Como Ama una Mujer

Lopez had a long idea about recording an album in Spanish ^{[3] [4]} . She wanted to sing in this language before the beginning of her musical career. Her first demo tape was called “Vivir Sin Ti” (“Live Without You”), but former Sony Music label manager Tommy Motolla advised her to record the first album in English. “My life has taken a new turn, which is good for me. But my soul has always remained Spanish, ”said Lopez ^[3] . Subsequently, starting a musical career, she included two Spanish-language songs, including the single " No Me Ames ", in her debut album On the 6 (1999) ^[5] . She also included five songs in Spanish in her second album J.Lo (2001) ^[6] .

The idea to record a Spanish-language album appeared in Lopez in 2004, when her husband Marc Anthony, along with Estefano and Julio Reyes finished work on his ninth studio album Amar Sin Mentiras . Together with Anthony, she recorded the song "Escapémonos". She really enjoyed working on the song, and she decided to record a CD of songs in Spanish. In the same year, Lopez recorded the Spanish-language version of the song “ Sway ” “Quién Será” for the film “ Let's Dance ” ^[7] , but the English-language version recorded by the Pussycat Dolls group was used instead. Before starting work on the album in Spanish, Lopez recorded and released the fourth studio album Rebirth (2005) ^[8] .

In early 2006, it was announced that Jennifer Lopez will release his first Spanish-language and fifth studio album Como Ama una Mujer later that year and that it was created in collaboration with Colombian music producer Estefano, Julio Reyes and Marc Anthony ^{[9] [10 ]} . In addition to recording a Spanish-language album, Lopez also starred in the film El Cantante , recorded the eponymous soundtrack to him and his new English-language “urban” album ^[11] . According to Estefano, Como Ama una Mujer was recorded in order to prove the wrongdoing of those who criticize Lopez’s vocal data ^{[12] [13]} . Having completed work on the album, Lopez said that she had become more mature as a singer:

I grew up as a singer. Mark [Anthony] gave me confidence in working in the studio. When someone so believes in you, I really don't want to let that person down. In addition, it is the material itself. In my opinion, this material fits my voice. He even allowed me to approach the recording of a new English-language album differently. I went to a new level ^[4] .

Original Text (Eng.)

I've been matured as a singer. Marc gave me confidence in the studio as well. If you believe in them. And it's also the material. I think this material lent itself to my voice. And it was actually a different way. I have a different standard now.

Most of the songs of Como Ama una Mujer are written by Marc Anthony, Julio Reyes and Estefano. ^[10] Despite the fact that Lopez speaks Spanish, she did not write a single song for the album. However, she wanted to be sure that everything was transmitted accurately. “We need to be fluent in the language, so I could not write all this myself - you know what I mean? I had to completely trust other people to express the feelings that I experienced, ”said Lopez ^[14] . She also emphasized that she told the authors in detail about which album she wanted to receive and what was most important for her. “I said:“ This song should be about such and such a person and what happens after you part with him, ”and they made the Spanish text out of it.” According to Lopez, this album reveals her personality and feelings better than anything else that she recorded ^[11] .

Como Ama una Mujer - a traditional, close to mainstream Latin American pop album , consisting mainly of ballad songs ^[3] , which differ from previous Lopez songs in R & B and hip hop styles ^[11] . Critics have noted his "organic instrumentation and introspective texts." The compositions are mainly about love and parting. The first song written for the album was the composition “Por Arriesgarnos”, recorded by a duet with Mark Anthony. Initially, the song was not meant as a duet; Lopez said: “The song required a backing vocalist, and Mark played in that role. I asked to strengthen his voice, because, in my opinion, our voices combined very harmoniously ” ^[11] . The composition “ Qué Hiciste ” was added to the album after its recording came to an end. Lopez said that one night Mark woke up and said that he had a strange dream: the Spanish singer Rocio Durcal , who died a few weeks before, came to him and sang a song for Jennifer. The house did not have studio equipment, and so that the half asleep Mark did not forget the song later, Lopez asked him to sing it on her mobile phone’s answering machine. Subsequently, a Spanish-language author ^[14] was invited to work on the lyrics of this song.

The album begins with the song “ Qué Hiciste ” (“What have you done?”), Which was originally conceived as a ballad, but was eventually recorded in the Latin rock genre ^[14] , becoming one of the few songs at a fast pace on the album ^[3] . This composition tells about the very tense relations of the heroine of the song with her lover and about a heart broken from the fact that he destroyed their family happiness ^[15] . According to Lopez, she asked Reyes to write a song in which a woman asks her lover: “What have you done with our love, with our lives? We had everything, but you destroyed our house with your own hands ” ^[14] . The song "Me Haces Falta" ("I miss you") tells about how the heroine experiences separation from her beloved. The composition also contains elements of rock music. . The title track, the tender ballad Como Ama una Mujer, begins with a piano sequence of minor chords, in which critics saw a similarity with Randy Newman ’s song “In Germany Before the War” ^[15] , and the refrain of this song reminded them of the refrain from Kenny Rogers “ She Believes in Me "and . The fourth track - “Te Voy a Querer” (“I will love you”) - designed in the style of cumbia .

“Porque te Marchas” (“Because You Leave”) is the Spanish version of the song “(Can't Believe) This is Me”, a “dramatic” ballad from the previous album Lopez Rebirth (2005) ^[16] . In the chorus there is an increase in the sound of strings ; critics noted the successful vocal performance of Lopez, as well as the lyrics of the song, which tells about unhappy love ^[15] . "Por Arriesgarnos" ("Risky") - a duet with Marc Anthony. The composition tells about love and what dangers it holds for lovers. “Tù” (“You”) is a song in the style of Italian pop music ^[17] , recorded with the participation of the London Symphony Orchestra ^[16] . “It all started with a feeling I wanted to sing to my child someday. That was how this song was born - with the desire to sing it to my child, ”says Lopez ^[11] . The songs “Amarte es Todo” (“To love you - that’s all”) and “Apresúrate” (“Hurry up!”) Are romantic and passionate ballads about love, in the composition “Sola” (“One”) tells the story of the parting. It contains elements of electronic music ^[15] . The last track, “Adiós” (“Farewell”), is a ballad about breaking off relations. The song was recorded on a “live” performance in front of an audience that “immediately began to sing along.” ^[16]

In January 2007, Billboard magazine announced that the new album, Jennifer Lopez, will be released in the United States on April 3; in fact, he went on sale a week later. The cover artwork was designed by Tony Duran , previously collaborated with Lopez. The pictured on the cover of Lopez has a serious face with a downward look. Her hair is gathered back, her arm is decorated with a bracelet. As part of the promotional campaign, Lopez, along with Marc Anthony, went to the Bronx to meet with the fans and sign their CDs. The autograph session, which brought together about 500 people, was held at a music store in the area where Lopez herself once lived ^[18] . In an interview, Jennifer said: "I am moved to the depths of my soul by the fact that this album brought me back to my native places" ^[19] . Lopez also participated in the five-part mini-television series produced by Univision TV of the same name, telling about how the singer interprets the songs included in him. At the end of each episode, Lopez sang one of the songs from the album ^[10] . In support of the album, Jennifer Lopez performed live, mostly performing a lead single . On American Idol, she sang the songs Qué Hiciste, Tú, Por Arriesgarnos (with Marc Anthony), Como Ama una Mujer, Porque te Marchas and Te Voy a Querer. Promoting the album, Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony organized in September-November 2007 a joint concert tour ^[20] .

Singles

On January 26, 2007, the lead single came out of the album - the song “Qué Hiciste”. The composition achieved success, taking first place in the charts of four countries: Italy ^[21] , Spain, Switzerland and the United States, where she reached the top of the Billboard Hot Latin Songs ^[22] . In a number of countries, the song hit the top 10 and top 20 charts. The premiere of the video for this song took place on February 5 on MTV ^[23] . The second and last single from the album was the song " Me Haces Falta , Released March 23, 2007 ^[24] . The video for the song was released on July 17 ^[25] . This single, unlike the first one, could not get to the good places in the charts.

The album was met with a wide range of reviews from critics. On the Metacritic aggregator site, he received a score of 45 points out of 100, based on seven reviews ^[30] . The album received a positive rating from Billboard magazine. Reviewer Leila Kobo called the album “frank in its romance”, and its sound is fundamentally different from the rhythm and blues sound of previous English-language Lopez albums. According to Leila, despite the fact that the song “Qué Hiciste” was recorded at a fast pace and abundantly uses drums, the disc differs from the modern “landed” Latin-pop albums. The reviewer has responded about the song “Adiós” as being eccentric, and about “Por Arriesgarnos” as “dramatic”. She also singled out the song “Tú”, whose “charming” melody, sung with a touch of sadness, reminded her of Italian pop music of the 1980s ^[17] . James Reed from the newspaper Boston Globe also appreciated the album, which, in his opinion, was made with more taste and is the most restrained of all the discs released by Lopez. Reed noted that Lopez preferred the string ensemble over the "inanimate" synthesizers, and also praised her vocals in the songs "Porque te Marchas" and "Sola" ^[15] . People's reviewer Chuck Arnold wrote: "With the help of her husband Mark Anthony, a veteran of Latin American music, Lopez gradually turned [from Jenny from the Block ] to Jenny from the Barrio ." Arnold draws attention to the rejection of rhythm and blues and hip-hop, which prevailed in the two previous albums of the performer, in favor of the Spanish guitar, the sound of which can be heard in the "sensual" song "Qué Hiciste". At the same time, he considered that the second part of the album is saturated with ballads, which, regardless of the language of the performance, are not a winning material for Lopez ^[29] . Boris Barabanov from the Kommersant newspaper noted that “Latino and other tropical pop gave Jay Luo the opportunity to truly be realized as a vocalist.” The disadvantage of the album, he considered the fact that "the entire space of the album after Como Ama una Mujer is given to the low and medium tempo" ^[26] . Reviewer of the site “Afisha.uz” Kamila Ubaidulaeva gave the album a positive rating, noting “great music” “with high-quality full-fledged vocals”. “The only thing you can complain about is the lack of truly dance tracks, the album is sustained in the middle-tempo, so there will be no great dancing under it,” wrote Kamila ^[27] .

Other reviews on the album were less than flattering. Stephen Thomas Erlevayn from the AllMusic website called it “music for housewives.” At the same time, according to him, Lopez rehabilitated herself on this album as a singer: she “does not do vocal gymnastics” and leads the melody strongly and cleanly ^[2] . Chris Willman from Entertainment Weekly noted that Como Ama una Mujer "is convincing evidence that she (Lopez) ... can sing without the help of the backing vocalist battalion." At the same time, according to him, despite the work of Lopez on his voice, it is still not enough to make real hits out of "weak" songs ^[1] . Пит Л'Оффишал из журнала Vibe отметил, что Лопес «собиралась в этом альбоме совершить путешествие к своим латиноамериканским корням», но вошедшие в него баллады, по его мнению, стали не столько экспериментами с латиноамериканской поп-музыкой, сколько испанскими переводами, положенными на хорошо знакомую американскую музыку, которую критик назвал «безвкусной и запродюсированной». Как пример он приводит «грандиозную» «Qué Hiciste», в которую добавлены «халтурные» гитарные проигрыши. Положительно он отозвался о текстах песен, которые, по его мнению, намного превосходят тексты с предыдущих альбомов Лопес, и об эмоциональном и искреннем исполнении певицы, которого она добивается несмотря на слабые вокальные данные. Самой амбициозной песней рецензент назвал композицию «Sola». Также он отметил сильный вокал Марка Энтони в песне «Por Arriesgarnos» ^[31] . Сэл Чинкемани из журнала Slant высказал мнение, что «невзирая на вокальную слабость Лопес, она звучит на протяжении всего альбома легко и непринуждённо». В качестве основной проблемы рецензент назвал то, что на этом диске Лопес «состаривает себя на десяток лет, а то и два», так что он должен прийтись по вкусу её матери. По его словам, для певицы, всегда чутко следившей за самыми современными веяниями в музыке, альбом звучит «ужасно половинчато». В завершение рецензии автор отметил: «Очевидно, что Лопес вложила душу в альбом, но это не слишком удачный шаг со стороны одной из самых практичных поп-звёзд» ^[16] . Рецензент российского журнала Play прокомментировал, что «от той Лопес, что мы все знаем, принцессы танцполов, сочувствующей движению R&B, на „Como Ama una Mujer“ не осталось почти ничего». Критик также отметил вокальный прогресс Лопес, однако счёл материал неподходящим, чтобы по достоинству это оценить ^[28] . Журнал Q назвал песни-баллады альбома «небрежными, лишёнными чувства и неоригинальными» ^[30] .

Como Ama una Mujer дебютировал в чарте Billboard 200 на 10-м месте ^[32] . Дженнифер Лопес — одна из немногих исполнителей, чьи альбомы на испанском языке дебютировали в топ-10 чарта Billboard 200 (другие артисты с аналогичными достижениями — Шакира , которой принадлежит рекорд по самому высокому дебюту для альбома на испанском языке, Maná , Хуанес , Daddy Yankee , Дон Омар , Wisin & Yandel и Селена ). В общей сложности в первую неделю было продано 49 452 копии альбома ^{[33] [34]} . Пластинка побила рекорды продаж (в том числе дигитальных) в дебютную неделю для испаноязычных альбомов в США ^[35] . Альбом также поднялся на вершину чарта Billboard Top Latin Albums и удерживал эту позицию на протяжении четырёх недель. В общей сложности он продержался в топ-100 этого чарта 30 недель ^[36] . По состоянию на июнь 2013 года продажи диска в Соединённых Штатах составили 213 тыс. копий ^[37] .

Альбом также достиг успеха в испаноязычных странах, таких как Аргентина и Испания , где занял третью и вторую позиции соответственно ^{[38] [39]} . В неиспаноговорящих странах Como Ama una Mujer также достиг коммерческого успеха. В Швейцарии он дебютировал под номером один, став вторым альбомом Лопес, занявшим первое место в этой стране. В Италии он дебютировал на втором месте ^[40] . Альбом попал в топ-10 чартов Германии , Греции и Польши ^[35] . К августу 2007 года продажи альбома составили более 800 тыс. копий по всему миру ^[41] , а к августу 2014 года объём продаж превысил 2 млн копий ^[42] .

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