This excellent two-disc retrospective is a reminder that from 1985 to 2000, Gloria Estefan was a top-notch pop artist in her prime. In recent years her career has slowed down a bit, and in this day and age of dark pop and hip-hop, Estefan's bouncy, Latin-flavoured pop would seem out of date.

Which is too bad, really, because artists like Estefan are much missed on radio today. She has the perfect pop voice, and at her peak, she delivered hit after hit.

This compilation features all her popular dance hits on one CD, while disc two covers her equally popular ballads. With enduring hits like "Bad Boy", "Anything For You", "Don't Wanna Lose You" and "Turn the Beat Around", Estefan proved she could hold her own with mega-stars like Madonna, Whitney and Celine Dion throughout the '80s and '90s.

By the late '90s, Gloria was taking more chances. Instead of churning out hit ballads as if they were on an assembly line, Estefan, perhaps encouraged by the surprising success of her Spanish album "Mi Tierra", became more interested in getting her fans on the dancefloor. 1998's Gloria! is perhaps my favourite album. It's a non-stop dance album that preceded Madonna's "Confessions on a Dancefloor" by several years. She also recorded more Spanish songs and recorded albums ("Destiny" and "Wrapped") that were more introspective than syrupy, but never losing her ability to create fine pop music.

This collection covers those albums and much more. It truly is essential.

Gloria Estefan (and Miami Sound Machine) achieved so many charting hits on many different genre charts including pop,dance,adult contemporary and latin that a 2 CD collection of her successes has been lkong overdue.

I'm glad that Sony BMG has finally taken Gloria into consideration on their "Essential" series and more so that they saw she needed 2 Cds as opposed to a single disc collection. Every possible charting single is included, with the rare exceptions of "Nayib's Song" and "Along Came You", which were both included to commemorate her children (Gloria wrote both songs for her son and daughter Emily). And as a bonus, they included Mylo's European mash-up smash "Doctor Beat".

What also makes this collection unique is that they included BOTH English and Spanish hits. I am soooo glad sony decided to do this as every CD released before this liked to segregate her languages. This CD really represents her music and doesn't limit itself to genres. Some might think mixing her traditional Cuban sones with her AC pop songs create odd results for the listener but if you like GLoria, you'll appreciate the variety.

One more shout out...THEY FINALLY recognized her forgotten Top 10 smash "Falling In Love (Uh Oh)". This has always been one of my favourites and its cool that it was finally recognized as a hit!

This album deserves 5 stars all the way..even if its missing "Can't Forget You" and her #1 Latin hit "Por Un Beso". If you love Gloria it will please you and will want this CD to have all the "single versions" of her songs. And if you don't know GLoria, this will certainly educate you and leave you wanting more of this amazing woman.