Disco de Gloria Estefan: “Let It Loose”

Gloria Estefan at her finest. In 1987 and 1988 you could not get away from this album, "Let It Loose", is a fine collection of songs, first came the infectous "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You"(and it did) which hit #6, then "Bet'cha Say That, hit #30?, then the ballads two excellent songs, the very drippy "Can't Stay Away From You"(a personal favorite) hit #6 then "Anything For You"(another favorite) giving Gloria her first #1 hit, and finally the ever peppy 1-2-3 which hit #1 giving that album 5 terrific hit singles also not released was "I Want You So Bad" which also could have been a hit. Besides "BAD" and "Whitney" this was one of my favorite album from 1987-88. Let It Loose, GLORIA!

gloria estefan has a number of really good songs on this album but "rhythm is gonna get you" is one of the best songs to come out of the 80's. that song is smokin!!! i get the chills when i hear that funky 80's keyboard background in the beginning of the song, plus the rest of it is great too. if you like gloria, or latin club grooves, get this!

By the late 1980's when this album came out so much had changed for Gloria Estefan and just about everything in the latin-pop/freestyle field of dance music,which had come to rely a lot on people such as Lisa Lisa And Cult Jam as much as Gloria,the one of more or less got the ball rolling. This is the album where her roll as a singular latin diva really began to shine on her own. It's not clear despite her top billing over Miami Sound Machine (which would continue on the next album) if this album is her solo debut or the final group effort. Actually it wound up being something of a mixture of both as "Emilio And The Jerks" (whoever the Jerks were) are credited for production so it's likely they would be more considered to be her backing band here than her being more in a particapatory role. But what mattered most here is how just plain wonderful an album this is overall.

There are some times where an album is based more in uptempo music or ballads and any exursion into the other can be a difficult. On this album anything,regardless of tempo is very well done. Now this was recorded in 1987 so the album is arranged with a heavily "contempo" electro-dance style sound. All the same every synthesizer used here is luckily used as a rhythm element so therefore this album is primarily based in rhythmic uptempo numbers such as ""Betcha' Say That",the title song,"Give It Up","Love Toy" and "I Want You So Bad" so for those who couldn't get enough of the huge hits "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" and "1-2-3" will find the rest of the album is very consistant AND equally as poppy. So there's no filler material here. There are two ballads here,both very different. My favorite is "Can't Stay Away From You" which is of course the more rhythmic of the two and..well qualifies more as a smooth groove than a ballad and of course "Anything For You",which with it's big ballad sound really showcases the more vocal style of Estefan's music to come.

I've always been the first one to say that with all the saturation radio play of their hits Gloria and Miami Sound Machine were one of the more unheralded pop phenomenon of their time and their music was highly impressionable on the big latin pop boom of Ricky Martin and such a decade or so later. And during the the mid to late 80's the electro/synth dance music of the day got just what it needed in the pulsing latin rhythms of the freestyle movement that this band among others helped to pioneer. So I'll always remember this album less as a period piece as some people might and as an important step forward in terms of how,at different times latin musical styles have helped rescue pop music from rhythmically stifled time periods even when it seemed other significant musical genres could not.

Love and props to Gloria and the Miami Sound Machine. Was a huge fan back in the day. However, let's not forget the ORIGINAL and Break through artists of the 80s for the "miami sound"--Expose! Their album "Exposure" came out well before Gloria's and they set the tone for the Miami Sound/Freestyle/Dance of the 80s. Love ya Gloria...Love ya Expose!

In 1986, a year after the release of Primitive Love, Miami Sound Machine decided to do a name-change. They changed the name to Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine, since Gloria was the main focus of the band. By 1987, the band seemed to be even more famous than they thought, and only after releasing two albums: Eyes Of Innocence (1984) and Primitive Love (1985).

In 1987, Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine released their third album, Let It Loose. Although, it did well on the charts, I don't favor the album too much, but there are some songs from this album that I love.

BETCHA SAY THAT

LET IT LOOSE

CAN'T STAY AWAY FROM YOU

GIVE IT UP

SURRENDER

RHYTHM IS GONNA GET YOU

LOVE TOY

I WANT YOU SO BAD

1-2-3

ANYTHING FOR YOU

This is a pretty good album, but I don't favor it too much as I hoped I would, but it's still worth the money you're willing to pay.