Romance is the eighth studio album by Mexican singer Luis Miguel. It was released by WEA Latina on 19 November 1991. Although the production was originally intended as another collaboration with Juan Carlos Calderón, that plan was scrapped when Calderón was unable to compose songs for the album. Facing a new-material deadline in his recording contract, at his manager's suggestion Miguel chose bolero music for his next project. Mexican singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero was hired by WEA Latina to co-produce the album with Miguel. Recording began in August 1991 at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, California, with Bebu Silvetti the arranger. On the album Miguel covers twelve boleros, originally recorded from 1944 to 1986. The first two singles, "Inolvidable" and "No Sé Tú", reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in the United States and spent six months atop the Mexican charts. "Mucho Corazón" and "Cómo" were in the top five of the Hot Latin Songs chart, and "Usted" and "La Barca" received airplay throughout Latin America. Miguel promoted the record with a tour of the United States and Latin America. The album was generally well received by music critics, who praised Miguel's singing and the record's production. The singer received several accolades, including a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album. Romance was a commercial success, selling over seven million copies worldwide. In the United States, it spent 32 weeks at number one on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart, and was the first Spanish-language album by a non-crossover Latin artist to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); it was also certified gold in Brazil and Taiwan, firsts for a Spanish-speaking artist. Romance is the third-bestselling album of all time in Mexico, and the bestselling record in Argentina by a non-native artist. The album was noted by critics as reviving interest in bolero music. Its success encouraged Miguel to release three more bolero records: Segundo Romance (1994), Romances (1997) and Mis Romances (2001). Since Miguel signed with WEA Latina in 1986,[1] his albums Soy Como Quiero Ser (1987), Busca una Mujer (1988), and 20 Años (1990) have sold over three million copies cumulatively in Mexico.[2] His early recordings consisted of soft rock and pop ballad tunes, which led to Miguel becoming a teen idol.[3] On 14 January 1991, WEA Latina announced a new album with longtime producer and composer Juan Carlos Calderón,[4] who produced the three previous records by Miguel.[5] Wanting to replicate the success of 20 Años, Calderón would compose pop songs and ballads and find tracks for Miguel to cover in Spanish. Production was scheduled to begin in April, with Italian- and English-language studio albums to follow.[4][6][7] The record label was unconvinced by Calderón's pre-selected songs; he had to write more compositions, and production halted indefinitely.[8] Ultimately, he was unable to compose songs for the album.[9] |
