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AUSTRALIAN IMPORT
Condition: Brand New Factory Sealed
The 2006 release of The Essential Gloria Estefan satisfied a long unmet need for a career-spanning English-language retrospective, one that includes the singer's popular hits with Miami Sound Machine in the mid-'80s as well as her subsequent solo recordings. For years, Estefan fans had few best-of choices to choose from -- the Spanish-language Exitos de Gloria Estefan (1990), the two-volume Greatest Hits series (1992, 2001), and the latter-day Amor y Suerte: Exitos Romanticos collection (2004) -- with no alternatives, not even budget-line knockoffs. The long-overdue release of The Essential Gloria Estefan thankfully resolved this gripe, for it includes the highlights from all aspects of Estefan's varied output, spread generously across two jam-packed discs. (Well, it does exclude her bounty of Spanish-language recordings, the highlights of which can be found on Oye Mi Canto: Los Exitos, an excellent single-disc retrospective released simultaneously. But at least there are some key inclusions here from the excellent Mi Tierra album from 1993 -- a full-length that deserves to be heard in full, one should note.) Pretty much all the Miami Sound Machine hits are here, beginning with "Dr. Beat," as are all of Gloria's initial solo smashes from Cuts Both Ways (1989) and Into the Light (1991). Some of these songs are featured in their single versions, notably "Bad Boy," "1-2-3," and "Live for Loving You," which is a good call in those cases, because these versions were the ones that became radio hits. There is also a lot of Estefan's post-prime material here, taken from albums like Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me (1994), Destiny (1996), and Gloria! (1998); and there are a few songs previously found only on compilations, most notably the beautiful "I See Your Smile." But the emphasis overall is on Estefan's more popular, earlier material, and rightfully so. The sequencing may be an issue for some, as it splits her songs between a "fast" and "slow" disc -- that is, a disc of dance-pop and one of ballads. It's an appropriate decision, for Estefan's music always did veer back and forth from one extreme to the other. However, the decision to sequence the discs non-chronologically is more troublesome, especially for those who would prefer the Miami Sound Machine material front-loaded in favor of the less well-known latter-day solo recordings. (You can easily do this yourself with software like iTunes, though.) These minor matters aside, The Essential Gloria Estefan is without question the one-stop English-language retrospective that her catalog had been lacking for years. A more succinct single-disc collection (for instance, the Miami Sound Machine-heavy Greatest Hits) may be more suitable for the less committed, but anyone looking for the full package need not look further.
TRACK LISTINGS
DISC 1:
1. Dr. Beat
2. Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
3. Heaven's What I Feel
4. Everlasting Love
5. You'll Be Mine (Party Time)
6. Get on Your Feet
7. Go Away
8. Don't Let This Moment End
9. No Me Dejes de Querer
10. Bad Boy
11. 1-2-3
12. Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice)
13. Live For Loving You
14. Si Senor!
15. Oye
16. Turn the Beat Around
17. Mi Tierra
18. Conga
19. Doctor Pressure - (with Miami Sound Machine/Mylo)
DISC 2:
1. Can't Stay Away From You
2. Don't Wanna Lose You
3. Anything For You
4. Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)
5. Words Get in the Way
6. Cuts Both Ways
7. Here We Are
8. If We Were Lovers
9. Nayib's Song (I Am Here For You)
10. Reach
11. Music of My Heart - (with N Sync)
12. I See You Smile
13. I'm Not Giving You Up
14. Wrapped
15. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me
16. Along Came You (A Song For Emily)
17. Coming Out of the Dark
18. Always Tomorrow
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