Gloria Estefan

New greatest hits and all that, but what are her finest hours? Despite the fact that she only has two songs (the upbeat congo-esque Latino dance track and the heartfelt ballad) she's done some fab stuff.

Dr beat (either original or doctor pressure version)
Bad Boy
Rhythm is gonna get you
Can't stay away from you
Turn the beat around
Cuts both ways

There was also a rather bizarre album track called 'sex in the 90's' which was kind of fun. She's a bit dull, but there are some great singles.

Anyone else got any faves?
 
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letuinmybackdoor said:
She's a bit dull, but there are some great singles.

Anyone else got any faves?

How dare you.  Yes, I remember Sex In The 90's scandalising early morning GMTV back when.  I do love her - more later I guess, but she is magnificent and a true beauty.
 
Turn The Beat Around, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me, Go Away, You'll Be Mine (Party Time) and Heaven's What I Feel are particular favourites.

Everlasting Love was a decent cover, although it really does scream 'mid-nineties anthem for the gays'. At lot of her nineties hits do sound rather dated today, but then I think it's the hangover of the Latino pop explosion and embarrassing memories of Ricky Martin that have tainted them for me.

I'll always remember Reach as the 1996 Atlanta Games were the first I really remember. Athough the song wasn't really up to much.

I've always said she should have another stab at chart success. I doubt it would happen though, her 'medley' on X Factor last week was atrocious; she looked bored and thoroughly demotivated throughout the whole performance.
 
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letuinmybackdoor said:

I thought that was the 1 we were getting! 

Oye Mi Canto and Oye are massive favourites of mine, as are Go Away, which I was obsessed with at the time, and You'll Be Mine (Party Time), but I used to these 2 mixed up.  The latter has some great remixes. 

I agree her X-Factor medeley was somewhat half-hearted, and I always felt Don't Wanna Lose You was her most effective ballad.  Now if she had just did her 2 'gay 90's anthems' then she would have had the audience in the palm of her hands.  I got a sense that is what the audience were expecting. 

Gloria! is a smashing little album, full of bombastic Hi-NRG (I Just Wanna Be Happy was 1998's Party Time).  When she stops for breath she collabs with Wycleff and Cuba Libre a fitting salsa-infused end to an extremely impressive album, and the cover is like Gina G's older sister (which many won't think is possible I would imagine).

Anyways, does anyone know what direction her last studio album with Sony shall be? My sister is buying this for our Dad so I'd better point out which version I want.
 
Fantastic news. I know Pharrell is regarded as being a bit stale these days, but she really needs to shake her sound up again, and hopefully aim for the dancefloor. Glroia! from 1998 is such a strong album: she's basically been a dance diva from the very start so I hope she goes back to her roots.
 
I do NOT remember her on X Factor at all.
Don't Wanna Lose You Now is her best song by a country mile but I also like Coming Out Of The Dark, Reach and Remember Me With Love
 
Here We Are is awesome

I still remember her bus (?) crash and then becoming all religious after her miracle recovery. I think she started sounding a little preachy after that, her best records were the ones captured on her 1992 Greatest Hits.

But the Gloria! singles were great.
 
God, I started this thread, I have no recollection of it! Am not even that big a fan, it must have been around the time 'Doctor Pressure' was released, I proper hammered that track. Am I right in thinking Glo was a Republican? I know she hated Castro didn't she? Am sure she said 'Go away' was about him. Still think the early stuff was the best. Friggin love 'bad boy'!
 
My favourite album of Gloria's is Cuts Both Ways - Oye Mi Canto is as high-impact as its gets.

Go Away, Party Time, I Just Wanna Be Happy are fantastic dance songs - she really has a knack for the particular melodies they have, and hopefully the Neptunes rumour (despite obvious reservations) is an indication that she wants to create music that has a bit more sizzle to it than her Carole King aspirations.

Her X-Factor performance was such a let-down, I wanted her to bring out her dancier hits.
 
My choice would be 'Anything for you' ('Let it loose' in America). For me it's pop perfection:

'Betcha say that to all the girls' is simply one of my all time favorite songs.

'123' is ecstatic pop.

'Let it loose' and 'Rhythm is gonna get you' are great latin crossovers before latin music was mainstream.

'Can't stay away from you' and 'Anything for you' are modest but moving ballads, and show what a good singer Estefan is. Nobody sings in her "natural" way anymore.
 
Anything For You/Let It Loose is just about the perfect pop album of its kind. I was taken aback at how good it was at the time; sure the singles were ace, but I never expected the rest to be of such a high standard.

Cuts Both Ways always felt like a slightly less successful attempt to repeat the formula, although these days, with enough time passed since its original release, it's not such a disappointment to listen to.
 
I'll need to give Anything For You another go as I never really think of it: Cuts Both Ways and Gloria! always get more spins.

I like that description from PabloT - her voice is underrated, but she sometimes needs to watch as she definately cannot sing the phone book...

I don't think I listened to Unwrapped more than 10 times at the most - does anyone like that one?
 
I never got around to her later albums except for the second volume of Greatest Hits. I think the last studio album I got was Mi Tierra, which is still one of my favourite summer albums.

Maybe I should go back and plug the gaps... I always liked Gloria and her smooth-as-melted-butter voice.
 
I don't care much for most of Gloria's ballads, but Anything For You is flawless. My favourite Estefan song by a mile. It's also one of my earliest pop memories, so it will always be a very special song to me!
 
'Unwrapped' and 'Destiny' are good albums, but less direct than Gloria! or her previous releases.

And, yes, her ballads (written by her in some cases) are fantastic: 'Anything for you', 'Can't stay away from you', 'Cuts both ways'. She has more soul and feeling than 100 Mariahs Careys.

Maybe it's less appealing for you, but her Spanish albums (especially 'Mi tierra' which is the best-selling record of all times in Spain) are also recommendable.
 

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