Unwrapped (album)

Unwrapped
Studio album by Gloria Estefan
Released September 2003 (2003-09)
(See release history)
Studio Crescent Moon Studios, Miami
Genre Pop
Length 60:32
Label Epic
Producer Gloria Estefan
Emilio Estefan
Sebastian Krys
Gloria Estefan chronology
Greatest Hits Vol. II
(2001)		 Unwrapped
(2003)		 Amor y Suerte: Exitos Romanticos
(2004)
Singles from Unwrapped
  1. "Wrapped/Hoy"
    Released: August 2003
  2. "I Wish You"
    Released: February 2004 (Europe) March 2004 (U.S.)
  3. "Te Amaré"
    Released: February 2004 (Spain)
  4. "Tu Fotografía"
    Released: February 2004(U.S.)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Celebrity Cafe [2]
MSN Music [3]

Unwrapped is the tenth studio solo album and twenty-fourth album overall by Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan, released in 2003. It also was the first English language studio album since 1998's gloria!.

Content

Estefan worked with notable artists on the album. Stevie Wonder played harmonica and sang on "Into You," while Chrissie Hynde appeared on "One Name". "Hoy," which became one of Estefan's most successful singles, was written by Peruvian singer-composer Gian Marco and contains several Peruvian folk music elements.

The album uses the theme of unwrapping herself to the world in the lyrics, recording and the artwork. The picture on the back cover is actually Gloria's back. Next to the title, "Into You," there is a pink line that runs down to the bottom. That is the scar from Gloria's back surgery when she broke her back in 1990. She has never shown the scar publicly before. Since the lyrics were supposed to come from within her, some of the song lyrics are actually written on her body backwards, hence stressing that the lyrics emerged from inside her body. If the viewer puts the picture of the cover up to a mirror he/she can read some of the lyrics to "Wrapped," "Famous" and "I Will Always Need Your Love." The picture above the "I Will Always Need Your Love" lyrics is Gloria holding hands with her husband Emilio, for whom the song was written. The picture of the hand pointing to the lyrics to "You" is Gloria's daughter, Emily, for whom the song was written.

The recording of the album is very different than any other of Gloria's albums. As mentioned in the bonus feature in the Live & Unwrapped DVD, the album was recorded live which means the band played and Gloria sang at the same time. There is less reverb (echo) on Gloria's vocals, done to create an intimate feeling. The album is very acoustic and is designed to feel like an unplugged album. This is also the first Estefan album to not feature a brass section.

Promotion

To promote the album, Gloria launched the American tour Live & Re-Wrapped Tour which was made after her Live & Unwrapped performances at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

In addition, Estefan released a remix EP under the name of Unwrapped: Remixes, the EP was a Bonus Promo CD that was available with purchase of the Live & Unwrapped DVD during Pay Per View broadcasts and purchases of the DVD at shows during the Live & Re-Wrapped Tour.

Track listing

Worldwide CD, Limited Edition CD+DVD & Cassette Release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Little Push"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys, Jon Secada3:56
2."Te Amaré"  Gloria M. Estefan, Emilio Estefan Jr., Sebastian Krys, Tony Mardini, Tom McWilliams3:02
3."Your Picture"  Gloria M. Estefan, Gian Marco3:50
4."Wrapped"  Gloria M. Estefan, Gian Marco3:27
5."Time Waits"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys4:25
6."In The Meantime"  Gloria M. Estefan, Gian Marco3:36
7."Dangerous Game"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys, Jon Secada3:17
8."Into You" (Duet with Stevie Wonder)Gloria M. Estefan, C. De Yarza, Maceo Morris3:20
9."One Name" (Duet with Chrissie Hynde)Gloria M. Estefan, Archie Peña3:04
10."I Will Always Need Your Love"  Gloria M. Estefan, Emilio Estefan, Jr., A. Gaitan, R. Gaitan, Tony Mardini3:05
11."Say Goodbye"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys, Jon Secada3:53
12."I Wish You"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys3:52
13."You"  Gloria M. Estefan, Emilio Estefan, Jr., A. Gaitan, R. Gaitan, Tony Mardini, Tom McWilliams3:09
14."Famous"  Gloria M. Estefan3:20
15."Te Amaré" (Spanish Version)Gloria M. Estefan, Emilio Estefan Jr., Sebastian Krys, Tony Mardini, Tom McWilliams3:03
16."Tu Fotografía" (Your Picture – Spanish Version)Emilio Estefan, Jr., Gian Marco3:48
17."Hoy" (Wrapped – Spanish Version)Gian Marco3:27
18."Mientras Tanto" (In The Meantime – Spanish Version)Gian Marco3:38
Spain & Latin American CD, Limited Edition CD+DVD & Cassette Release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tu Fotografía" (Your Picture – Spanish Version)Emilio Estefan, Jr., Gian Marco3:48
2."Te Amaré" (Spanish Version)Gloria M. Estefan, Emilio Estefan Jr., Sebastian Krys, Tony Mardini, Tom McWilliams3:03
3."Mientras Tanto" (In The Meantime – Spanish Version)Gian Marco3:38
4."Hoy" (Wrapped – Spanish Version)Gian Marco3:27
5."Time Waits"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys4:25
6."A Little Push"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys, Jon Secada3:56
7."Dangerous Game"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys, Jon Secada3:17
8."Into You" (Duet with Stevie Wonder)Gloria M. Estefan, C. De Yarza, Maceo Morris3:20
9."One Name" (Duet with Chrissie Hynde)Gloria M. Estefan, Archie Peña3:04
10."I Will Always Need Your Love"  Gloria M. Estefan, Emilio Estefan, Jr., A. Gaitan, R. Gaitan, Tony Mardini3:05
11."Say Goodbye"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys, Jon Secada3:53
12."I Wish You"  Gloria M. Estefan, John Falcone, Sebastian Krys3:52
13."You"  Gloria M. Estefan, Emilio Estefan, Jr., A. Gaitan, R. Gaitan, Tony Mardini, Tom McWilliams3:09
14."Famous"  Gloria M. Estefan3:20
15."Te Amaré"  Gloria M. Estefan, Emilio Estefan Jr., Sebastian Krys, Tony Mardini, Tom McWilliams3:02
16."Your Picture"  Gloria M. Estefan, Gian Marco3:50
17."Wrapped"  Gloria M. Estefan, Gian Marco3:27
18."In The Meantime"  Gloria M. Estefan, Gian Marco3:36

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.[4]

  • Pedro Alfonso - violin
  • Meredith Mora Arriaga - accordion
  • Christopher Austopchuk - design direction
  • Eric Barnard - hair stylist
  • Tim Barnes - viola
  • Kurt Berge - technical support
  • Carlos "El Bola" Betancourt - cover art
  • Edwin Bonilla - drums, percussion
  • Susanne Cerha - art direction, design
  • Vadim Chislov - assistant engineer
  • Michael C. Collins - assistant engineer
  • Mike Couzzi - engineer
  • Kevin Dillon - project coordinator
  • Luis Enrique - drums, guest artist, percussion
  • Emilio Estefan, Jr. - producer
  • Gloria Estefan - primary artist, producer
  • John Falcone - arranger, bass, string arrangements
  • Jorge Felix - assistant engineer
  • Trevor Fletcher - studio manager
  • Richard Flieschman - viola
  • Orlando J. Forte - violin
  • Julie Gardner - engineer
  • Chris Glansdorp - cello
  • Arthur Hanlon - piano
  • Ross Harbaugh - cello
  • Kent Hertz - assistant engineer
  • Chrissie Hynde - guest artist, vocals
  • Claudio Jaffe - cello
  • Sidney Jamila - make-Up
  • Femi Jiya - engineer
  • Steve Jones - digital editing
  • Manu Katché - drums
  • Sebastián Krys - arranger, cavaquinho, charango, cuatro, engineer, lakota flute, mixing, producer, programming, quena, string arrangements, zampona
  • Leyla Leeming - project coordinator
  • Bob Ludwig - mastering
  • Mei Mei Luo - violin
  • Patrick Magee - assistant engineer
  • José Juan Maldonado - project coordinator
  • Tony Mardini - arranger
  • Tom McWilliams - arranger, drums
  • Steve Menezes - studio manager
  • Susan Moyer - cello
  • Scott ODonnell - viola
  • Alfredo Oliva - concert master, violin
  • Laszio Pap - violin
  • Ruben Parra - studio manager
  • Luis Pastor - bass
  • Andy Pechenik - technical support
  • Billie Pechenik - project coordinator
  • Archie Pena - arranger, drums, percussion
  • Marco Peña - hair stylist
  • Daniel Ponce - assistant engineer
  • Juan Rosario - assistant engineer
  • Juan Antonio Salazar - conductor, orchestration, string arrangements
  • Eric Schilling - engineer
  • Jon Secada - guest artist, background vocals
  • Rafael Solano - drums, percussion
  • Simon Soong - technical support
  • Debra Spring - viola
  • Ron Taylor - engineer, fender rhodes, mellotron, organ (hammond), piano, wurlitzer
  • Ken Theis - assistant engineer, mixing assistant
  • Alberto Tolot - cover portrait
  • Peter Vargo - assistant
  • Jose "Pepe" Velazquez - drums, drum technician
  • Mario Vergel - stylist, typography
  • Dan Warner - guitar, mandolin, tres
  • Ryan Wolff - assistant engineer
  • Stevie Wonder - guest artist, harmonica, vocal ad-Libs

Singles

# Title Date
1. "Wrapped/Hoy" August 2003
2. "I Wish You"February 2004 (Europe) March 2004 (U.S.)
3. "Te Amaré"February 2004 (Spain)
4. "Tu Fotografía"April 2004 (U.S.)

Chart positions

Weekly Charts

Chart (2003) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[5] 44
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[6] 45
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[7] 27
French Albums (SNEP)[8] 126
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] 26
Italian Albums (FIMI)[10] 11
Spanish Albums (Promusicae)[11] 4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 2
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 76
US Billboard 200[14] 39

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[15] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[16] Platinum 40,000^
United States 162,000[17]

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Awards

Year Award Show Award
2004 Billboard Latin Music Awards Top Latin Pop Airplay Track-Female of the Year, "Hoy"
2005 Top Latin Tropical Track of the Year, "Tu Fotografía"

Release history

Country Release date
Worldwide September 22, 2003
Canada September 23, 2003
U.S.
Australia October 6, 2003
Japan October 8, 2003

References

  1. ↑ Unwrapped at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Michael (2003-09-24). "Unwrapped". TheCelebrityCafe.com. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  3. ↑ "Unwrapped by Gloria Estefan on MSN Music". Music.msn.com. 2003-09-23. Archived from the original on 2007-12-28. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  4. ↑ "Unwrapped - Gloria Estefan | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Gloria Estefan – Unwrapped" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Gloria Estefan – Unwrapped" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Gloria Estefan – Unwrapped" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Gloria Estefan – Unwrapped". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Gloria Estefan – Unwrapped" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Gloria Estefan – Unwrapped". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  11. ↑ Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  12. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Gloria Estefan – Unwrapped". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Gloria Estefan | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Gloria Estefan – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Gloria Estefan. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Spanish album certifications – Gloria Estefan – Unwrapped" (PDF) (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Select the "Chart", enter ' in the field "Year". Select ' in the field "Semana". Click on "Search Charts"
  16. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Gloria Estefan; 'Unwrapped')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  17. ↑ Caulfield, Keith. "Ask Billboard". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on September 19, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.