Segundo Romance

Background and recording

In 1991 Miguel released his eighth studio album, Romance, a collection of classic boleros, the oldest dating to the 1940s. The album, which was produced by Armando Manzanero and arranged by Bebu Silvetti, was a success in Latin America and sold over seven million copies worldwide. It revived interest in the bolero genre, and was the first record by a Spanish-speaking artist to be certified gold in Brazil, Taiwan and the United States. In spite of Romance's success, Miguel did not release an immediate follow-up to the album and instead opted to record an album of original material. However, he affirmed that he would release another boleros album after the release of Aries. Four months later he confirmed that his next project would be another collection of boleros, initially entitled Romance II, and recording began in March 1994.

The album was recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles and its final name, Segundo Romance, was announced in June 1994. Miguel was its lead producer; the co-producers were Manzanero (who also co-produced Romance), Juan Carlos Calderón (who worked with Miguel on 20 Años) and Kiko Cibrian (who co-produced Aries). Manzanero helped with arrangements and song selection, Calderón was involved with the string section and Cibrian with production basics. Although the Mexican daily El Siglo de Torreón reported that the production would feature 12 or 14 tracks, with original compositions by Manzanero and Calderón, the album contains 11 covers.

Songs

Segundo Romance is a collection of classic Latin ballads, the oldest dating to 1934. The album opens with a cover of Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera's tango, "El Día Que Me Quieras". Three of Manzanero's compositions ("Somos Novios", "Como Yo Te Amé", and "Yo Sé Que Volverás") are covered by Miguel on the album. José Alfredo Jiménez's "La Media Vuelta", originally a ranchera bolero song, incorporates horns, strings, and Spanish guitars; Agustín Lara's "Solamente Una Vez" includes a harmonica section. Other boleros Miguel covers on the album include "Sin Ti", "Todo y Nada", "Historia de un Amor", "Nosotros" and "Delirio".

Singles

"El Día Que Me Quieras" was released as the album's lead single on 5 August 1994. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in the United States for the week of 17 September 1994, and topped the chart for five weeks. Its music video was directed by Kiko Guerrero and filmed at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City with Miguel and a 36-piece orchestra. The second single, "La Media Vuelta", was released in November 1994 and reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart for the week of November 26, topping the chart for three weeks. Its music video, directed by Pedro Torres and filmed in black-and-white, features Miguel reminiscing at a bar about a woman who deceived him. The third single, "Todo y Nada", reached number three on the Hot Latin Songs and number one on the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay charts. All three singles reached number one in Mexico. "Delirio", the fourth single from the album, peaked at number 16 on the Hot Latin Songs chart; its music video was filmed in Brazil.

Promotion

To promote the album Miguel began his Segundo Romance Tour with 16 shows at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, which drew an audience of over 155,000. The singer performed throughout Mexico, the United States, Peru and Argentina until 31 December 1994, when the tour concluded in Acapulco. The first part of Miguel's set list featured pop songs and contemporary ballads; during the second half he sang boleros from Segundo Romance and ranchera songs before closing each performance with "Será Que No Me Amas", the Spanish version of the Jackson 5's "Blame it on the Boogie".

In October 1995 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. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised its production and Miguel's performance.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Jose F. Promis gave Segundo Romance four-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it "a first-rate collection of timeless Latin American standards" and praising Miguel's vocals and the album's production. According to Promis, the album "simply illustrates the lush production which went into this surefire hit, which further established Miguel as a first-rate balladeer". Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times gave the album three out of four stars, saying that it contained "updated, well-produced versions of classic romantic bolero and tango songs". In Americas magazine, Mark Holston described Segundo Romance as a "superb encore that features performances of such memorable songs as Carlos Gardel's 'El dia que me quieras' and Carlos E. Almaran's 'Historia de un amor'." Howard Cohen of the Miami Herald was less pleased with the album, writing that it "pales in comparison to the original" and (despite liking its music) the "magic is gone". Cohen criticized Miguel's vocals, citing "El Día Que Me Quieras" and "Solamente Una Vez" as examples of a voice "on autopilot", and called the singer's production a "bad idea".

In Argentina, Miguel received the Asociación de Cronistas del Espectáculo award for Latin Ballad Album by a Male Solo Artist in 1994. At the 1995 Grammy Awards Segundo Romance won the Best Latin Pop Album award despite competition from Cristian Castro, Juan Gabriel, La Mafia and Plácido Domingo, who was favored to win by John Lannert of Billboard for his album De Mi Alma Latina. At the 7th Lo Nuestro Awards in the same year, Miguel won three awards including Pop Male Artist of the Year, Pop Album of the Year for Segundo Romance and Video of the Year for "La Media Vuelta"; "El Día Que Me Quieras" was nominated for a fourth, as Pop Song of the Year. Segundo Romance was the Pop Album of the Year by a Male Artist at the 1995 Billboard Latin Music Awards, and was named Best Album of the Year by the Association of Latin Entertainment Critics. Miguel was the Best-Selling Latin Artist of the Year at the 1995 World Music Awards.

Commercial performance

Within two days of its release, Segundo Romance sold over one million copies. In Mexico, the album was certified quintuple platinum for shipping 1.25 million copies. In the United States it debuted at number 29 on the Billboard 200 the week of 10 September 1994, the highest debut on the chart at the time for a Spanish-language album. That week, Segundo Romance also debuted at number seven on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart; the album reached number one a week later, replacing Selena's Amor Prohibido. It spent a total of 29 nonconsecutive weeks atop the chart, and was the second-bestselling Latin album of the year behind Mi Tierra by Gloria Estefan. The album topped the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart for 30 weeks, and was the highest-selling Latin pop album of the year in the U.S. Segundo Romance was certified platinum for shipping one million copies, making Miguel the first Latin artist with two platinum discs in the U.S. (the other is Romance).

The album was also successful in Spanish-speaking countries. It was certified triple platinum in Paraguay, Uruguay and Central America; double platinum in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Spain and Venezuela, and platinum in Ecuador. In Brazil, Segundo Romance was certified gold for sales of 50,000 copies. The album reached number one on the Chilean album charts, and was certified sextuple platinum for shipping 150,000 copies. In Argentina, it was certified 11× platinum and later received a diamond award for sales of 500,000 copies. By 1995, Segundo Romance sold over four million copies worldwide.

Legacy

Like its predecessor, Romance, Segundo Romance continued to revive interest in bolero music. In the magazine Americas, Mark Holston wrote that the album "proves again that the bolero is back, its heart beating as strongly as ever, its soul alive with tropical passion, a music for every time and all times." According to Enrique Lopetegui of the Los Angeles Times, both albums "created a revival for the bolero—the old-fashioned, string-based romantic messages of unrequited love were embraced even by young listeners." Ed Morales wrote in his book, The Latin Beat: The Rhythms And Roots Of Latin Music From Bossa Nova To Salsa And Beyond, "Beyond merely being a revival, Romance and its 1994 follow-up, Segundo Romance was a significant update of the genre". Chicago Tribune editor Achy Obejas noted that the albums "scored in such unlikely places as Saudi Arabia and Finland." Segundo Romance was followed by two more bolero albums: Romances (1997) and Mis Romances (2001). In 1998, WEA Latina released Todos Los Romances, a three-disc compilation of the first-three romance-themed albums.

Personnel

The following information is from AllMusic and from the Segundo Romance liner notes.