Detailed item info Album Features UPC: 5099746514525 Artist: Gloria Estefan Format: CD Release Year: 1989 Record Label: Epic (USA) Genre: International, Latin Track Listing 1. Ay, I Ay 2. Here We Are 3. Say 4. Think About You Now 5. Nothin' New 6. Oye Mi Canto [Hear My Voice] [English Version] 7. Don't Wanna Lose You 8. Get on Your Feet 9. Your Love Is Bad for Me 10. Cuts Both Ways 11. Oye Mi Canto [Spanish Version] 12. Si Voy a Perderte Details Playing Time: 49 min. Contributing Artists: Betty Wright Distributor: n/a Recording Type: Studio Recording Mode: Stereo SPAR Code: n/a Album Notes Miami Sound Machine.Also available in a 3-pack with LET IT LOOSE and INTO THE LIGHT.Gloria Estefan Miami Sound Machine: Gloria Estefan (vocals); Jorge Casas (acoustic guitar, electric fretless bass, background vocals); Paco Fonta (acoustic guitar); John De Faria, Michael Thompson (guitar); Mike Scaglione (saxophone); Randy Barlow (trumpet, background vocals); Teddy Mulet (trumpet, trombone, background vocals); Clay Ostwald (piano, synthesizer); Paquito Hechevarria (piano); Robert Rodriguez (drums); Rafael Padilla (percussion); Emilio Estefan Jr. (congas); Jon Secada (background vocals).Producers: Emilio Estefan, Jr., Jorge Casas, Clay Ostwald.Recorded at Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida.Audio Mixer: Eric Schilling .Recording information: Criteria Studios, Miami, FL.Photographer: Randee St. Nicholas.Leveraging the runaway success of her previous album, Let It Loose, Gloria Estefan furthered her indulgence in spare, moody love ballads and club-ready dance-pop jams for Cuts Both Ways and scored herself another Top Ten album. The transformation of Gloria Estefan the lead singer of Miami Sound Machine to Gloria Estefan the pop star is complete here. While Let It Loose had been the first Miami Sound Machine album to co-bill Estefan (that is, "Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine"), Cuts Both Ways is billed simply to the star herself. And it plays that way, too, with a heavy reliance on Gloria-spotlighting ballads -- roughly half the album, discounting the album-ending Spanish-language versions. Miami Sound Machine's patented Latin dance-lite style is sidelined a bit, for better and for worse. Sure, "Ay, Ay, I," "Say," "Oy Mi Canto," and "Get on Your Feet" are all club-ready with their big late-'80s synth-drum patterns, but only "Get on Your Feet" comes close to matching the majesty of past club hits like "Conga," "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," and "1-2-3." And more tellingly, there aren't any straight pop songs here like "Bad Boy" or "Betcha Say That." Cuts Both Ways goes only both ways -- either ballad or jam -- which makes for a very up-and-down listening experience as the tempos alternate drastically from one song to the next. All this over-analysis aside, there are some super songs here, namely "Here We Are," "Say," "Oy Mi Canto," "Don't Wanna Lose You," and "Get on Your Feet." That's a lot of super-ness for one album, even if on the whole Cuts Both Ways seems overly calculated and sadly foreshadows the audience displacement that Estefan would experience in subsequent years as she drifted even further away from the unabashed Miami Sound Machine-style dance-pop of yesteryear. Even so, Cuts Both Ways is one of her best and, without question, was one of her most successful, clear affirmation that Estefan had indeed become one of the biggest pop stars in the whole wide world as the '80s came to a close. ~ Jason Birchmeier Portions of this page Copyright 1948 - 2015 Muze Inc. All rights reserved