The Essential Gloria Estefan | 
| Artist: Gloria Estefan
Label: Sony
Category: Music
List Price: $15.99
Buy New: $8.85
You Save: $7.14 (45%)
New (37) Used (16) from $6.84
Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 7193
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.2
MPN: 689085
UPC: 828768908525
EAN: 0828768908525
ASIN: B000HN313S
Release Date: October 3, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Dr. Beat | | • | Rhythm Is Gonna Get You | | • | Heaven's What I Feel [Radio Edit] | | • | Everlasting Love [Video Version] | | • | You'll Be Mine (Party Time) [Rosabel's Fiesta Edit] | | • | Get on Your Feet | | • | Go Away [Single Remix] | | • | Don't Let This Moment End [Radio Edit] | | • | No Me Dejes de Querer | | • | Bad Boy [Single Version] | | • | 1-2-3 [Single Remix] | | • | Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice) [English Version] | | • | Live for Loving You [Single Remix] | | • | Si Senor! | | • | Oye [Pablo Flores English Remix Radio Edit] | | • | Turn the Beat Around | | • | Mi Tierra | | • | Conga | | • | Doctor Pressure [Miami Sound Machine vs. Mylo] - Gloria Estefan, Mylo |
Disc 2
| • | Can't Stay Away from You | | • | Don't Wanna Lose You | | • | Anything for You | | • | Falling in Love (Uh Oh) | | • | Words Get in the Way | | • | Cuts Both Ways | | • | Here We Are | | • | If We Were Lovers | | • | Nayib's Song (I Am Here for You) | | • | Reach | | • | Music of My Heart | | • | I See Your Smile | | • | I'm Not Giving You Up | | • | Wrapped | | • | Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me | | • | Along Came You (A Song for Emily) | | • | Coming out of the Dark | | • | Always Tomorrow |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
Glo's best Greatest Hits comp yet October 17, 2006
Jeff Pearlman (Lakeland, FL USA)
25 out of 26 found this review helpful
Well worth the wait...now only Celine Dion seems to remain among Sony superstars not yet included in the "Essential" series. This nicely-done compilation fills two discs with 37 career highlights, including rare single mixes of "Live For Loving You" (much livelier than the LP version), "Bad Boy" (the glaring omission, along with "Dr. Beat," from the first GH set), and "1-2-3", among others. "Dr. Beat" is here as well, along with a recent/bizarre Eurohit remix called "Doctor Pressure".
Disc 1 has the fast ones, Disc 2 has the slow ones, both with plenty of high points. All three of Mrs. Estefan's pop #1's were ballads and are on the 2nd disc: "Anything For You" (my favorite), "Don't Wanna Lose You", and the inspirational "Coming Out of the Dark."
All but three chart hits are here, hope they're not deal-breakers for you, gentle reader: "Betcha Say That", "Seal Our Fate", and "Can't Forget You".
I lived in North Miami Beach when even the lower-charting Gloria/Miami Sound Machine releases became radio staples. My sister and I heard "Conga" on the car radio a full year before it hit in Billboard. It was hard to stay inside the lane on I-95 when that one came on. I always thought Gloria Estefan handled her stardom with class, and her recovery from that terrible bus accident was inspirational. I'm really glad the label did a good job on this for the artist and her many fans.
An Aptly Titled Album October 6, 2006
John B. Valeri (Portland, CT USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
"The Essential Gloria Estefan," a two-CD retrospective on the English-language career of Gloria Estefan (with a few Spanish highlights such as the anthemic "Mi Tierra" thrown in for good measure) presents the singer as something more than the pop songstress she has been labeled as. Disc one, the fast disc, highlights most of Estefan's dance hits, opening with the 80's kitch of the sadly underrated "Dr. Beat" (which also closes the disc in a remixed form that topped European dance charts again last year, twenty years after its initial release). And all the Miami Sound Machine songs that brought Gloria to the top of the charts are accounted for: the timeless and wonderfully Latin-tinged "Conga," which not only opened the door for crossover success but broke it down, "1-2-3," "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," and "Get On Your Feet." ("Essential" also marks the first time that "Bad Boy" and "Falling In Love (Uh-Oh)" appear on an Estefan compilation, righting some of the wrongs committed on 1992's "Greatest Hits.") But more than just solidifying Gloria's status as an 80's pop icon, the disc showcases her transcendence from bubblegum to progressive. 1989's "Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice)" is a delightful and poignant commentary on acceptance that breaks into full-on flamenco guitar; "Turn The Beat Around" and "Everlasting Love" (a duo of songs from 1994's covers album, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me"), the former going all-out in Latin percussion and the latter unabashedly celebrating the glory days of disco, typify recreation; and 1998's "Heaven's What I Feel" (from the buoyant "Gloria!" album) is perhaps her most mature concoction of dance-pop to date. And then there's the caliente-ness of "Oye," a dance-floor throw-down with an undeniable salsa rhythm, that arguably bridges the gap between American and Latin flavors better than "Conga" did. Disc two, the slow disc, however, is the one that presents Gloria in perhaps her best light-as a songwriter who possesses the gift of capturing the most complex of human emotions with the simplest of words. All those broken-hearted love songs that you remember well are here (including "Words Get In The Way," "Can't Stay Away From You," "Cuts Both Ways,' the superior "Here We Are" and the number one smashes "Anything For You" and "Don't Wanna Lose You"), but it's the post-prime material that beckons for a second listen. "I See Your Smile" (previously only available on "Greatest Hits") is a stunning, piano-driven, tear-jerker; "I'm Not Giving You Up" (from 1996's sorely under-appreciated masterpiece, "Destiny") combines the Afro-Cuban rhythms explored on her Spanish albums with English pop sensibility; and the folkloric "Wrapped," the only song representing her most recent, and most personal, output from 2003's autobiographical "Unwrapped," is, with its poetic lyrics and unique use of mandolin and panpipes, unlike anything you will hear elsewhere. But it's the anthemic songs, such as 1991's gospel-infused "Coming Out Of The Dark" and 1996's Olympic theme "Reach," as well as the poignant "Always Tomorrow," that perhaps best represent Estefan as an artist: they are hopeful and inspiring, and they speak to the resiliency of the spirit, which is something Gloria Estefan has done effortlessly for the past two decades. "Essential" is the long-overdue musical portrait of an woman who rose to fame with an infectious dance ditty and then went on to redefine herself as a viable and serious voice of her generation.
 Music From The Heart October 12, 2006
Michael Kerner (Brooklyn, New York U.S.A.)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
There have been numerous hits collections that really have made an artists career seem definitive, or somebody feel like there career could've used more improvement. That has been the same with so many of the younger female artists like Jessica Simpson, Beyonce', and Ashanti. Although they've tried to stretch themselves into so many positions as singers, actresses and other positions, they don't seem to really have the organic feeling of what great music is all about. For somebody like Gloria Estefan, she is somebody who has been through hell and back from a nearly fatal accident in 1989, to being told she couldn't have kids. She had beaten all those odds, and now a definitive hits collection shines out of Gloria's music.
The 2006 Essential Gloria Estefan is a very long, overdue definitive hits collection taht spotlights her longevity as the most successful crossover female Latin/Pop artists ever. The double album does a very good job at highlighting her career throughout 3 decades in the spotlight. The collection though is similar to other greatest hits records like Whitney Houston's 2000 hits collection, where one disc is all about the dance tracks and the other disc is all about her pop ballads. The collection here highlights her career very well, and includes all of her big hits from the classic covers Turn The Beat Around and Everlasting Love, to dance beats from the classic Conga, Mi Tierra and Heaven's What I Feel from the movie Dance With Me, all the way around her soulful ballads such as Music Of My Heart with N'sync and I See You Smile. All in all, the songs for the record have all been remastered very well, and highlight each song beautifully. The only disadvantage with the record is that the songs weren't in chronological order for each track, which makes it a bit confusing for those who haven't heard her music, or newcomers who don't own a Gloria Estefan album yet.
Despite one major flaw, The Essential Gloria Estefan is one of the very few greatest hits record released this year that really has delivered as good as the greatest hits album has defined. I love her songs a lot, and I just wish a lot of people who seem more interested on who has to be hot on MTV, could try a change of pace, and listen to Gloria Estefan's magic. I absolutely recommend this hits album a whole lot. The rhythm will still get you.
Album Cover: B+
Songs: A-
Price: A-
Remastering: B+
Overall: B+
All Hail Gloria: The Queen of Latin Pop December 5, 2006
Neptunian Spirit (Dayton, OH USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Released in conjuction with "Oye Micanto: Los Exitos", her Spanish retrospective, "The Essential Gloria Estefan" covers Gloria's English material over two discs. The first disc focuses on her upbeat and dance oriented material, while the second deals solely with her ballads.
Prior to this, Gloria had released a hits set in two volumes, the first coming in 1992, the second in 2001, & a Spanish ballads collection in 2004. While those collected majority of her hits, there were some glaring omissions & missteps.
This is what makes this collection a must for any hardcore fan or new fan starting out, because it includes all of her typical staples. Amongst those, songs that had been left off of her previous sets are here: "Dr. Beat", "Cuts Both Ways", "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me", "Falling In Love (Uh-Oh)", "Don't Let This Moment End". There are others that not only are featured for the first time, but are being featured in the versions that were played at radio: "Bad Boy", "Go Away", "Live For Loving You", "You'll Be Mine (Party Time)". Gloria even drops in a few Spanish hits("No Me Dejes De Querer", "Mi Tierra", & "Si Senor!") to add curiosity to her Spanish work, which again, is covered well on the "Oye Micanto: Los Exitos" collection.
There are still some omissions that only the true Gloria heads may notice: "Betcha Say That", "Out of Nowhere", "I Got No Love", "You Can't Walk Away From Love", "Higher", "It's Too Late", etc. But many of these were minor, minor singles often only released in a promotional capability.
The packaging is nice as well, including some pretty good photos of Gloria, & an excellent essay on her & her contribution to popular music, & Latin music in particular.
The music is timeless, so the chronological order that is lacking here doesn't hurt, because Gloria has had the knack to maintain quality througout her 20+ years career. From authentic Latin flavored dance floor bangers, or the heart string tugging ballads, Gloria's rich, emotive voice has fueled them all.
Before Jennifer Lopez or Shakira, Gloria was breaking ground in the music world. This collection is a celebration of Gloria's work, & if you haven't experienced the joy of her music, this is the perfect place to start. Highly recommended!
Stunning Collection November 9, 2006
James Donovan (Plainfield, Vermont USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a terrific and indeed "essential" collection of nearly every hit song Gloria Estefan has released. Her previous Greatest Hits albums were good, but lacking in depth and some important songs, acting more as samplers than true comprehensive collections. This album corrects those errors, and then some. By including not just the mega-hits, but lesser ones and some choice albums tracks, not to mention a sampling of Spanish hits, this album gives almost a complete picture of Gloria's musical progression. I was thrilled as I glanced up and down the track listing. Songs that I have loved for years, but weren't considered "hits" are now given their proper due. Songs like "Live For Loving You", "Cuts Both Ways", and "Falling In Love (Uh Oh)", which I haven't heard in years, fit quite nicely alongside more familiar songs. And the inclusion of "Dr. Beat", and "Bad Boy", which were inexplicably left off her first Greatest Hits album make this the definitive collection. Few will find fault with this album, though not every single is here. The vast wealth of material that is here is truly astounding and a testament to the undeniable talent of Gloria Estefan.
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