Siempre Selena

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This article is about the album by Selena. For the documentaries, see
Selena filmography
.

Siempre Selena
Eight artistic drawings of the singer in a collage with the artist's name and title of the album.
Remix album / Compilation album by
Selena
ReleasedOctober 29, 1996 (1996-10-29)
Recorded1986–1994
Genre
Length29:00
LanguageSpanish
EMI Latin
ProducerA.B. Quintanilla, Nelson Gonzalez
Selena chronology
Éxitos y Recuerdos
(1996) 		Siempre Selena
(1996) 		Selena: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(1997)
Singles from Siempre Selena
  1. "
    Siempre Hace Frio
    "
    Released: October 1996
  2. "Costumbres"
    Released: January 1997
Selena remix chronology
Siempre Selena
(1996) 		Anthology
(1998)

Siempre Selena (English: Always Selena) is the second posthumously released album by American singer

Abraham Quintanilla Jr.
began receiving requests from fans of her music. Abraham rediscovered forgotten tapes of songs Selena recorded for various projects. Following her death, Abraham expressed how he wanted to keep the singer's legacy alive and that public knowledge of Selena was very important to him. Critical reception of Siempre Selena was mixed, with varying reviews suggesting that the album was more for Selena's fan base and found no particular track on the album to be of any interest, while others favored its diversity and remastered songs.

Music retailers believed that Siempre Selena would be another sellout due to the commercial success of

Regional Mexican Songs chart, while "Costumbres" peaked within the top 15. In November 2017, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has certified the album triple platinum for shipments of 300,000 units in the United States.[2]

Background

In March 1995, American

The Odessa American that "there is an insatiable hunger for Selena's music out there".[11] He further said how he constantly receives letters and phone calls from fans requesting the singer's music.[11] Following his daughter's death, Abraham began going through boxes and found "more songs that Selena recorded that we had forgotten about."[11] He explained how he wanted to preserve Selena's legacy and that it's important to him that public consciousness of the singer remains intact.[11] Selena's brother and principal record producer, A.B. Quintanilla explained on Biography that Selena's wishes were for her fans to "never forget about her".[12] Since Selena's death, her family has been criticized by fans and the media for exploiting the singer and cannibalizing on her murder by releasing more music.[13]

Music and lyrics

Siempre Selena contains mostly unreleased recordings and

Siempre Hace Frio". Christopher John Farley of Time magazine said the producers who excluded the songs regretted this move following the impact of Selena's death.[15] The latter two were included on the Dreaming of You album, while "Siempre Hace Frio" was added to the Siempre Selena set list.[11] "Siempre Hace Frio", which is a "soulful mariachi song." lyrically describes a woman who wants her boyfriend back, though he is with another girl.[14] Riemenschneider called the track a "lazy, mournful mariachi" that finds Selena "belting her own special borderland blues, but she leaves little to cry at the end."[1] He added how "Selena's doubters who think she was more about image than talent" should listen to "Siempre Hace Frio". He wrote shock jock Howard Stern—who poke fun of the singer's death and her mourners—as one of those "Selena's doubters".[1]

Songs such as "

Banda El Recodo's version on the Hot Latin Songs chart on the week ending February 1.[24] In the following week, "Costumbres" peaked at number 15.[25] At the 1997 Tejano Music Awards, "Siempre Hace Frio" won the Tejano Music Award for Song of the Year, while "No Quiero Saber" won Crossover Song of the Year.[26]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[27]
Austin American-Statesman[1]
The Desert Sun[28]

Mario Tarradell of The Odessa American called the album "Selena's musical scrapbook."[11] He favored its diversity, calling it "more impressive than most posthumous repackingings" essentially for having previously unreleased tracks.[11] He believed it was "timed to set up the media blitz" on the then-upcoming soundtrack to the Selena biopic.[11] The Desert Sun's Fred Shuster panned the album as "second-rate material at best."[29] He called the ballads on the album "dreary" and found the album to be generated towards "fans awaiting the Selena movie."[29] Shuster noted that if the listener has "a weakness to slow love songs [then] forget it."[28] Because of the new mixes and unreleased content, Natalia Pignato and Umatilla High of the Orlando Sentinel reported that they "love this CD" and that it displays "the bittersweet success of unfulfilled promise."[14] In a poll conducted by News-Press in January 1997, DJs were asked to pick their top ten albums they would bring on a deserted island, Siempre Selena was among those chosen.[30]

AllMusic called Siempre Selena a "posthumous collection of rarities and lesser-known songs."[27] The website found the album to be "of interest to dedicated fans" and noted that there "are a few worthwhile items" throughout the recording.[27] Ramiro Burr wrote in The Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music (1999), that Siempre Selena contained "vocal tracks [that] were lifted and combined with different instrumental tracks".[31] John Lannert of Billboard magazine called the album "a collection of previously unreleased English- and Spanish-language tracks" with what he said to be "sonically touched up early Latino numbers".[20] Paul Verna, also from Billboard, called the recording as "slickly packaged" and a "so-so grab bag [that contains] romantic ballads" that he believed "is sure to appeal to [Selena's fan base] vast and loyal legion of fans". He found that Selena's fan base has "not grown weary of slow-paced love songs [such as] "Como Quisiera" and "Tu Robaste Mi Corazon."[20] Riemenschneider found the album to "[offer] a wide and impressive range of mostly unheard music from Selena's too short career."[1] He opined that Siempre Selena "proves [the singer] was the queen of her domain."[1]

Commercial performance

On October 19, 1996, it was revealed that Siempre Selena would be commercially available on October 29.

Blockbuster Music store in San Antonio.[37] Local businesses predicted that sales would eventually pick up towards Christmas.[34] Marketing director of EMI Latin, Manolo Gonzalez expressed how the company intentionally went "low-key" in marketing Siempre Selena in comparison to Dreaming of You. Gonzalez said how he wanted to be "very conservative with this album" and that EMI Latin had shipped 400,000 units throughout the United States.[11] Riemenschneider called EMI Latin and the singer's family an "oxymoron" for their marketing scheme, or rather lack thereof of Siempre Selena.[1] Riemenschneider believed their reasoning behind the insignificant promotion to be an avoidance of "Selena overkill" with the soundtrack and biopic that were due in a few months. He found their move in having little promotion to be a "mistake", calling Siempre Selena the one "Selena's caretakers should have promoted [following her death]".[1]

The album became a

Grupo Limite's Partiendome el Alma.[41] On its 19th week, the album regain the number one position on the Regional Mexican Albums chart on the week ending March 29, 1997, following the release of the Selena soundtrack.[42] During the second anniversary of the singer's death on March 31, sales of Siempre Selena jumped 48% remaining atop the Regional Mexican Albums chart and climbing the Top Latin Albums chart at number three, a position higher from the previous week.[43] The album remained at number one for three additional weeks before it fell from the top spot on the week ending May 10.[44] It was subsequently nominated for Female Album of the Year at the 1997 Billboard Latin Music Awards.[45] In its quarterly recap of the top selling Latin albums of 1997, Siempre Selena ranked third behind Enrique and Julio Iglesias' albums, respectively.[46] The recording finished 1997 as the fourth best-selling Latin album in the United States, while it finished second on the Regional Mexican Albums year-end list.[47] In December 2002, the RIAA certified Siempre Selena double platinum for shipments of 200,000 units; her 10th certified album.[48] They re-certified the recording triple platinum (180,000 album-equivalent units sold) in November 2017.[2]

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsProductionLength
1."
Mariachi Sol de Mexico, previously unreleased, 1994)
Cuco SánchezJose Hernandez3:15
2."Only Love" (previously unreleased, 1990)
  • Robbie Buchanan
  • Mark Spiro
K.C. Porter4:12
3."Soy Amiga" (previously on Alpha, 1986)Ricky VelaA.B. Quintanilla3:59
4."Como Quisiera" (previously on And the Winner Is..., 1987)
  • A.B.
  • Vela
A.B.3:08
5."A Million to One" (previously on Munequito de Trapo, 1987)Phil MedleyA.B.3:21
6."Costumbres" (previously on Dulce Amor, 1988)Juan GabrielA.B.3:40
7."Cien Años" (previously on Preciosa, 1988)
A.B.3:11
8."Tu Robaste Mi Corazon" (with Pete Astudillo, previously on Live!, 1993)
  • A.B.
  • Vela
A.B.3:50
9."Ya No" (previously on Amor Prohibido, 1994)
  • A.B.
  • Vela
A.B.3:41
10."No Quiero Saber" (previously on Ven Conmigo, 1990)
  • A.B.
  • Astudillo
A.B.3:22
Total length:35:49

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Siempre Selena.[27]

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart (1996) Position
US Top Latin Albums[40] 44
Chart (1997) Position
US Top Latin Albums[47] 4
US Regional Mexican Albums[47] 2

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[49] 3× Platinum (Latin) 180,000‡
Mexico — 14,500[50]

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Riemenschneider 1996, p. 47.
  2. ^ a b Anon. & n.d. (b).
  3. ^ Verhovek 1995, p. 1.
  4. ^ Jasinski 2012.
  5. ^ Untiedt 2013, p. 127.
  6. ^ Schone 1995, p. 3.
  7. ^ Shaw 2005, p. 50.
  8. ^ Stavans & Augenbraum 2005, p. 5.
  9. ^ Arrarás 1997, p. 22.
  10. ^ Patoski 1996, p. 211.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Taradell & 1996 (a), p. 14.
  12. ^ Anon. 2008.
  13. ^ Falcon 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Pignato & High 1997, p. 66.
  15. ^ Cole & Farley 1995, p. 2.
  16. ^ Lannert & 1996 (z), p. 41.
  17. ^ Anon. & 1996 (a), p. 35.
  18. ^ Anon. & 1996 (b).
  19. ^ Anon. & 1996 (c), p. 47.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h Lannert & Verna 1996, p. 57, 83.
  21. ^ Anon. & 1996 (i), p. 28.
  22. ^ Anon. & 1996 (j), p. 31.
  23. ^ Anon. & 1997 (a), p. 41.
  24. ^ Anon. & 1997 (b), p. 38.
  25. ^ Anon. & 1997 (c), p. 30.
  26. ^ Anon. & n.d. (c).
  27. ^ a b c d Anon. & n.d. (a).
  28. ^ a b Shuster 1996, p. 78.
  29. ^ a b Shuster 1996, p. 68.
  30. ^ Pereira 1997, p. 64.
  31. ^ Burr 1999, p. 189.
  32. ^ Snow 1996, p. 60.
  33. ^ a b c d Weigel 1996, p. 11.
  34. ^ a b c d Anon. & 1996 (g), p. 12.
  35. ^ Cline 1997, p. 1.
  36. ^ a b Anon. & 1996 (f), p. 43.
  37. ^ Anon. & 1996 (e), p. 25.
  38. ^ Taradell & 1996 (b), p. 19.
  39. ^ Anon. & 1996 (h), p. 36.
  40. ^ a b Anon. & 1996 (k), p. 38, 40.
  41. ^ Anon. & 1997 (d), p. 33.
  42. ^ Lannert & 1997 (a), p. 33.
  43. ^ Lannert & 1997 (b), p. 40.
  44. ^ Anon. & 1997 (e), p. 31.
  45. ^ Anon. & 1997 (e), p. 74.
  46. ^ a b Lannert & 1997 (c), p. 80.
  47. ^ a b c Anon. & 1997 (f), p. YD-57, YD-58.
  48. ^ Cobo 2003, p. 36.
  49. ^ "American album certifications – Selena – Siempre Selena". Recording Industry Association of America.
  50. ^ Anon. & 1997 (g), p. 70.

Bibliography

External links

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