Into the Light

by Gloria Estefan

Overview

In early 1990, when she was one of the biggest pop stars in the world, Gloria Estefan suffered a broken vertebrae when her tour bus was struck in an accident, and her miraculous recovery from that near tragedy greatly informed her successive album, Into the Light. Though often noted as a "comeback" album, that descriptor is misleading. Yes, Into the Light is a comeback -- a comeback from her accident, that is. It's not a comeback in the sense that her previous album, Cuts Both Ways, had been a failure or even a disappointment. No, Estefan hadn't fallen off, so to speak, with that album. Quite the opposite. It was a monster hit, breaking into the Top Ten and scoring a couple of high-charting ballads: "Don't Wanna Lose You" and "Here We Are." It also marked a drastic shift away from the unabashed dance-pop of her Miami Sound Machine output toward a more respectable adult contemporary appeal. This shift affected not only her image but also her audience as a result, and that shift is even more apparent on Into the Light. In fact, the shift seems complete, as this is full-fledged adult contemporary album with serious themes and toned-down production. It sounds pleasant while playing, for sure, smoothly gliding from one song to the next, highlighted by a pair of memorable singles: the hit ballad "Coming Out of the Dark" and the cooing singalong "Live for Loving You." But there's not much else here that's all that exciting. In fact, Into the Light is so streamlined and safe that it seems plain and even bland, if not outright boring. Sure, Estefan's work with Miami Sound Machine had been silly and adolescent at times, but it was fun and lively, too. For every cheeseball song like "Surrender" or "Love Toy," you would get a pop gem like "1-2-3" or "Betcha Say That," not to mention the token slow-dance ballads and get-on-your-feet jams. But to lament the end of Miami Sound Machine is beside the point, for Estefan would move on after Into the Light to make occasionally exciting albums like Mi Tierra. The thing is, from this point forward in her career, Estefan's best work would almost always be Latin in nature. Yet for those listeners not interested in the sticky-sweet dance-pop of Miami Sound Machine or the Latin confetti of her latter-day highlights, there are albums like Cuts Both Ways and Into the Light, albums that aim for widespread adult contemporary appeal. And as far as those such albums go, they don't get much more inspired than this "comeback" album, which admittedly was wonderfully triumphant upon its 1991 holiday season release, when it soared to number five on the Billboard 200 chart, driven largely by its chart-topping lead single, "Coming Out of the Dark." ~ Jason Birchmeier

Product Details

Release Date:	09/11/2020
Label:	Music On Vinyl
UPC:	8719262014077
Rank:	663

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Gloria Estefan   Primary Artist,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Angelo Morris   Piano
Betty Wright   Vocals (Background)
Clay Ostwald   Piano,Keyboards
Emilio Estefan, Jr.   Congas
Jon Secada   Vocals (Background)
Teddy Mulet   Trumpet,Trombone
Brian Monroney   Guitar
Arturo Sandoval   Trumpet
Mike Scaglione   Saxophone,Sax (Alto)
John DeFaria   Guitar
Jorge Casas   Bass,Fretless Bass
Rafael Padilla   Percussion
Scott Shapiro   Guitar
Rod Wilson   Vocals (Background)
Anita Faye Green   Vocals (Background)
Clovette Hilton   Vocals (Background)
Jeannette Wright-Black   Vocals (Background)
Juan R. Marquez   Guitar (12 String)
Carl Ramsey   Vocals (Background)
Namphuyo Aisha McCray   Vocals (Background)
Randy Barlow   Trumpet
Tom McWilliams   Drum Overdubs
Robert Rodriguez   Drums

Technical Credits

Betty Wright   Vocal Arrangement
Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Clay Ostwald   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Programming
Emilio Estefan, Jr.   Composer,Producer
Charles Dye   Assistant Engineer
Jon Secada   Arranger,Composer,Programming,Vocal Arrangement
Phil Ramone   Mixing,Arranger,Engineer
Diane Warren   Composer
Gloria Estefan   Arranger,Composer,Programming
Jorge Casas   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Programming
Mike Couzzi   Mixing
Scott Shapiro   Arranger,Composer,Programming
Mary Maurer   Art Direction
Randy Barlow   Composer
Tom McWilliams   Arranger,Composer,Programming
Patrice Wilkinson Levinsohn   Engineer
Nancy Donald   Art Direction
Alberto Tolot   Photography
Eric Schilling   Mixing,Engineer
Keith "KC" Cohen   Mixing,Arranger