Gloria Estefan
The prolific Estefan—who's put out 10 albums in 12 years—has lately been pumping her creative juices by stretching her boundaries. The Cuban-born singer accomplished this most successfully on 1993's mi tierra and 1995's Abriendo Puertas, two captivating Spanish-language excursions.
Though she sings Destiny entirely in English, Estefan wisely continues to flirt with the sexy world-beat of farflung Latin genres. Too bad she squanders her musical globe-trotting on a bunch of dreary ballads. Lacking the awesome lung power of Celine Dion, who excels at transforming droopy love songs into grand events, Estefan mostly falls flat when the tempo slows. Her sensual vocal style works best when it rides a firecracker groove. Thankfully she includes two of those on Destiny. When she gets wild and frisky in the calypso swing of "You'll Be Mine (Party Time)" and the congo stomp of "Higher," Estefan can even get a grandma leaping from her rocking chair and dancing into the streets. (Epic)
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