''Final (Vol. 1)'' is the eleventh
studio album recorded by Spanish singer
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By th ...
. ''Volume 1'' was released on 17 September 2021 by
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...
through
Sony Music Latin
Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is a record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music.
History
In 1979, CBS Records (now Columbia Records) ended its partnership with ...
. The album features collaborations with several artists and is going to occur in ''Volume 1'' and ''Volume 2''. During a live chat with
Ricky Martin
Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his discography spanning Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton ...
and
Sebastián Yatra
Sebastián Obando Giraldo (born 15 October 1994), known professionally as Sebastián Yatra, is a Colombian singer, songwriter and actor. He began as a Latin pop artist and has recorded many ballads, but has released several successful reggaeton ...
on Instagram on 3 September 2021, Iglesias suggested that ''Final'' would be the last album he would release.
Background
Starting in 2016, the album was preceded by a number of singles that were intended to be included on the upcoming album. These singles included "
Duele El Corazon
Duele (Spanish for "It Hurts") may refer to:
* Duele (Chenoa song), "Duele" (Chenoa song), 2009
* Duele (Reik and Wisin & Yandel song), "Duele" (Reik and Wisin & Yandel song), 2019
* "Duele", a 2017 song by Bomba Estéreo from ''Ayo (Bomba Estére ...
", "
Subeme La Radio", "
El Baño" and "
Move to Miami". The album was originally scheduled to come out in 2017, but was pushed back due to Iglesias' touring commitments, so instead more singles were released. The
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
gave Iglesias the opportunity to go into the studio and start work on both volumes of the album. In an interview with ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'' he explained, "I wanted to release this album in 2017, and I just keep putting out singles. I was touring a lot and I didn't have time to go to the studio. And the last year, I've had a lot of time to go to the studio and just work there by myself and to work with Carlos
aucara lot and just go back and forth and finish up what I've needed to finish up for the last three years."
As well as the previously-released singles which were collaborations with
Wisin
Juan Luis Morera Luna (; born December 19, 1978), best known as his stage name Wisin (), is a Puerto Rican reggaeton rapper, singer and record producer, best known as a member of the reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel. Wisin is noted for his unique an ...
,
Descemer Bueno
Descemer Bueno (born July 5, 1971) is a Cuban singer, songwriter, and record producer. His first professional gigs were playing bass with Cuban troubadour Santiago Feliú.
Early career
Bueno studied music and became a music teacher before form ...
,
Zion & Lennox
Zion & Lennox are a reggaeton music duo from Carolina, Puerto Rico. In 2004, Zion & Lennox released their first studio album titled '' Motivando A La Yal'' under White Lion Records. After their first album, Zion & Lennox decided to start their o ...
,
Bad Bunny
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known professionally as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He rose to prominence in 2016 with his song "Diles", w ...
and
Pitbull
Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...
, the album also includes his 2015 duet with
Nicky Jam
Nick Rivera Caminero (born March 17, 1981), known professionally as Nicky Jam, is an American singer and actor. He is best known for hits such as " X", "Travesuras", "En la Cama", "Te Busco", " El Perdón", " Hasta el Amanecer", and " El Amante ...
, "
El Perdon". The album also includes three new Spanish tracks, such as "
Me Pasé" featuring Puerto Rican rapper
Farruko
Carlos Efrén Reyes Rosado (born May 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Farruko, is a retired Puerto Rican singer and rapper. He rose to fame collaborating with Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Don Omar, and J Álvarez. He came to prominence in 2010 ...
and "Te Fuiste" featuring
Myke Towers
Michael Anthony Torres Monge (born January 15, 1994), known by his stage name Myke Towers, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer and songwriter.
Career
His mixtape ''El Final del Principio'' (2016) peaked at 12 on Latin Rhythm Albums. Towers colla ...
, as well as three new English-language tracks.
During a video chat with
Ricky Martin
Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his discography spanning Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton ...
and
Sebastian Yatra
Sebastian may refer to:
People
* Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films and television
* ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film
* ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...
to promote their joint tour, Iglesias revealed that the album would be a two-part release entitled ''Final'', as these would be the last albums of his career. Iglesias claimed, "it's something that I have been thinking about for the past few years" but also insisted, "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way, meaning they don't necessarily have to be packaged as an album, so this project to me is important".
''Final Vol. 1'' was Iglesias' first studio album not to have an accompanying physical release upon its debut, though CD copies were released shortly thereafter.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number 12 on ''
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 advertis ...
''s
Top Latin Albums
Top Latin Albums is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the American music market. Like all ''Billboard'' album charts, the chart is base ...
and number two on the
Latin Pop Albums
Latin Pop Albums is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine. It features Latin music information of the Pop music genre. Established in June 1985, this chart features only full-length albums and like all album charts on ''Billboard'', ...
chart. This became Iglesias' first studio album to miss the
''Billboard'' 200, selling 4,000
album equivalent units
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...
in its first week.
However, it reached number 45 in Iglesias' home country of Spain, number 41 in Portugal, and number 56 in Switzerland.
Critical reception
Roisin O'Connor from ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'' gave the album two out of five stars. She stated that Iglesias was "worn out" and described the album as "surprisingly unsexy", which positioned him "more as
court jester
A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...
than the Latin king he once was". She called "Chasing the Sun" a "bland auto-tune fest" and although she thought "things pick up a tiny bit" on "
Me Pasé" and "
Súbeme la Radio", she described "El Baño" as "ludicrous", criticising its lyrics about how Iglesias's lover "can 'make
imso hard'" that he wants to go to the bathroom to have sex.
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Enrique Iglesias
2021 albums
Enrique Iglesias albums
Spanish-language albums