Destiny

Gloria Estefan

Epic, 1996

http://www.gloriaestefan.com

REVIEW BY: Mark Millan

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/21/2010

After conquering the pop world in the mid ‘80s, Gloria Estefan rode out that decade in style with her biggest selling album, Cuts Both Ways. Since that release, though, her most inspired moment came with the Latin beauty Mi Tierra. Her pop albums seemed to lack the spark and Latin flavor that made her ‘80s output so exciting. Into The Light was too long and melodramatic, and her horrible covers album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me is still by far her worst effort ever. 

Following the success of Mi Tierra and the birth of her second child, Gloria decided to return to her roots and make her next album in a much more organic style. Gone are the layered synths and drum machines; these were replaced with beautiful strings, lots of acoustic guitars, and percussion. The result is, of course, her most focused and original pop album. Gloria’s voice continued to improve with age, and her lyrics for the most part are truly heartfelt and revealing.  Destiny is one of the best pop albums I’ve ever heard, and now, fourteen years after its release, it has lost none of its appeal.

It’s hard to describe an exact sound that best sums up the overall ambience of Destiny, but it is essentially an international one. Obviously, Gloria’s Latin roots are clearly evident but there’s also European, Middle Eastern, and African beats and melodies running throughout the disc.  And while Estefan has primarily been known as a dance pop singer, it is the intoxicating mid-tempo songs on my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 Destiny that really shine. 

Rich, soulful love songs like “The Heart Never Learns” and the Diane Warren-penned “Show Me The Way Back To Your Heart” are almost perfect, and while the latter could have been another signature mushy Warren ballad, in the hands of the reenergized Miami Sound Machine, it’s transformed into a acoustic masterpiece. 

Destiny also contains some of Gloria’s most personal lyrics, especially on tracks written about her husband and daughter. “Along Came You (A Song For Emily)” is probably the most revealing and honest song I’ve ever heard from a parent to a child, while “I’m Not Giving You Up” again reveals the emotional journey of the Estefan’s enduring marriage. 

These sentiments are again explored with another powerful cut in “Steal Your Hear,” which probably contains too many words, but with some crafty phrasing and backed by a simple melody, Estefan handles it with ease. My two favorite tracks on the album are the glorious title cut and a brilliant song called “Path Of The Right Love.” Both are mid-tempo and quite dramatic musically, with the latter being a more Latin affair and the former sporting one of the most enchanting melodies I’ve ever heard. “I Know You Too Well” is the one song that sounds very ‘80s – in a good way, of course – and as you can tell by the title, it’s another love song for hubby.

All of this and still no dancing – but I’ll get to that in a minute. By far the most memorable song on this album is “Reach,” which Gloria wrote with Diane Warren. It was used as the official theme for the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, and it gets the job done in the sense that musically it’s again very “international” and lyrically it’s very uplifting. 

So the dancing. One of Gloria’s best dance numbers surfaced here with the Latin beats and sexy horns of “You’ll Be Mine (Party Time),” which became an instant fan- favorite on the massive Evolution Tour that supported this record. The other track made for dancing is the chill-out groove of “Higher,” which is just as much fun but not as noisy. Both add much needed light into what is a very mood-driven and introspective collection of songs.

Destiny is the best English-language album Gloria has ever made, and along with 1993’s Mi Tierra, it represents the best of what she has to offer. This is the best pop album of the ‘90s – I’d take this baby over Madge’s Ray Of Light or MJ’s Dangerous any day. But that’s the kinda guy I am, because Gloria will always be my Miami Vice. 

Rating: A

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