''Estrella Guía'' (English: ''Guiding Star''), also released as ''Estrela Guia'' for its Brazilian edition, is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

recorded by Brazilian singer-songwriter

Alexandre Pires Alexandre Pires do Nascimento (born January 8, 1976) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter. Pires was previously the singer of group Só Pra Contrariar which he joined in the late 1980s. Career Pires began his career playing a new and more appellat ...

, The album witch released by

BMG U.S. Latin Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is an American record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. Sony Latin was also a division of the Sony Discos label. History In ...

on March 25, 2003 (see

2003 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2003. Specific locations *2003 in British music *2003 in Irish music *2003 in Norwegian music *2003 in South Korean music Specific genres *2003 in classical music *200 ...

). The album was produced by Juan Vicente Zambrano, co-produced by Danilo Ballo, Emanuele Ruffinengo, Julio C. Reyes, Rey Nerio, Alexandre Pires, Pedro Ferreira,

Rudy Pérez Rudy Amado Pérez (born May 14, 1958) is a Cuban-born American musician, songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, sound engineer, musical director and singer, as well as entertainment entrepreneur, and philanthropist. His area of specialty is ...

, Antonio Carmona and Fernando Illán and features collaborations with Spanish singers

Alejandro Sanz Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Award ...

and

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

. It is the second album by Pires to be released in Spanish, the first one being ''

'' (2001), his debut album released as ''É Por Amor'' for its Brazilian edition. At the 4th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, the album received nominations for Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Album, being Pires' first

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

nominations. At the ceremony Pires performed a Spanish-English version of the song "Amame" alongside American singer

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

. The album was also nominated for Pop Album of the Year at the Premio Lo Nuestro 2004. The album appeared on the ''Billboard'' Top Latin Albums and ''Billboard'' Latin Pop Albums charts, peaking at positions twelve and six respectively.

Background

The album was recorded during eleven months in different studios in Europe, United States and Brazil, including Altavox Studios and Nitko Studio in

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Sonoland in Spain, Midnightblue Studios and North Bay Recording Studios in Miami, United States, Estudio Mosh in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, and Studio Be Bop in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, among others. It features collaborations with two Spanish singers,

in the song "Sólo Que Me Falta" and

in "Inseguridad", about the songs Pires said that "the album is not a Spanish flavored one, those are only two different moments, every song of the album has a different flavour and color, I think we achieved it", he also said that the songs from the album dwell on the "daily life of people". The album also includes a version of Gino Vanelli's 1978 song "

I Just Wanna Stop "I Just Wanna Stop" is a song by Canadian singer/songwriter Gino Vannelli. Released as a single in August 1978, it remains his biggest hit single to date, reaching No. 1 in his native Canada and No. 4 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It appear ...

", released under the title "Es Mejor Parar" in the Spanish edition and "É Melhor Parar" in the Brazilian one. ''Estrella Guía'' followed the commercial success achieved by Pires in the Latin American and American markets with his previous solo efforts. Due to its success abroad, BGM's New York office invested US$ 3 million to launch the album in international markets.

Singles and promotion

The album spawned three singles, "Ámame", released on January 27, 2003, "Quitémonos la Ropa", released on May 19, 2003, and "En el Silencio Negro de la Noche", released on October 20, 2003, all three songs charted on the

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ...

and

Latin Pop Airplay Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of ...

charts, both by ''

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 ...

'', "Ámame" at number 2 in both, "Quitémonos la Ropa" at 3 and 8, and "En el Silencio Negro de la Noche" at 24 and 14, respectively. Additionally, though "Amame" did not enter the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

, it peaked at number 14 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

, being Pires' only appearance at the chart. The three singles were accompanied by music videos, which portrayed a story about a love affair divided in three parts. In "Ámame", Pires portrays a bodyguard for a billionaire and his wife in

. He then runs away with the wife and has an affair with her. The story continues in "Quitémonos la Ropa" where the millionaire plans a revenge while the couple enjoy their time together. Then, the husband attempts to shoot Pires but the wife intersects, receiving the bullet and dying. Lastly, in "En el Silencio Negro de la Noche", Pires plots his own revenge. A year later, he finds the billionaire, shooting him after a fight and killing him.

Commercial performance

Upon release, ''Estrella Guía'' peaked at number 12 at the

Top Latin Albums Top Latin Albums (formerly Latin 50) is a record chart published by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the United States, American music market. ...

chart, while at the

Latin Pop Albums The '' Billboard'' Latin pop charts began in 1985 when an album chart were introduced as Latin Pop Albums in the June 29 issue of the magazine. In October 1994, ''Billboard'' then established Latin Pop Airplay, which initially rank the most-played ...

, the album peaked at number 6. It also peaked at number 45 at the

Top Heatseekers The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

chart. In the United States, the album was certified platinum, being Pires' second certification in said country. In Pires' native country Brazil, the album was certified gold, being his second album to be certified after ''

'' (2001), which was certified platinum in both its Spanish and Portuguese versions. The album continued Pires' success in the United States, which was considered a feat due to its genre being mainly

pop ballads A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

as well as Pires' racial background. Leila Cobos from ''

'' wrote that Pires "is a unique case of a black artist who succeeds in the US without singing salsa, mambo or rap".

Critical reception

'' gave a positive review to the album writing that "with his smooth-as-silk vocals, Brazilian singer Alexandre Pires takes another step forward hearhrob statud among Spanish speakers with this collection of burnished Latin pop, layered arrangements, and soulful vocals". In a more mixed review, Thom Jurek from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album two and a half stars out of five writing that the album was "beautifully executed but generic nonetheless" commenting that while Pires was a great vocalist, when he sung in Spanish "the depth of his emotional expression is somewhat stilted", however, Jurek highlighted the two duets in the project as the album's "two most successful moments".

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References

{{reflist, 2 2003 albums Alexandre Pires albums 2000s Spanish-language albums 2000s Portuguese-language albums RCA Records albums Ariola Records albums Albums produced by Rudy Pérez Albums produced by Julio Reyes Copello