Maps of Music

Christmas Through Your Eyes (1993)

Where the lyrics of Christmas Through Your Eyes take you, and where it was really made.

Gloria Estefan's first Christmas album also served as a testing ground for the long-distance audio technology later used on Frank Sinatra's Duets.

Key places

Crescent Moon Studios, Miami (1993)

Recording site The Hit Factory Criteria — The album's recording credits list Crescent Moon Studios in Miami. Only city-center coordinates are available, so the exact building is not fixed here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Capitol Studios, Hollywood (1993)

Recording site Capitol Studios — Capitol Studios in Hollywood is listed among the recording locations for the album. The point is set at the building level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Village Recorder, Los Angeles (1993)

Recording site Village Recorders — The Village Recorder in Los Angeles is listed among the recording locations for the album. The point is set at the building level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Hit Factory, New York City (1993)

Recording site The Hit Factory — The Hit Factory in New York City is listed among the recording locations for the album, together with Flying Monkey Studios. The point is set at the building level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Christmas Through Your Eyes: fourth solo studio album and 16th overall by Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan
• Released September 27, 1993 through Epic Records
• Follow-up to Mi Tierra (1993); Estefan's first Christmas album
• Produced by Phil Ramone; eleven tracks in total
• Ten covers of Christmas standards and carols plus the original title track
• Title track co-written by Estefan and Diane Warren

Background

• Recorded after the multi-award-winning Latin album Mi Tierra
• Collection mixes traditional songs with the title track
• Title track first appeared on Estefan's 1992 Greatest Hits with a different instrumental arrangement
• In Europe the title track was released as a double A-side single with "Miami Hitmix"
• Spanish-language song "Arbolito de Navidad" included
• Big band accompanies "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
• "This Christmas" sung in a jazz-inspired rendition

Recording

• Album production served as a testing ground for digital long-distance audio technology later used on the Sinatra album Duets
• Dolby Digital system supplied by the Skywalker Ranch-based Entertainment Digital Network
• Estefan listened remotely to the Los Angeles sessions from her home studio in Miami
• Phil Ramone produced both Estefan's album and Duets; Eric Schilling principally recorded and mixed the album
• Music videos filmed for "This Christmas" and "Silent Night", included on the video collection Everlasting Gloria!

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García in Havana, Cuba, on September 1, 1957; her family fled to Miami in 1959 after the Cuban Revolution.
• Began as lead singer of the Miami Latin Boys in 1975, renamed Miami Sound Machine when she and her cousin Mercedes Navarro joined.
• Studied psychology at the University of Miami, graduating in 1979.

Career

• Miami Sound Machine's 1985 single "Conga" became her signature song; the 1987 album Let It Loose included the Hot 100 No. 1 "Anything for You".
• Went solo in 1989 with Cuts Both Ways, which produced the Hot 100 No. 1 "Don't Wanna Lose You".
• Suffered a spinal fracture in a tour bus crash near Scranton, Pennsylvania, in March 1990, then recovered fully and returned with Into the Light (1991), whose "Coming Out of the Dark" reached No. 1 on the Hot 100.
• Mi Tierra (1993), her first Spanish-language album, won the Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album; she later won it again for Abriendo Puertas (1995) and won Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album for Alma Caribeña (2000).
• Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 and a Kennedy Center Honors in 2017.
• Her Broadway jukebox musical On Your Feet! (2015) is based on her life with husband Emilio Estefan.

Members

• Emilio Estefan, her husband and longtime producer, co-created much of her catalog.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics generally found the album pleasant but bland
• Entertainment Weekly critic David Browne: credits the Latin-pop flavoring as a way to spice up over-recorded standards, but says Estefan's usual energy flags and the synthesizers and drum machines feel colorless
• AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine: rated the album two and a half out of five stars, calling it nothing remarkable and of interest mainly to dedicated Estefan fans
• Los Angeles Times critic Chris Willman: says the album is more lullaby music than a kids' album, with the occasional Latin beat and a bilingual "Silent Night" as its few distinguishing features
• Music Week's Alan Jones: says the vocals are warm and intimate, but the arrangements are extremely low key
• New York Times critic Stephen Holden: finds Estefan too bland a stylist to leave a personal stamp on any of the 11 songs

Records

• US Billboard 200: peaked at number 43
• Billboard Top Holiday Albums: peaked at number nine, reaching the top ten
• RIAA Gold certification on January 7, 1994
• Platinum status in the United States in December 1994, for shipments above one million copies
• By July 2009, 874,000 copies sold domestically according to Nielsen Soundscan

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track had appeared earlier on Estefan's 1992 Greatest Hits with a different instrumental arrangement.
• The album's production was used as a testing ground for the digital long-distance audio technology later used on the Sinatra album Duets.
• Estefan could follow the Los Angeles sessions remotely from her Miami home studio, using the Dolby Digital system.
• Music videos for "This Christmas" and "Silent Night" were included on the video collection Everlasting Gloria!

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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