Nada Es Igual... (Luis Miguel album)

Background

In 1994 Miguel released his tenth studio album, Segundo Romance. It is the follow-up to his 1991 album Romance which contains a collection of classic boleros and Latin American standards. Both Romance and Segundo Romance received a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States. They were also successful in countries outside of Latin America and the United States, such as Finland and Saudi Arabia, selling over twelve million copies combined. A year after Segundo Romance's release, Warner Music released the El Concierto live album and video, a compilation of Miguel's performances at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, and his concert at the Estadio Vélez in Buenos Aires during his Segundo Romance Tour.

Nada Es Igual... is a departure from romance-themed albums. It is his first pop album to be recorded since Aries in 1993, which Achy Obejas of the Chicago Tribune described as "an eclectic pop mix that tried too hard to be edgy, nonetheless continued the reshaping of the Luis Miguel image." The album was announced by Miguel's record label Warner Music Mexico on the same day its lead single "Dame" was revealed on 12 July 1996. The album was produced by Miguel and his longtime associate Kiko Cibrian (who also co-produced his previous three albums) and recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, California. Warner Music also confirmed that Cibrian, Alejandro Lerner, Manuel Alejandro, and Rudy Pérez would assist with the compositions for the record. Miguel and Cibrian spent a total of over 100 hours in February 1996, recording in the studio.

Composition

Nada Es Igual... is an album which consists of uptempo "jazzy, brassy, Al Jarreau-like" pop songs and power ballads. Its uptempo tracks include "Si Te Vas" and "Todo Por Su Amor" which utilize horn instruments and "Cómo Es Posible Que a Mi Lado" which incorporates house music. "Dame" is a R&B-lite" with tune hip-hop influences. Los Angeles Times music critic Enrique Lopetegui wrote that the album is "basically a continuation of the singer's favorite turf - ... woman-melting ballads." The first track on the album, "Si Te Vas", is a song about the narrator who yearns to remain with his lover: ("Every morning when I wake up, I feel anxiety in my soul, I want to listen to your voice, I want to feel your kisses"). The power ballads in the album are "Que Tú Te Vas", "Abrázame", "Un Día Más", and the title track. For arrangements on the ballads, Miguel received assistance from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The album also features the song "Sueña", the Spanish-language version of "Someday" by All-4-One from the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was released as a single for the Latin American edition of The Hunchback of Notre Dame soundtrack and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs, and number one on the Latin Pop Songs charts.

Singles and promotion

"Dame" was released as the album's lead single on 15 July 1996. It peaked at number two on the Hot Latin Songs chart and reached number one on the Latin Pop Songs chart, becoming his fifth number one song on the latter. The music video for "Dame" was filmed in the Mojave Desert on 29 and 30 June and directed by Marcus Nispel. "Cómo Es Posible Que a Mi Lado" was released as the second single in 1996 from the album with an accompanying music video. It peaked at number ten and number six on the Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Songs charts, respectively. The album's third single, "Que Tú Te Vas" was released in the same year, peaking at number six on the Hot Latin Songs chart in 1997, while "Todo Por Su Amor" was released as a promotional single.

To promote the album, Miguel launched his Tour America 1996 where he toured in South American countries including: Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil. According to his promoter Irma Laura Lopez, Miguel would not tour in the United States as he was taking a break from his previous tour in the country. His set list consisted of pop tunes and ballads from Nada Es Igual.. and his previous recordings as well as boleros from the Romance albums.

Critical reception and accolades

Upon its release Nada Es Igual... met with unfavorable reviews from music critics. AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis, who gave the album 2.5 out of five stars, felt the recording was "basically middle-of-the-road, romance-themed music, which is what his legions of fans have come to expect" with the "requisite ballads", similar to his last studio albums. John Lannert of Billboard magazine called Nada Es Igual... his "weakest set ever" and said Miguel is "looking more like a conservative underachiever" and criticized the record for its repetitive uptempo pop and R&B tunes although the reviewer commended his vocals. Fernando Gonzalez of the Contra Costa Times rated the album two out of four stars lamenting that Miguel stays "close to his formula" because of the "trademark mix of power ballads and R&B-lite." He complimented the record's production, but stated that the artist "offers more cotton candy" highlighting "Abrázame" and the title tracks as examples, calling "Dame" a "Janet Jackson-lite funk".

The Dallas Morning News music reviewer Mario Tarradell noted that even though the name of the record means "nothing is the same", he remarked that Miguel "hasn't strayed" from his musical style on his pop albums since 20 Años (1990). Although Tarradell praised Miguel's production as "superbly crafted", he chided the record's music for being "totally unadventurous" and called the ballads "complete throwaways." Similarly, Ernesto Portillo Jr., who rated the record two out of four stars, wrote for The San Diego Union-Tribune that the album should have been called "Todo es Igual" (Everything is the Same) because of its "same funk-lite horns, thumping bass line and paint-by-numbers pop tunes." He lambasted Miguel for coming off as "redundant and even flat."

Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times gave the record 2.5 out of four stars and panned the album's lyrics in songs such as "Si Te Vas" as "corny, one-dimensional visions of loooooove." Lopetegui noted that despite the record's flaws, he considered it "far better than most Latin offerings in this often unlistenable genre" and "less predictable than those of, say, Cristian or Enrique Iglesias." The Orange County Register music editor Anne Valdespino, who gave the record four of five stars, wrote a more positive review of the record. She complimented the songs as "well-crafted, each one produced to the limit" and felt the uptempo songs such as "Dame" and "Si Te Vas" "polished arrangements worthy of Quincy Jones". In contrast to the other reviewers, Valdespino believed that the ballads did not "wear out [their] welcome" with "no overemotive tempo stretching."

At the 39th Annual Grammy Awards in 1997, Nada Es Igual... received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Performance, which went to Enrique Iglesias's self-titled album. At the 9th Annual Lo Nuestro Awards in the same year, the record was nominated in the category of Pop Album of the Year, but lost to Vivir by Iglesias. At the 1997 Eres awards, the record was awarded Best Disc of the Year, which was shared with Tierna La Noche by Fey.

Commercial performance

Nada Es Igual... was released on 20 August 1996. On its launch date, Warner Music Group shipped over 400,000 copies of the record in Mexico and the United States (US). In the US, it debuted at number 28 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart on week of 31 August 1996, and peaked on top of the chart the following week replacing Macarena Mix. It spent two weeks on top of the charts before being succeeded by Macarena Non Stop by Los del Río. It was certified gold in the US by the Recording Industry Association of Amerca (RIAA) for shipments of 500,000 copies and ended 1996 as the eighth bestselling Latin album of the year. In Argentina, the record reached number one on its national chart and was certified 7× platinum by Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers (CAPIF) for sales of 420,000 copies. In Spain, the album peaked at number two on the country's national chart with the number one position being held by Lunas Rotas by Rosana and was certified double platinum by PROMUSICAE for shipments of 200,000 copies. According to Billboard, the record reached sales of over 125,000 units in Chile by February 1997. Nada Es Igual... has sold over 1.3 million copies worldwide as of 2002.

Track listing

Personnel

The following credits are from AllMusic and the Nada Es Igual... liner notes: