Gloria Estefan - 90 Millas
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Free Music Notes for 90 Millas
Free Music Review: Despite a shaky start, a very fine album
Hit: 4 Stars
Oftentimes the only good song on an album, is the first one or two. At any rate, you expect the intial songs to establish the mood and style of an album.
That is not the case with Gloria Estefan's new album 90 Millas. The first two songs are completely out of character with the rest of this lengthy album, and I personally don't like them. Furthermore, the last two of the 14 songs I am not really crazy about either.
With these odd bookends, I had some trouble initially realizing how wonderful the 10 songs in between are.
90 Millas is closest overall to Mi Tierra, that is, it is thoroughly Cuban, as opposed to the more generally Caribbean moods of Abriendo Puertas and Alma Caribenna. While it does not exceed Mi Tierra in quality, it is overall a very satisfying album. It took me time to get into it, but now I love it.
Me Odio - this song has a good instrumentation, and is very Cuban, but the vocal line to me is very weak - repetitive and annnoyingly multi-tracked. An unfortunately limp beginning to to the album, where one would expect something as good or better than the songs that follow.
No LLores - I guess this is just my personal taste. I dislike rock music, hate the sound of electric guitars, and this song, heavily dominated by an insistent solo by Carlos Santana is just not to my taste. If you don't feel that way, I see no reason why you might disagree with me, and like this song.
It is however, out of synch with the mood of the rest of the album.
Lo Nuestro - Here 90 Millas completely switches gears, and moves into a mood of traditional Cuban music, with Gloria's modern spin. A lovely song.
Pintame de Colores and Caridad - Good songs, although the male background singers are a bit over insistent.
The next group of songs is where 90 Millas really shines. Besame and Refranes are really wonderful, beautifully orchestrated and subtle, and Gloria has never sung more beautifully.
The next three songs really smoke. Refranes and Esta Fiesta No Va'Acabar have an irresistible energy and breathtaking instrumentation.
My favorite song - A Bailar - it just has that certain something, especially when things let loose in the second half. The interplay between Gloria and the background singers is truly remarkable.
Volvere is perhaps the best song on the album. Just a really good song perfectly sung and scored.
The mood changes again for the last three songs - here the lovely ballads and high spirited songs give way to songs of Cuban liberation.
Esperando is the best of the three, catchy in mood. I don't know what Morenita is about - my Spanish friend says it means "Little Black Girl" - but again, this song is not to my taste - rather ugly - and i don't like the male vocalist. To each his own.
The final song, the title song 90 Millas, is basically an anthem of freedom. Appropriate in message, and uplifting to listen to, but not over and over, at least not for me.
Overall 90 Millas compares favorably to Mi Tierra, although I would say the latter has a substantiality that will probably never be surpassed. It is more consistent than Alma Caribenna, which was half hot, half just okay.
The undeservedly lesser known Abriendo Puertas is really beyond a comparison, as it is utterly different in style. (Check it out if you haven't!)
Despite the reservations 90 Millas is a winner. But the first two songs I think are a real miscalulcation, and are bound to throw off some listeners. It would matter less if they were somewhere in the middle.
Free Music Review: 90 miles...so close, yet so far away...
Hit: 4 Stars
90 millas, the newest Spanish-language offering from Gloria Estefan, refers to the distance between her ancestral homeland of Cuba and Miami, and is also an apt metaphor for her earlier Spanish-language work Mi Tierra, which was a straightforward retro tribute to Cuban son ballads of decades past. 90 millas, on the other hand, updates traditional Cuban mainstays such as spirited piano solos, call-and-response vocals, and Afro-Cuban rhythms with Santana riffs and guest appearances by Jose Feliciano, Israel Lopez, Johnny Pacheco and Paquito d'Rivera.
On the opening Me Odio, the sound flirts with brassy mariachi trumpets tempered by a languorous tempo. There are boleros and sons, and the folkish Pintame de Colores is drenched in a happy-go-lucky charango backing. Caridad features a punchy, bold salsa-inspired trumpet backing, with Cuban piano tripping merrily along. Refranes also has the ring of an old favorite, as does the cheery Esta fiesta no va a acabar. Morenita is a fiercely proud Afro-Cuban ballad with hints of tribal drums underscored by electric guitars.
The politically-charged Esperando (cuando Cuba sea libre) ("Waiting...for Cuba to be free") proves that Cuban-Americans are eyeing unfolding developments in post-Castro Cuba just as anxiously as Cubans themselves, waiting for the day when they may once more be reunited with loved ones on both sides of the aforementioned 90 miles. 90 millas offers something to appeal both to the older Cuban generation who grew up on son as well as the younger generation raised on hip-hop and Latin rock, and is a pleasing blend of the best of both.
Free Music Review: From Miami to Havana-Cuba.
Hit: 4 Stars
I was visiting Cuba and I wanted to introduce my relatives to Gloria Estefan. I also wanted them to know that she and a group of cuban musicians in USA are making good latin music.Free Music Review: No Llores - salsa-less
Hit: 4 Stars
For months XM radio has been playing "No Llores" with a salsa tune and now that the album is out, it's in cha cha cha. It's a good album, but could have been excellent!Free Music Review: Good Album
Hit: 4 Stars
Good album by Gloria. My favorite is No Llores which features Santana and Feliciano. The other songs are no as good. But overall, a good album.