''Literal'' is the 14th studio album (16th overall) by Dominican singer, songwriter and producer
Juan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born June 7, 1957) is a Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. He has sold 30 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Throughout his career, he has wo ...
. It was released on 31 May 2019 by Universal Music Latin. Written and produced by Juan Luis Guerra, the album contains eleven tracks and encompasses a variety of tropical genres, such as 'Bachata, Merengue, Salsa and Son along with influences from Jazz, Gospel, Rock and Dominican Folklore music. The album was co-produced by Guerra's longtime collaboration and musical director Janina Rosado. It has lyrics about romance, love, nostalgia, moving on and protest against corruption.
Recorded between Abbey Road Studios in London, United Kingdom and Guerra's own studio in studio in Santo Domingo, ''Literal'' provides musical interpolations along with retro and modern sounds. In much the same way that
his 1994 album, Fogaraté includes a Bachata Adaptation of the
Lacrimosa
The ''Lacrimosa'' (Latin for " weeping/tearful"), also a name that derives from ''Our Lady of Sorrows'', a title given to The Virgin Mary, is part of the Dies Irae sequence in the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass. Its text comes from the Latin 18th an ...
movement from
Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor and "I Love You More" which interpolates sections from, or is otherwise influenced by,
Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S.244/2, is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, and is by far the most famous of the set.
In both the original piano solo form and in the orchestrated version this ...
.
''Literal'' was one of Latin Music's most awarded and critically-praised Tropical releases of 2019. It won
Best Contemporany Tropical/Tropical Fusion Album and Best Tropical Song at the
20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards
The 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was held on Thursday, November 14, 2019, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and was broadcast on Univision. The telecast marked the 20th anniversary of the Latin Grammy Awards and honored outsta ...
on November 14, 2019. Also, it was for nomintated for Best Tropical Latin Album at the
61st Annual Grammy Awards
The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...
. The album was supported with the released of four singles: ''
Kitipun
"Kitipun" is a song by Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra. It was written by Guerra and released by Universal Music Latin
Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in pr ...
,
Corazon Enamorado, I Love You More and
Lámpara Pa' mis pies''. ''Literal'' debuted at the Top 20 of the albums charts in Spain and Argentina and Tropical in the United States. To promote the album, Guerra went on the ''
Literal Grandes Exitos Tour''.
Background
On March 19, 2019, Juan Luis Guerra performed at the closing performance of the
Tenerife Carnival. The concert had a record attendance of 400,000 people, breaking the record of the highest attendance at the carnaval previously held by Celia Cruz with 240,000 in 1987. On March 23, 2019, Guerra posted on Instagram the cover of the new single and the release day. The track was premiered with a music video directed by ''Taba Blanchard'' and a dance challenge. On April 23, 2019, Guerra announced his next tour as ''Literal Grandes Exitos Tour''.
On April 25, 2019, Guerra received a Lifetime Achievement Awards following a tribute at the ''
2019 Billboard Latin Music Awards
The 26th ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards ceremony, presented by ''Billboard'' magazine, honored the best performing Latin recordings of 2018 and took place on April 25, 2019 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. ''Billboard'' presented ...
''. Shortly before the ceremony, the title of the album was released to the press. On May 2, 2019, the cover and release day were given to the press. Latter, the artist explain that he came up with the title because his daughter used that word for almost everything.
Recording, musical style, and composition
Recording sessions for Literal took one year between 2018 and 2019. One of the studios used to record the album was the
Abbey Road Studio
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music co ...
in London. It has the composition, musicalization, arrangements and production of Juan Luis Guerra and the co-production of Janina Rosado.
The first musical cut of this album, "Kitipun", was released on April 5. It is a romantic bachata with innovative sound. "Lampara Pa` Mis Pies", is tropical carnival dance music (and a love song to Guerra's wife and with references to Christianity), a merengue with group-chanted choruses that touch on South African township jive and Nigerian highlife.
"Cantando Bachata" flirts with '60s rock and '80s funk in its backbeat as slippery, infectious bachata rhythms embrace them both amid gorgeous stacked vocal harmonies and swinging R&B horns. The following track "Ma Pa Lante Vive Gente" is an old school salsa number. "I Love You More" is a celebratory merengue that interpolates
Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S.244/2, is the second in a set of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies by composer Franz Liszt, and is by far the most famous of the set.
In both the original piano solo form and in the orchestrated version this ...
.
"Corazon Enamorado" is a romantic Bachata with typical Guerra sound. "Son a Mamá" with its muted mariachi trumpet, decoratively charted horns, passionately chanted choral vocals, and bubbling bongos, congas, and timbales. "Esto No Tiene Madre" is percussive trova-rock social cut with references to social injustices. "Me Preguntas" is a ballad melding bachata and bolero. "El Primer Baile" is worthy of its translation as "the first dance." Its structure is panoramic: It melds jazz, bachata, pop, and smooth Latin soul along with retro merengue sound. "Merengue de Cuna" is a track dedicated to his older son, Jean Guerra.
Critical reception
''Literal'' was one of Latin Music's most awarded & Critically-Praised Tropical releases of 2019 cited at the top 10 or best Latin albums of 2019.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
gave the album four of five stars and wrote "Bears the hallmarks of Guerra's sophisticated artistry, but rendered with abundant tenderness, intimacy, and joy …Literal is Brilliant…an unabashedly romantic yet poetically poignant record."
''Isabelia Herrera'' from
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
gave a positive review to the album titled "Bachata Legend Juan Luis Guerra Fights Nostalgia on New Album, ‘Literal’". On the review she stated "The Bachata Legend who revolutionized the genre…continues to experiment on his new LP — but he's still endearingly himself - It's in the little details that Literal shines brightest."
Judy Cantor-Navar from ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' gave a positive review to the album and wrote "From the godfather of contemporary tropical music... a life-loving, set whose arrangements are an instant pick-me-up, a mood-enhancing answer to today's global blues" in a more complete review about guerra life achievement award, ''
Houston Press
The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017.
The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...
'' wrote "simply one of the most dynamic, emotional, and complete musicians in all of the Americas, ever…a true music genius".
Commercial performance
In the United States, ''Literal'' debuted at number 31 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and number seven
''Billboard'' Tropical Albums on the week of June 15, 2019 selling over 2,000 units.''Literal was'' Guerra's 17th straight top 10 at the Tropical Charts, debut dating back to ''La Bilirubina'', which opened at No. 2 on the June 30, 1990-dated list. Also, ''Literal''’s was driven mostly by album sales, which sparks up the set's start at No. 3 on the Latin Albums Sales chart.It debut a number 15 in Argentina retail albums charts according to Prensario and number 17 at the Spanish Albums Charts.
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
Juan Luis Guerra albums
2019 albums