ALBUM REVIEWS

** Gloria Estefan, “Abriendo puertas,” Crescent Moon/Epic. Estefan’s 1993 album “Mi Tierra,” a nostalgic tribute to the music of her native Cuba, was a milestone in Latin pop and an artistic high point in her career. The Grammy-winning effort deservedly earned her respect even from those who dismissed her as an average pop vocalist.

In this follow-up, she leaves Cuba aside and pays homage to several major sounds of Latin music. But the result is quite different.

“Abriendo puertas” (“Opening Doors”) has everything from merengue to cumbia . More dance-oriented and less artistic than “Mi Tierra,” it is a largely Christmas-themed album full of fantastic, corny descriptions of Latin America as a world full of happiness and hope.

All the songs are backed by a passionless orchestra and written by co-producer Kike Santander, whose Colombian heritage may be the reason the accordion seems to take over most of the album, making it sound like a Colombian vallenato record.

If the idea was to pay homage to musica latina, it would have been a good idea to take some inspiration from such greats as Chile’s Violeta Parra and Argentina’s Atahualpa Yupanqui.