The Last (album)

The Last
The members of Aventura walk on the street towards Times Square
Studio album by
Aventura
Released June 9, 2009
Recorded 2008–2009
Studio Platinum Sound Recording, Legacy Recording Studios (New York City, New York); Skylight Recording, Kick Back Productions & Recording Studio, (New Jersey); The Hit Factory (Miami, Florida)
Genre
Length 75:26
Label
Producer
Aventura chronology
Kings of Bachata: Sold Out at Madison Square Garden
(2007) 		The Last
(2009) 		14 + 14
(2011)
Singles from The Last
  1. "Por Un Segundo"
    Released: November 10, 2008
  2. "All Up 2 You"
    Released: April 27, 2009
  3. "Su Veneno"
    Released: June 30, 2009
  4. "Dile Al Amor"
    Released: October 13, 2009
  5. "El Malo"
    Released: March 11, 2010

The Last is the fifth and final studio album by the bachata group Aventura, released on June 9, 2009. In the "Intro" of this album, Anthony "Romeo" Santos states that this could possibly be their last album; his prediction came true in July 2011 when the group publicly confirmed it was breaking up for good.

The Last became the top selling Latin album of 2009 and 2010. The Last spent 23 weeks at number one in the Latin Billboard chart. The Last debuted at number 5 in the Billboard chart and number 1 in the Latin Billboard chart.

Album information

One of the members of the group, the guitarist Lenny told MTV that the album was recorded in Wyclef's studio, and stated that Wyclef wanted to record a song with them. The song was "Spanish Fly", which features Wyclef Jean and Ludacris.

Rumors were circulating that this album would be the last of the group. In the "Intro" of this album, Anthony Santos states that this could possibly be their last album. However, the group said that this is their last album with their label Premium Latin Music. So there will still be Aventura albums to come in the near future, but however in 2011, that was rebuked after Santos announced that the group is breaking up for good.

Aside from their original Bachata sound, the album also explores new genres for the group. In the song "All Up 2 You", has a Europop dance sound with auto-tune effects. Also the songs "Spanish Fly" has a dance-pop sound. The New York Times called "The Last", Aventura's surest, catchiest record. The group collaborated with reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel, Akon, Wyclef Jean, and Ludacris.

The album has become thus far the group's best album. The album spawned four hit singles, two which topped the Latin charts, and has been the #1 album for 23 weeks on Billboard Top Latin Albums. At the Premio Lo Nuestro 2010 awards, the album was awarded "Tropical Album of the Year". At the Billboard Latin Music Awards of 2010 in held in San Juan, Puerto Rico Aventura won nine awards including one for Album of the Year for "The Last"

Singles

Main singles

"Por Un Segundo" is the first single release from the album, released November 10, 2008. It became the group's first number 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart. It also peaked at number 1 on both the Latin Rhythm and Tropical Songs Billboard charts.The music video was released in 2009 and features the winner of Cycle 8 of America's Next Top Model, Jaslene Gonzalez.

"All Up 2 You" was released as the second single. The song features R&B artist Akon, and reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel and a remix with dancehall artist Adrian Banton. It peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, at number 2 on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart at number 1 on both the Latin Rhythm Songs charts. The music video was released on June 5, 2009.

"Su Veneno" was released as the third single on June 30, 2009. The song was released as a bolero version and a bachata version the following day. It peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, and at number 1 on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart, lasting 5 weeks on that spot. The music video for the Bachata version was released on July 20, 2009. The music video for the Bolero version was released the next day.

"Dile al Amor" was released as the fourth single on October 13, 2009. It peaked at number at number 2 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. It also peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, became the group's second number one on that chart. It also peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart, lasting 15 weeks on that spot. The music video was released on November 4, 2009.

"El Malo" was released as the fifth single on March 11, 20100. Initially, the song did not reach same success as the previous singles on the Hot Latin Tracks until it was re-released. It peakied at number 5 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart and at number 1 on the Billboard Tropical Songs charts. The music video was released on June 29, 2010.

Promotional single and other charted songs

"El Desprecio" was released as the promo single and only peaked number 40 on the Billboard Tropical Songs charts. It was featured on the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, which is an expansion pack from Grand Theft Auto IV's Episodes from Liberty City.

"La Curita" is a Salsa song. It peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, at number 32 on the Billboard Latin Pop Songs chart, and at number 6 on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart.

Other songs his the charts like the song "Tu Jueguito" which peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Latin Pop Songs chart. On the Billboard Tropical Songs charts, the song "Peligro" peaked at number 40, and the song "La Tormenta" peaked at number 32.

Chart performance

The Last debuted at number five in the U.S. Billboard 200 with sales of 47,000 units in his firt week. The album also arrived at number-one on the Top Latin Albums chart, where it became their first chart-topper and holding the number one position for 16 non-consecutive weeks on the top Latin charts and becoming the best selling Latin album of 2009 with 246,000 copies sold. It sold over 400,000 copies worldwide.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic
About.com

John Bush of Allmusic gave the album a somewhat positive review. He called the lead single "Por un Segundo" a "straight bachata, rhythmic and sweet" and noted that the crossovers are put on the latter half of the album. Tijana Ilich of About.com praised the vocals of Anthony "Romeo" Santos and the called song "Soy Hombre" the best on the album. On the other hand, she criticized the lack of diversity on the album as "Basically all-bachata album".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Anthony "Romeo" Santos, including where noted

No. Title Writer(s) Translation Length
1. "Intro" (The Last)     1:24
2. "Por Un Segundo"   "For One Second" 4:15
3. "Yo Quisiera Amarla"   "I Would Like To Love Her" 5:06
4. "El Malo"   "The Bad Guy" 3:58
5. "Dile Al Amor"   "Tell Love" 3:49
6. "Su Veneno"   "Her Poison" 4:18
7. "Tu Jueguito"   "Your Little Game" 3:42
8. "Spanish Fly" (featuring Ludacris and Wyclef Jean) Christopher Bridges, Wyclef Jean, Jerry Duplessis   3:57
9. "Peligro"   "Danger" 4:38
10. "La Tormenta"   "The Storm" 4:35
11. "El Desprecio"   "The Contempt" 4:35
12. "All Up 2 You" (featuring Akon and Wisin & Yandel) Llandel Veguilla, Juan Luis Morera Luna, Aliaune Thiam, Marcos Masís   3:38
13. "Skit"     4:05
14. "La Curita"   "The Band-Aid" 4:21
15. "Princesita" Henry Santos Jeter "Little Princess" 4:17
16. "Su Vida"   "Her Life" 4:34
17. "Soy Hombre" (featuring Arturo Sandoval)   "I'm A Man" 4:33
18. "Gracias"   "Thank You" 7:33
Total length: 1:15:26

Producers

The album was produced mostly by Anthony "Romeo" Santos, Lenny Santos, and Gerry Grimaud, Jr. Other artist and producers were involve in producing the following tracks:

Charts

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Mexico (AMPROFON) Platinum 80,000^
United States (RIAA) 4× Platinum (Latin) 400,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Label
United States June 9, 2009 Sony International
Canada Strichcode
Germany June 12, 2009
France
United Kingdom September 9, 2009 Sony International

See also