Miami Sound Machine - Primitive Love

"Falling in Love" is a classic!

I bought this album for "Falling in Love" alone, and I give it 5 stars accordingly. To the other reviewer (L.A. Scene) who spent paragraphs telling us he is not a fan of Estefan, I say: If you cannot find a latin influence in a song like "Conga", then you need to keep your opinions to yourself. July 4, 2007

Primitive Love CD

I have all of the cassette tape of Gloria &Miami sound Machine. I love there music. I decide to purchase the CD's when one of my tapes broke. I am very happy with the cd just has I am happy with my tape. November 5, 2006

This Album Misses the Mark

The Miami Sound Machine originally started out as a band that did their recordings in Spanish. It would not be until the 1980s when the group would officially "crossover" into English Speaking albums. Their first attempt at crossover was the 1984 album "Eyes of Innocence" that produced a song called "Dr. Beat" that gained some notoriety in Europe. It would really be their 1986 follow-up album, "Primitive Love" that would propel the group, and most notably their lead singer Gloria Estefan to superstardom. I can't say that I am a fan of the Miami Sound Machine or Gloria Estefan - because I'm not. However, I do like a Latin influence in pop music, so I figured I would go deeper into this album and see if there was anything that would change my mind. With a couple of exceptions, there was little that changed my mind.

The overall problem I have with this album is that I really don't get a good sense for the Latin influence on this album. Perhaps I am being hard on the Miami Sound Machine because it's quite possible that they didn't intend to make an English Speaking album with a Latin influence. However, even if "Primitive Love" was an album done by a non-crossover artist, I think I would still be quite disappointed with this album. I found this album to be reminiscent of early 80s pop with plenty of synthetic "early 80s" style music as a major element.

I also must admit that I am not a huge Gloria Estefan fan. Today the term "Diva" is used to describe a great female vocalist. While I do think Estefan does an admirable job on vocals, outside of a couple of songs ("Words Get in the Way" and "Surrender Paradise") - there really isn't much that makes me consider Estefan a true "Diva". And while I'm still not a fan, I think the argument can certainly be made that Estefan's later work may have put her into the "Diva" category. It's just that I don't feel that this album contributes to help her elevate to that level.

I must admit, looking at the timeframe of the release of "Primitive Love", the success of this album really surprises me. It was in the mid-1980s, that the pop music landscape was beginning to move to a more "natural" guitar-laden sound. Many artists that recorded Synth-Pop songs in the mid 1980s soon began to struggle maintaining commercial success in this timeframe. Yet, somehow the Miami Sound Machine did manage to succeed and overcome this. The only reason I can think of is that CBS Records was smart in how they released the singles - they focused on the singles that did not seem to fit the early 1980s mold.

The song that propelled the Miami Sound Machine to pop stars would be the song "Conga". When this was released as a single, I wasn't too impressed with this song. Sometimes a song will grow on me the more I listen to it. Unfortunately this was not the case with "Conga". Yes this song has a Latin influence, but to me it really doesn't capture me. I guess the bottom line is I feel that this is an overrated track.

As for the other singles that were released I actually found them much more enjoyable. "Bad Boy" is probably my favorite of these tracks. I wouldn't say that "Bad Boy" is a total Latin song. In this song, I hear Latin elements mixed with some conventional pop elements. I happen to like the way that the horns are used in this song. I also think that that there is some creative use of percussion and guitar work in this song. "Words Get in the Way" is one of the tracks where I do think Gloria Estefan's vocals dominate the song. This is the one song on the album written by Gloria Estefan - and it's really well-written. The song deals with a woman singing about the end of a long-term relationship. This is a soft melody - not much of a Latin influence and it's really carried by the vocals. Vocals also play a nice role on "Falling in Love". This song has more of a conventional pop-feel. On this particular song it isn't really Estefan's vocals, but some of the outstanding background vocal harmonies on the chorus that give this song a good feel.

The two worst songs on the collection happen to be the first two songs. "Body to Body" is one of those songs that has an early 1980s feel. However, it's not even a good early 80s song - it is very synthesizer-heavy and way overmixed. I also didn't hear much of a Latin influence in that song. While the next song, "Primitive Love" has a slight Latin influence, I still found this another song with an early 80s feel that was overmixed. The bottom line is that the title-track isn't a very good song either.

There are some other songs with an early 80s feel that are better. "Mucho Money" is also a song with an early 80s feel. "Mucho Money" also does a better job at integrating the Latin influence with the 80s sound. "Movies" is a song that has less of a Latin feel, but still maintains that 80s influence. The chorus almost reminds me a bit of Dan Hartman's "Instant Replay". Next to "Bad Boy", perhaps the best track on this collection is "Surrender Paradise". In a way, this song almost has more of a South Pacific feel to it. Yes there is a Synthesizer element in this slow song, but this is one of the tracks whether Estefan's voice really shines. I'm surprised this song didn't get more airplay - it is very good.

Overall, the poor early 80s style music and not the depth of the Latin influence were too much for me to overcome. This album has its moments, but overall is a disappointing. October 22, 2005

OMG THIS IS CHEAP MUSIC

CONGA is now a classic latino crossover, but do not represent the entire hispanic comunitty. This sophomore album by the Miami Sound Machine, was like a rehearsel one. The tracks that didn't hit the top 10 a pure fillers, and the ones that did like BAD BOYS(the most digeastable one) and WORDS GET IN THE WAY( a ballad that falls into the oblivion) are so dated, is most be said that DR. BEAT was more clever than any of the songs feauture here. Not worth it. Buy the best album of Gloria wich is in fact 1998's Gloria!. March 5, 2005

Primitive Love (1985) Miami Sound Machine

After the failed success of their 1984 album, Eyes Of Innocence, Miami Sound Machine went back into the studio one year later and released their 1985 album, Primitive Love. This was the album that got them the stardom they were longing for. And this is the album that is my favorite. There are so many great songs on this album, that every Gloria Estefan fan should listen to it constantly.

BODY TO BODY
A song that I could listen to, but not constantly.

PRIMITIVE LOVE
This is much better than Body To Body. Great arrangements, great vocals. It's just great all around.

WORDS GET IN THE WAY
The first single from the album. This song is what made the band famous and is one of my favorites. The song is also my mother's favorite. This one just take me back to my childhood days.

BAD BOY
The second single from the album. I love this one because of it's catchy lyrics, it's catchy harmonies and melodies, and it's catchy beats and arrangements. This one should sound familiar to everyone if you all saw the hit film, Three Men And A Baby.

FALLING IN LOVE (UH-OH)
The third single from the album. This yet another one of my absolute favorites. I can't turn on off this album without listening to this song.

CONGA
The fourth and final single from the album. This song will remain a classic song for all eternity. It has been doing so ever since its release. It has appeared in many films over the years, but the only movie I know this song appeared in was The Birdcage.

MUCHO MONEY
I get a kick out of this one because of it's lyrics and it's sound. My favorite part of the song is when you hear Gloria sing, 'E-bah, E-bah, E-bah'!

YOU MADE A FOOL OF ME
I love this one because of how soothing it sounds.

MOVIES
Not bad.

SURRENDER PARADISE
Not bad.

This is one of the best albums ever made and if you are a Gloria fan, then you should have this album. July 16, 2004

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