Customer Reviews

Let It Loose

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Long before the latin invasion, Gloria Estefan was truly the one woman that crossed over.
Some pop efforts already broke in the Top 40, but this is the album that really started it all for her.
Gloria has written the # 1 hit ANYTHING FOR YOU and the sadness-tinged CAN'T STAY AWAY FROM YOU.
She rocked the dancefloors with RHYTHM IS GONNA GET YOU and 1,2,3.
She will prove you to be more than just a crossover artist when you listen to the sophisticated GIVE IT UP (great sax solo...).
Just for the record: this CD in europe was re-released in 1988 under the title ANYTHING FOR YOU, with a couple of extra bonus, the 12" versions of RHYTHM IS GONNA GET YOU and LET IT LOOSE.

Gloria Estefan at her finest. In 1987 and 1988 you could not get away from this album, "Let It Loose", is a fine collection of songs, first came the infectous "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You"(and it did) which hit #6, then "Bet'cha Say That, hit #30?, then the ballads two excellent songs, the very drippy "Can't Stay Away From You"(a personal favorite) hit #6 then "Anything For You"(another favorite) giving Gloria her first #1 hit, and finally the ever peppy 1-2-3 which hit #1 giving that album 5 terrific hit singles also not released was "I Want You So Bad" which also could have been a hit. Besides "BAD" and "Whitney" this was one of my favorite album from 1987-88. Let It Loose, GLORIA!

Gloris Estefan rose to superstardom with LET IT LOOSE. I remember seeing the video for BETCHA SAY THAT. Big hits from the album are CAN'T STAY AWAY FROM YOU,RHYTHM IS GONNA GET YOU,ANYTHING FOR YOU and 1-2-3. I WANT YOU SO BAD is not to be confused with the same title on Heart's BAD ANIMALS album,released in 1987 just like this album. This is the next to last album bearing the artist Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine. This album was produced by Gloria's husband Emilio Estefan & The Jerks(obviously some buddies of his). Gloria's Epic Records labelmate Michael Jackson had a hit album in '87 also,BAD.

gloria estefan has a number of really good songs on this album but "rhythm is gonna get you" is one of the best songs to come out of the 80's. that song is smokin!!! i get the chills when i hear that funky 80's keyboard background in the beginning of the song, plus the rest of it is great too. if you like gloria, or latin club grooves, get this!

After the introduction of "Eyes Of Innocence" & the success of "Primitive Love", Gloria Estefan and Gang had a very difficult challenged to overcome, prove that "Conga" wasn't a stroke of luck!, and they're weren't just flavor of the month, "Let It Loose" prove many critics wrong, their third delivery outsold the first two LP, had 4 top ten singles + one top 40, and sold over 4 million copies. If that's not enough, "Anything" became their first #1 single in the Billboard 100. To listen to this album nowadays is difficult because, you have to understand, that the Miami Sound Machine tried to fit into the scene of pop music of the late 80's, with that brought to the attention, many songs, specially the ones that didn't became singles like "Give It Up, Surrender, Love Toy" sound extremely dated, with synth's and calypso beats, and really simple lyrics, that tried to alienated her latin spirit away. Surprisely the song that sound less dated than anyone in the Record is the most latin flavored one "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" and the message was clear, this song made to the top 5, and was the first single, and the strongest in the whole album. "Betcha You Say That" became the sad 2nd single, a song that failed the top 10, because it was simply boring, without innovation and pretty away from the style of Estefan, it was no mistake this was her most poppy AC attemp, but it failed, the third single "Can't Stay Away From You" her first ballad of this album to be release, is a nice easy goin track, but as many songs in this record sound dated and without strong feelings, the 4th single "Anything" their first #1, is a timeless Estefan classic, and it will sound in radio waves from years to come, because, it's reunites everything a song should have, a great hook, great lyrics, timeless music, and amazing memorable vocals, great message, great song. The last single "1-2-3" made it into the charts with a slightly different remix, this song is the most easy goin' and radio friendly of all, no wonder it was a hit, party stomper by those days, a none release song "I Want You So Bad" made recall Donna Summer's sexy songs, but it's no lie, that Gloria is more friendly, than sexy vixen, so with all that in mind, "Let It Loose" made it big with the four singles that became top 10. but the half of the album sound dated, this is a most have for any fan of Gloria or the late 80's, but if you're casual listener buy the Greatest Hits.

THIS IS DEFINITELY A GREAT CD I LIKE ALL THE SONGS ON THE TRACK IT IS DIFFICULT TO FIND IN RETAIL STORES I AM HAPPY IT WAS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM

By the late 1980's when this album came out so much had changed for Gloria Estefan and just about everything in the latin-pop/freestyle field of dance music,which had come to rely a lot on people such as Lisa Lisa And Cult Jam as much as Gloria,the one of more or less got the ball rolling. This is the album where her roll as a singular latin diva really began to shine on her own. It's not clear despite her top billing over Miami Sound Machine (which would continue on the next album) if this album is her solo debut or the final group effort. Actually it wound up being something of a mixture of both as "Emilio And The Jerks" (whoever the Jerks were) are credited for production so it's likely they would be more considered to be her backing band here than her being more in a particapatory role. But what mattered most here is how just plain wonderful an album this is overall.

There are some times where an album is based more in uptempo music or ballads and any exursion into the other can be a difficult. On this album anything,regardless of tempo is very well done. Now this was recorded in 1987 so the album is arranged with a heavily "contempo" electro-dance style sound. All the same every synthesizer used here is luckily used as a rhythm element so therefore this album is primarily based in rhythmic uptempo numbers such as ""Betcha' Say That",the title song,"Give It Up","Love Toy" and "I Want You So Bad" so for those who couldn't get enough of the huge hits "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" and "1-2-3" will find the rest of the album is very consistant AND equally as poppy. So there's no filler material here. There are two ballads here,both very different. My favorite is "Can't Stay Away From You" which is of course the more rhythmic of the two and..well qualifies more as a smooth groove than a ballad and of course "Anything For You",which with it's big ballad sound really showcases the more vocal style of Estefan's music to come.

I've always been the first one to say that with all the saturation radio play of their hits Gloria and Miami Sound Machine were one of the more unheralded pop phenomenon of their time and their music was highly impressionable on the big latin pop boom of Ricky Martin and such a decade or so later. And during the the mid to late 80's the electro/synth dance music of the day got just what it needed in the pulsing latin rhythms of the freestyle movement that this band among others helped to pioneer. So I'll always remember this album less as a period piece as some people might and as an important step forward in terms of how,at different times latin musical styles have helped rescue pop music from rhythmically stifled time periods even when it seemed other significant musical genres could not.

Length:: 1:28 Mins

Latin meets pop in this borderline "greatest hits" collection. Miamai Sound machine at it's finest.

Love and props to Gloria and the Miami Sound Machine. Was a huge fan back in the day. However, let's not forget the ORIGINAL and Break through artists of the 80s for the "miami sound"--Expose! Their album "Exposure" came out well before Gloria's and they set the tone for the Miami Sound/Freestyle/Dance of the 80s. Love ya Gloria...Love ya Expose!