Gloria Estefan - Cuts Both Ways

Ella fue magnífica.

Like a mountain range that spreads peaks out as far as the eye can see, Gloria peaked early, then went on to add album after album to the view. CUTS BOTH WAYS is definitely her early peak, a CD that showed her at the top of her game as a singer in both Spanish and English.

'Ay, Ay, I' is vintage Cubanesque dance music and Gloria pulls it off with savoir-faire, only to change tactics entirely by going balladesque on track two with 'Here We are'.

This was 1989 and Gloria was only *becoming* the pop star we eventually took for granted. This was her main move on to center stage as a singer with a larger-than-clubs repertoire of truly moving music.

'Oye mi canto' was the album's biggest hit. I first knew it in Spanish, since I was living in Latin America at the time. It still strikes me as the better of the two versions.

But if 'Oye' won the day for popularity, 'Get On Your Feet' was a kind of Gloria-esque anthem that has survived by sheer spunk and rhythm. The amazing thing is that she could transition from that tune to the longing tones of 'Your Love is Bad for Me' without suffering whiplash.

But she could. And she did.

In Cuts Both Ways, Gloria - not for the last time - was magnificent. July 23, 2007

Here We Are

I love this album for more reasons than any human can understand fully, for reasons that go beyond Gloria and her voice and the music. Plus look at Gloria's face on the album cover. Isn't it enough to make you melt?

I'll say "Here We Are" was the 1st song of Gloria's that I really connected with. (I have sort of enshrined the "cassette single" of that song in a plastic protective case. I can't play the cassette anymore, 'cause it might break and I can't let that happen.) This song brought me rushing into Gloria's music with full force. Plus, when I hear Gloria's singing voice, I hear the timbre of the speaking voice of someone I know and love in my own personal world.

In the end, as a "review", I'd say that with most things, how much you "like" something will be determined by your own personal, unique characteristics that have been shaped by your life. So what I like may not be what you like, the depth of what I like may not be the depth of your "like", and likely won't be. Come to whatever you listen to musically and ask if it "speaks to you". This album speaks of love and loss and pain and even moments of release and just "fun". If you have felt any of these, you will have some connection to this album.

And Gloria's voice is unlike any other in music. I've listened to her voice evolve over the past 15-20 years. Her current singing voice (as of 2005-06) is deeper and a little more "sandy" as compared to this Album and earlier Albums...which is very light and smooth as a newborn's laugh. But of course, everyone ages. And still, even saying that her voice has changed, I'll say her voice is still creamy good. December 28, 2005

The rythm`s gonna get you.

Ai,ai, this is sugar for you ear. Track 2 Here we are is an all time Gloria Estefan hit. This is sooooo releaxing to listen to.
Here voice is simple,plain, and full of emotions. The are some tracks which really drag you into some kind of tempo upbeat emotions. Track 3 Say is a winner in that category.
It`s uplifting and full of movements. It`s a fine mix to have some ballads put inbetween. But i prefer the up tempo songs, and i dont mind here singing in spanish too. The
rythm of Gloria Estefan gonna take you sometimes. Track 7 Dont wanna loose you, it`s full of emotions, that it goes straight into youre heart. Say it simple, play it simple, and it will soften the emotionless, at least a tiny bit. This record was big back then in the beginning at the end of 1989, and still holds up. Quality all over. November 24, 2005

Title track is good, but the rest....

Give her credit; at least she manages one decent track on an album on occasion. Here, it is the title track. "Cuts Both Ways" wasn't one of her biggest hits, only reaching #44, but it was at least sincere sounding. The utterly nothing song "Don't Wanna Lose You" was heard on the radio a lot, and it didn't deserve it. It is trite and empty, like the vast majority of her music. Absolutely nothing there! This album was also where the marketing of Estefan as a solo performer was at a transitional stage. On the cover, only her name appeared, but on the spine, it had "& Miami Sound Machine" still attached to it. Her early recordings as vocalist with that group are still her best, even though they are hardly brain stimulators themselves, at least they had some energy and were rather fun, in particular "Falling In Love" and "Bad Boy". Both of these have been ignored on subsequent collections, for no apparent reason other than Sony's not caring about completeness, something they have long been known for. Estefan is not totally worthless as a recording artist (I always contend that even the WORST acts have one or two good songs in their catalogs), but she's pretty damn close to being the female equivalent of Billy Joel. (Well, not THAT bad, actually.) October 27, 2005

Great Album!!!!

..this album is great and I was happy to be able to find it on amazon.com October 7, 2005

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