Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits, Vol. 2

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When an artist releases a greatest hits CD, one expects the volume 1 of that artists' hits to be good and with Gloria Estefan she accomplished that on her first hits package, giving us one of the more enjoyable hits package around, from classics like "Conga", "Anything For You" and "Here We Are", to the suprise hit "I See Your Smile" this album is a true winner. Now for an the same artist to release a greatest hits II package and expect it to hold up just as well as the first is something that artist hopes hold true. With "Greatest Hits II" Gloria gives us more songs that have put this artist future into the realm of excellence. On this album Gloria continues where "Greatest Hits I". Starting with 1993 and landing into this year. Songs like "Turn The Beat Around" and "Everlasting Love" from the album "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" in 1994, continuing with "Reach", "I'm Not Giving You Up" and "You'll Be Mine" from the underrated "Destiny" album in 1996, and landing into 2001, with a new song "You Can't Walk Away From Love" which if people love this artist should hope to see this in the top 10, were this artist and song belong, all in all "Greatest Hits II" holds up just as well as "Greatest Hits I" just to prove you should never count an artist out.

Gloria Estefan does it one more time with this amazing collection of hits. I didnt think that she could top her first Greatest Hits album..but she proved me wrong! All 10 greatest hits tracks are wonderful. But her three new songs are soon to be classics. Out of Nowhere..will soon be a club and radio hit! As will I Got No Love...cowritten by Jon Secada...the song is full of R&B flavor...a new sound for Gloria, but it fits her well...A MUST HAVE IN YOUR COLLECTION!!! You wont be disappointed. You also get some cool linear notes on each of her hits...some behind the music stuff its real cool. ENJOY!

It's a well known fact that Gloria Estefan is one of the most popular female performers ever to grace the stage. Her songs are loved by all. "Greatest Hits Vol. 2" proves this statement true. The CD packs 10 English hits as well as three new songs, which are sure to be chart toppers. As a bonus, Gloria included "Y-Tu-Conga" a remix of the classic, "Conga" mixed by Gloria's son, Nayib. The remix starts off using the original vocals recorded in 1985. However, towards the end, Gloria ad-libs the classic chorus, "Come on shake your body baby do the Conga!" As a bonus, some clips of "Conga" performed from live shows are thrown in, as well as ad-libbed clips from "Dr. Beat" and "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You." "Vol. 2" is essential to your CD collection, right next to Vol. 1. This CD also shows that Gloria Estefan is here to stay!

Gloria Estefan has been an artist that has been able to mantain success over the years, adapting to the musical changes of our times; one of the finest artist around, a true chamaleon in Pop music surprising us with every new album. "Greatesst Hits Vol. 2" compiles Gloria's best songs over the past 9 years (Since her first Greatest Hits in 1992), the songs include "Turn the beat around" and "Everlasting Love" gems of the "Hold me, thrill me, kiss me" album (1994); "Reach", "I'm not giving you up" (Remix) and "You'll be mine (Party time)" (Dance Remix) from her critically acclaimed "Destiny" (1996); "Heaven's what I feel" and "Oye" from the incredible dance cd of 1998 "Gloria!". She also treats us with "If we were lovers" a wonderful song from the 1993 album "Mi tierra" (Spanish version: "Con los años que me quedan"), "Music of the heart" (Duet with *NSYNC) a top 40 for last years music charts. Unfortunately there were some songs that were great hits but were left out (?) like Carol King's "It's too late", "Don't let this moment end" (Grammy nominated song). The great part of this cd are the new songs, there are three: "You can't walk away from love" (already on rotation on top 40 stations) a great fusion of latin percussion and orchestral background, makes this ballad a favorite and shows Gloria's ability as a songwriter; "Out of nowhere" invites us all to the dance floor, a sure to be hit and "I've got no love" great song with R&B flavor making Gloria's voice sound very cool and different and finally "Y tu conga" (a remix version of her first hit "Conga") Remixed by little Louie Vega and her Son Nayib Estefan, with electronic loops it sounds so fresh is hard to believe that song was recorded in 1983. Defenetly a great collection that leaves us waiting for what this DIVA will be doing in the next years, and I have no doubt to see some time around a Greatest Hits Vol. 3!

This album proves that she will be around longer. I like the selection of the songs. The songs are remixed more into a dance version. This album is as good as the first hit album.

I bought most of Gloria's CDs so I already have all the hits included in this CD. My reason for buying this new CD was to see how good were the three new songs included in the album. And I must say that I was amazed with the quality and different styles of the new songs. The best english songs she has had in a while. All three are fantastic, specially "You can't walk away from love" and "Out of nowhere" which will soon be new hits. The new songs alone make worthwhile buying this CD. Gloria has NEW HITS already! I now just miss a LIVE album!

Almost 10 years have gone by since the release of Gloria's first greatest hits compilation. A lot has happened between these two compilations, but she is back with yet another greatest hits album. This one includes the hits from 1994 to 2000.

TURN THE BEAT AROUND
From the album Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me (1994). The album Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me (1994) is an album that contains all of Gloria's renditions of older songs she has loved when she was growing up. This hit was one of those songs. Originally recorded by the late Vickie Sue Robinson, Gloria turned this one into an undestroyable hit.

EVERLASTING LOVE
From the album Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me (1994). Originally recorded by Carl Carlton, Gloria made the better rendition and nobody can deny that. The music video is said to be Gloria's favorite because she wasn't in it. She was about to give birth to her daughter, Emily, when the time came to shoot this video. She said that she was not getting in front of the camera, not even for a close-up. She asked herself, 'Who can do me better than me?' She said it was an easy answer, for she had performed many live shows where she spotted a lot of men dressed up as her. She thought that those guys were great impersonating her, so they went out to scout for five guys who would want to become Gloria in this video. They got five guys to do the job. One of them wore the actual dress that Gloria used in her Live For Loving You music video. Not a replica, the exact one. She thought the guys did a great job in the video, she took two of them as dancers on the road for her Evolution world tour.

REACH
From the album Destiny (1996). From the 1996 Summer Olympics Games Album (1996). In 1996, Gloria was asked to record the main theme for the '96 Summer Olympics. Gloria was more than thrilled, but she didn't have any idea of what to write. Diane Warren, famous songwriter, came to Gloria with a title called Reach. In fifteen minutes, they came up with the unbelievable hit. It is one of my favorites and always will be.

IF WE WERE LOVERS (English Version)
Previously unreleased. Spanish version from the album Mi Tierra (1993). Back in late 1990, after the accident, Gloria had written this song for the Into The Light (1991) album. She even recorded it, but she cut it from the final selections because she didn't think it would fit with the rest of the album. While recording for the Mi Tierra (1993) album, she decided to use this song, but record it in Spanish, being that the Mi Tierra (1993) album is a Spanish album. This greatest hits collection marks the first album to include the English version of this great song.

YOU'LL BE MINE (PARTY TIME) (Single Mix)
Original version from the album Destiny (1996). This is really no different from the original, but it's still a classic.

HEAVEN'S WHAT I FEEL
From the album Gloria (1998). For starters, she called her 1998 dance fused album Gloria because the front cover features only her eyes behind a blue circle. Her full name is not printed on the front cover, so calling it Gloria would indicate that this is an album by Gloria Estefan. Secondly, this song was originally recorded by Celine Dion, while she was recording for her Let's Talk About Love (1997) album. Unfortunately, Celine did not choose it in the final song selections. Celine is good friends with Gloria, so she let her hear the song. Gloria loved the lyrics and melody so much, that she asked to re-record the song. Celine, of course, gave the Okay, and Gloria released it as the first single from her album, Gloria (1998).

I'M NOT GIVING YOU UP (Single Remix)
Original version from the album Destiny (1996). Gloria recorded this song for the album Destiny (1996), but the album contains the ballad version. She also recorded a dance remix version. A lot of her fans really enjoyed the dance remix, but they never had the chance to buy the dance remix because it was not available on any album or any of the singles, so she decided to put it here. The album version is much better.

MUSIC OF MY HEART (with *NSYNC)
From the original motion picture & soundtrack Music Of The Heart (2000). This theme song inspired Wes Craven's Music Of The Heart. The film stars Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Angela Basset, and, in her first starring role, Gloria Estefan. She had a fun time shooting this film as it was, but she had even more fun when she recorded this song with *NSYNC. They both had an amazing time together and still remain great friends.

OYE
From the album Gloria (1998). Not bad.

YOU CAN'T WALK AWAY FROM LOVE
New song. From the original motion picture Original Sin (2001). Not bad.

OUT OF NOWHERE
New song. Not bad.

I GOT NO LOVE
New Song. Not bad.

Y-TU-CONGA (Remix of Conga)
Original version of Conga from Miami Sound Machine's album Primitive Love (1985). Gloria has said that for years, her son, Nayib, has been wanting to do a remix of Conga and she finally made an album where she could allow him to do so. She said that Conga has always been one of her favorite songs and she loves to know that people, even today, 19 years after it's release, love it still. She said that this remix is her favorite remix because her son had taken part in remixing it.

Gloria still has a way of winning her fans over and she does so by releasing this second greatest hits compilation. Buy this album and we'll see what's next in store for Gloria.

What a fantastic album-and what a great idea to include some of Gloria's hottest tracks all on one gorgeous digital gem. I am so glad to hear "Turn The Beat Around", the hot remix of "I'm Not Giving You Up", and the divine "Heaven's What I Feel".This collection far surpasses Gloria's first package. Instead of tepid ballads, Gloria dishes the dance tracks that will send you soaring. Some of the tracks are a bit slow and unimpressive, including the new tracks. "Out of Nowhere" is okay(no where near the caliber of her work on "Gloria!"), and "Music Of My Heart" should have been forgotten about. The remix of "Conga" is cute, but hardly hot. Gloria should have included "Don't Let This Moment End" and all could be forgiven.So the final word? Gloria is a superstar, and this collection, while not perfect, is definately worth a buy.

For over 5 years, Gloria Estefan has been my all-time favorite artist. Through these past 5 years I have accumulated all of her albums, and I have to say, after just one listening of this album, it has instantly become my favorite Gloria album. This is mostly because I like her 90's stuff, better than her 80's stuff. And this album is just jam packed with the best songs of her career from 1993 until the present.

As an added bonus, Gloria adds three completely new, English songs. The first is a beutifully written ballad titled, "You Can't Walk Away From Love." The second is a fantasically produced dance number that had me dancing the first time I heard it. It is called "Out of Nowhere." It really is a catchy song. The third is a mysterious little number called, "I Got No Love." This one might take a couple times of listening to it before you start to like it, but believe me, it will grow on you like no other song has. As one last surprise, Gloria adds a remix, produced by her son, of her breakthrough hit, Conga. It is so much fun to listen to!

Obviously, if you are a die-hard Gloria fan, this is a must-have. But, if your not, I still highly recommend this album because it does a great job of highlighting the best of Gloria's career in the past 8 years.

Gloria's second Greatest Hits it's a smooth move to this Cuban chanteuse, that approach the 90's in a mature secure way. The record starts with "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" tracks, "Turn The Beat Around" it's a club anthem, a mayhem of beats, a true dance gem, usually remakes don;t work but this one did. "Everlasting Love" This classic uplifting track is just pure pop delight. "Reach" is a simple pop-folk tune, a true anthem to raise the spirit. "I'm Not Giving You Up", heartbreaking, with dramatic club house beats..the line where Gloria sings "we'll find a way to be together, however long takes wherever..." wow, just amazing. "You'll Bi Mine" party Gloria!, just happy song! latino rhythms, "Heaven's What I Feel" love club song, how do you supposed to not dance to this, "Oye" strong funky latin club beats, one of Gloria's best!, "Music Of My Heart" joined by Nsync, pretty adult contemporary songs, a-la-Dion, "Out Of Nowhere" new latin-beats of miami club, speedy and flaky, "I Got No Love" mature and heartfelt, "Y Tu Conga" new remake of Conga and some extra samples of Dr Beat. "If We Were Lovers" and english version of "Con Los Anios Que Me Quedan", very dramatic. Overall Greatest Hits Vol. II shows Gloria's Great Repertuar of the 90's and her conviction of making latin-club music for the mainstream audience, a great artist.