V1 Greatest Hits [Best of, Enhanced]

 

 

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Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine enjoyed their commercial peak in the late 1980s/early 1990s with a string of hit albums and singles, beginning with "Conga" in late 1985. Estefan and crew proved themselves equally adept at Latin-inflected dance tunes such as "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," "Get On Your Feet," and "1-2-3" and the ballads that helped them gain a strong foothold at AC radio, like "Words Get In The Way," "Can't Stay Away From You" and the #1 hit "Anything For You." (In fact, it's interesting to note that all of Estefan's three #1 hits were ballads, the other two being "Don't Wanna Lose You" and the inspirational "Coming Out Of The Dark.") Actually, the band's history goes all the way back to the 1970s, although they recorded only in Spanish for several years. This is a nice collection of Ms. Estefan's English-language output from her most successful period commercially, spanning 1985's PRIMITIVE LOVE through 1991's INTO THE LIGHT and including four new cuts. What is here is first-rate, of course, and even all the new cuts are keepers: the inspirational "Always Tomorrow" was a minor hit and came out around the time that Hurricane Andrew devastated Gloria's home base of south Florida, leading many to adopt it and the earlier "Coming Out Of The Dark" as anthems. "I See Your Smile" is a classic Gloria ballad that easily ranks with her earlier hits, although it didn't quite make the top 40. "Christmas Through Your Eyes" has become a holiday-season standard and is a moving song about wanting to go back to experiencing the joy of Christmas through the mindset of a child. And "Go Away" is a fun dance tune the likes of which only Gloria can do - a bit nonsensical, but still lots of fun. It was a hit in the U.K., and although it wasn't a single in the U.S. (I don't think), it still got some top 40 airplay in the Detroit area.
Not all of the hits are here. One top 10 charter ("Bad Boy") is missing, and "Live For Loving You" also should have been included here, given that it still gets a lot of radio play these days. There was also a "Miami Hit Mix" issued on the U.K. single to "Christmas Through Your Eyes," which should have been included on the U.S. release, as a bonus cut if nothing else. I personally also would have liked to see "Cuts Both Ways" and "Can't Forget You" included, as I consider those two of her best ballads, even though they both came up a few notches short of the top 40. "Can't Forget You" in particular is an underrated gem, and to this day the only place to find it is on the INTO THE LIGHT album. But if you're a Gloria fan, you should have no qualms about the quality of what is included here. Kudos to Gloria for opening up the American pop mainstream to Latino influences and for creating some of the catchiest, most fun pop music ever.

Back in the early 80s, Gloria Estefan was known as the lead of the band Miami Sound Machine. Gloria joined the band in 1978, after she tied the knot with bandmate, Emilio Estefan. Nothing happened until 1984 when Miami Sound Machine released Eyes Of Innocence. The only hit from that album was Dr. Beat, which wasn't even a major hit, for they didn't get any recognition.

In 1985, Miami Sound Machine released Primitive Love, their second album, the album that got them their recognition. Then, in 1986, they changed the name to Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine because Gloria was the main focus. In 1987, Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine released their third album Let It Loose. In 1989, they released Cuts Both Ways. This was their last album together as a band. In 1990, Gloria was in a fatal bus accident, which could have left her paralyzed for life, but luckily, the doctors took care of that, for she has two metal rods in her back, preventing her from being paralyzed. In 1991, Miami Sound Machine became Gloria's back up band, while she became a solo act. In 1991, she released Into The Light, which reflected on her accident.

In 1992, she released her first greatest hits album. I know what you are all thinking, "How can she release a greatest hits album where she only released her first solo album the year before?" Well, she was basically Miami Sound Machine, the fans only focused on her. So the hits on this album are the Miami Sound Machine hits, being that she was the focus of the band. This is an amazing greatest hits. I should know because I grew up with Gloria when my mother was a huge fan of hers.

CONGA
From Miami Sound Machine's album Primitive Love (1985). One of the best songs ever. This song was played in a lot of movies. I can only name one movie where this song was played and that movie is the hit comedy, The Birdcage, which starred Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Christine Baranskie, Dan Futterman, Hank Azaria, and Ally McBeal's Collista Flockhart.

WORDS GET IN THE WAY
From Miami Sound Machine's album Primitive Love (1985). This was the song that made Gloria famous. It is one of the best romantic break-up songs ever and is a favorite of my mother's and mine.

CAN'T STAY AWAY FROM YOU
From Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine's album Let It Loose (1987). Another amazing song. She talks about how they've broken up and it's bad for her to stay with her ex, but she loves him so much that she simply just 'Can't stay away from him'.

1-2-3 (Remix)
Original version from Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine's album Let It Loose (1987). The album version is much better than this.

RHYTHM IS GONNA GET YOU
From Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine's album Let It Loose (1987). This is a great song, with a great beat.

ANYTHING FOR YOU
From Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine's album Let It Loose (1987). Not a favorite of mine.

HERE WE ARE
From Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine's album Cuts Both Ways (1989). When I first heard this song, which was back in 1989 when I was at the age of four, I loved this song. I used have my mother play it at least five or six times a day just to keep me happy. During the years when my family and I would drive down to Florida, we would play a lot of Gloria's music. When my father wanted to take a break from driving, he would climb in the back and have a nap, while my mother took over the driving with me in the passenger seat. She would play the Cuts Both Ways album and when this song came on, I would sing the whole thing without a problem. I have a lot of great memories of this song.

GET ON YOUR FEET
From Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine's album Cuts Both Ways (1989). Another great song.

DON'T WANNA LOSE YOU
From Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine's album Cuts Both Ways (1989). Not a favorite of mine.

COMING OUT OF THE DARK
From the album Into The Light (1991). This was the only hit from the Into The Light (1991) album. This was the song that reflected the most on her bus accident. I wish she would have included Live For Loving You, which is also from the Into The Light (1991) album. My mother and I used to sing that one as well.

CHRISTMAS THROUGH YOUR EYES
Previously unreleased. This was Gloria's first Christmas song and she had written it for her son, Nayib. In fact, this is the second song she recorded for her son, the first song is called, Nayib's Song (I Am Here For You), and it can be found on the Into The Light (1991) album. In 1993, a year after this album, Gloria recorded a Christmas album entitled, Christmas Through Your Eyes, where she added this song to it.

I SEE YOUR SMILE
Previously unreleased. This is a beautiful song. I recommend that everyone listen to this song.

GO AWAY
Previously unreleased. Okay.

ALWAYS TOMORROW
Previously unreleased. Okay.

I've been a fan of Gloria's for years and she will always remain as one of the best female performers of the world today.

This collection features songs from PRIMITIVE LOVE,LET IT LOOSE,CUTS BOTH WAYS and INTO THE LIGHT. Gloria Estefan had other hits that do not appear on this collection. They are BAD BOY from PRIMITIVE LOVE and heard in the movie "Three Men And A Baby",the title track from CUTS BOTH WAYS,SEAL OUR FATE and some other from INTO THE LIGHT. New tracks are CHRISTMAS THROUGH YOUR EYES,heard every Christmas season since 1992 when this album was released,I SEE YOUR SMILE,which was another hit,another hit,ALWAYS TOMORROW,and GO AWAY heard during the opening credits of the Warner Bros. film,"Made In America".

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5.0 out of 5 stars Latin Music At Its Best
"Greatest Hits" is a compilation of Gloria Estefan's best from 1985-1990. Her combination of latin, pop, and dance offer some of the greatest upbeat grooves from the... Read more

Published on Jan 25 2004 by David Anderson

3.0 out of 5 stars It's in stereo
The music is great. But it's not multichannel. Releasing an SACD album in stereo is like releasing a CD in mono! Duh!

Published on Dec 4 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars THE INEVITABLE!
It's inevitable, that's some artist began to fade in the radio airwaves, but not in the memory of true fans. Read more

Published on Nov 20 2003 by S. Quinto

2.0 out of 5 stars I wasn't too impressed.
Gloria Estefan is a GREAT artist, but this CD didn't do much for me. The songs practically stayed the same throughout the CD. Read more

Published on Nov 3 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Gloria
Gloria may not be as popular as say Mariah or Celine, but she is definitely one of the divas. This collection represents her best material ranging throughout the 80's into the... Read more

Published on Jan 6 2003 by Aaron

5.0 out of 5 stars Gloria Estefan
This is a collection of Gloria Estefan's greatest Hits. It includes many hits such as "Can't Stay Away From You" and "Conga". Read more

Published on Jan 4 2003 by gibraud

5.0 out of 5 stars And then...there's always Gloria
1992 was a year of collection releases, especially for those artists that had had at least 3 studio albums released during the previous years. Read more

Published on Nov 28 2002 by fabio-italy

3.0 out of 5 stars Gloria Estefan- GHV1 (1992, Epic/Columbia)
Remember the good days where we saw VH1 playing "1, 2, 3" & "The Rhythm is Gonna Get You"? Remember those excellent days of the golden era, the 1980s? Read more

Published on Sep 5 2002 by LWNORWAY

5.0 out of 5 stars A Happy Miami Night
This collection of pop hits is easy to listen to and hard to turn off, which is exactly what pop music is suppose to be. Read more

Published on Aug 21 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars True talent needs no gimmick!
Gloria Estefan. No flashy names, no tricky dance numbers, no half-dressed music videos. Just straight up MUSIC that anyone can listen to! Read more

Published on Jun 7 2002 by Michael M. Williams II

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