Unwrapped is the tenth studio solo album and twenty-fourth album overall by Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan, released in 2003. It was also her first English language studio album since 1998's gloria!.
Content The album is a departure in sound from Estefan's previous works. The album was recorded live, unlike any of her other studio albums. There is less reverb on Estefan's vocals, to create an intimate feeling. The album is acoustic and is designed to feel like an unplugged album. This is the first Estefan album to not feature a brass section.
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 artwork. The picture on the back cover is actually Estefan's back. Next to the title, "Into You," there is a pink line that runs down to the bottom, which is the scar from her back surgery when she broke her back in 1990. 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, likewise, the picture of the hand pointing to the lyrics to "You" is Gloria's daughter, Emily.
Promotion To promote the album, Estefan 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.
Critical reception
Writing for USA Today, Elysa Gardner found that Unwrapped "reaffirms [Estefan's] status as one of pop's most resourceful survivors. Though she lacks the vocal color, range and attitude required of a true diva, Estefan retains an affinity for mixing Latin, folk, adult-contemporary and world music textures into a robust but digestible stew." AllMusic editor David Jeffries felt that Unwrapped "stumbles over itself trying to put Estefan's emotional lyrics up front [...] Without even a hint of levity, sitting through the whole album feels like an exhausting open-mic night at the coffee shop [...] Covering up the underdeveloped writing with sonic overkill, it is as least interesting and a good setup for the expected "return-to-form" album."
Awards YearAward ShowAward2004Billboard Latin Music AwardsTop Latin Pop Airplay Track-Female of the Year, "Hoy"2005Top Latin Tropical Track of the Year, "Tu Fotografía"
Track listing
Personnel Adapted from AllMusic.
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., Argentina)
Chart positions
Weekly charts Chart (2003)Peak positionSpanish Albums (Promusicae)4
Year-end Charts Chart (2003)PositionSwiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)6Chart (2004)PositionSwiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)67
Certifications and sales
Release history + Unwrapped release history Region Date Worldwide Canada United States Australia Japan
References
External links