Search - Gloria Estefan :: Mi Tierra

A tribute to modern Cuban music

Marianopolita2005 | 01/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mi Tierra is such a special, sincere, romantic and most of all a very Cuban album. In the market now for 10 years and still has its musical magic comparable to the first time that I listened to this production. No doubt this is one of her most complete albums and perhaps her best in the category of tropical music. Gloria Estefan has always been a renowned singer in English and if I am not mistaken Mi Tierra is her first Spanish album and who would of thought that it would be so successful. This cd has various Cuban rhythms like son, traditional, boleros and salsa. The album has 12 songs in total and they are all wonderful. Once you start listening to the album there will be no need to stop. The first song will really coax you into listening to the rest of the recording. It's a very romantic bolero and at the same time very inspiring and well sung by Gloria which will leave you motivated to listen to the rest of the songs. There are very danceable ones such as the forever popular "Mi Tierra" as well as 'Ayer" and "Hablemos el mismo idioma". Mi Tierra is one of those albums that has no time frame because the songs will live forever and this music has no boundaries. It's for anyone who knows how to appreciate the beauty that it has to offer. I hope Gloria produces more Spanish albums. I think she was born to sing in her native language! Try to ascertain a copy while you can. This is wonderful tribute to Spanish music, people and culture! Arriba Cuba!"

The pinnacle of an artistic career

David A. Baer | Indianapolis, IN USA | 01/02/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the sound of a brilliant career reaching its apex. Unless Gloria Estefan surprises us with a turn no one could anticipate, MI TIERRA will go down as the best music she ever produced.



That's no small statement, since Ms. Estefan has been wowing fans with one top-selling album after another from back in the days of the Miami Sound Machine.



I first came to know Gloria as a Latin singer while I was living in Latin America. Only subsequently did I become fully exposed to her English-language pop persona. Though Gloria was only two when her family emigrated to the US from Cuba and is therefore fully bilingual and bicultural, my opinion has always been that she excels when performing in Spanish.



MI TIERRA may well prove the point.



Backed up by rhythm and sound of astonishing consistency, Gloria sings a dozen winners (that's twelve out of twelve) on this CD despite some daring and unconventional moves ('Montuno' and 'Tradición').



Surprisingly, her opening gambit ('Con los años que me quedan') got the lion's share of this album's air time in spite of it not being the strongest piece of the puzzle. The gem among the dozen is 'Mi Tierra', which I believe to be the most poignant musical statement of the emigrant's dilemma ever peformed. There is a moment in this song when, amidst the nostalgic description of old Habana's streets and alleys, Ms. Estefan asks, 'Can I ever go back there? ... *Yo no sé*' (= 'I don't know'). The three-syllable staccato of her ambiguous reply touches every emigrant's secret knowledge that you can never truly go back to where you came from. Her unexpected response to a self-posed question leaps out and grabs you by the throat. It is one of Gloria's finest moments and a hypothetical pickle that events in her native land may soon give her an opportunity to confirm or refute.



'No hay mal que por bien no venga' projects the Latin American spunk and survivability that make it a region to grow old in with a smile.



Estefan has never had the pure horsepower of Latin stalwarts like, say, the late Celia Cruz. But whatever she has lacked in natural talent has been more than compensated by the class, consistency, and good public citizenship that she has exercised now into the stage of mature motherhood.



I hope she exceeds MI TIERRA. But I can't imagine it happening."

Afrocubanismo for the masses

David Kaminsky | Edmonton, Alberta Canada | 05/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"An astonishingly assured effort by Gloria Estefan, considered by many Gloriaphiles to be her best work. This sounds like an album of Afrocubanismo standards, like Linda Ronstadt's "Frenesi." Unlike Ms. Ronstadt's masterpiece, however, the songs on "Mi Tierra" are mostly original songs, many written by Gloria herself or by the great Estefano (who has written hits for Chayanne, Azucar Moreno, Paulina Rubio, Thalia, etc.). "Con los anos que me quedan" starts the CD off with a powerfully emotional ballad about making the most of life, fitting for an artist who survived a near-fatal bus crash. "Mi tierra" is Estefano's tribute to Gloria's homeland, and it wisely addresses it from a nostalgic, rather than political, perspective. "Ayer" is a lovely piece by Juanito Marquez, with a gorgeous chorus like the gentle lapping of warm ocean waves. "Mi buen amor" is another gentle Estefano song, this time with a gorgeous flute accompaniment by Nestor Torres. "Tus ojos" is lively and dancey, co-written by Emilio, who is often the rhythm behind Gloria's melodies. "No hay mal que por bien no venga," written by Cachao, has some gorgeous vocals by Jon Secada as well as stirring strings and woodwinds. It sounds very big band. "Si senor!" is a fiesty, fiery "son" of a song, seemingly infused with "la aroma de albahaca y hierbabuena" of Cuba and the beautiful Cuban people. "Volveras" slows down the pace, giving Gloria an opportunity to torch it up a bit. Not one of my favourite songs on the CD, this piece is nonetheless a great showcase for Gloria's voice. "Montuno" is another irresistable "son," written by Marquez. "Hablemos el mismo idioma" and "Tradicion," both co-written by the Estefans and thus deeply personal, are completely infused with movement and joy. The former reminds me of "Oye mi canto" from "Cuts Both Ways." In between these lively songs, we have the slow, sultry "Hablas de mi," another perfect showcase for Gloria's range. "Tradicion" is a perfect song to end on, since it expresses the credo of the Estefans: to continue the musical traditions of their forebears--Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Israel Lopez Cachao, Arturo Sandoval, etc. This CD manages to mix these Cuban influences with the old crew from Miami Sound Machine, add some great songwriting, and it all amounts to one of the greatest Latin language CDs of our time."