La Llave de Mi Corazón (English: The key of my heart) is the 10th studio album recorded by Dominican Republic singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra and 4.40 band, This album was released by EMI Televisa Music on March 20, 2007 (see 2007 in music). It was Guerra's first album to contain a songs in english ("Something is Good" and "Medicine for my Soul") since his 1994 recording of Fogarate. The album contains fusions of mambo and tropical rhythms that Guerra himself defined as "Mambo merengue". Its production and musical structure of album is based on merengue, bachata and salsa and encompasses elements of Blues, Son, Jazz, Mambo and Bossa Nova. The album was written, arranged and produced by Juan Luis Guerra and according to the artist is his most romantic album. It is composed of four merengues, two bachatas, three romantic songs and two salsas.
La Llave de Mi Corazon met with critical acclaim which praised its musical structure and mix and variety of tropical elements on the songs. It won six awards at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. Also it won Tropical Album of the Year by Duo or Group at the 2008 Latin Billboard Music Award and six Soberano Awards in 2008. The album was supported by five official singles, including the lead single "La Llave de mi corazón" that tops the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks and Latin Tropical Airplay.
The album was a commercial success across Latin America and Europe. It debuted at No. 77 on US Billboard 200 and at the top of US Billboard Top Latin Albums and Tropical Albums. It reached the Top 10 in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Ecuador and Dominican Republic albums charts and was certified gold and platinum in Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Spain. On October 2, it was released as a special edition and later a Brazilian/Portuguese Edition. To promote the album, Guerra embarked on "La Travesia Tour".
Background
On Early 2006, Guerra wrapped up his 20th Anniversary Tour ("Tour 20 años) his longest tour since areito. On April 27, 2006, he appeared in Sting`s concert at Altos De Chavon in La Romana, Dominican Republic as a surprise guest. Later that year, he collaborated on a song with Diego Torres called "Abriendo Caminos" and later with the Mexican rock group Mana on the single "Bendita La Luz". The recording sessions of the album took place between mid 2006 and early 2007 in three different studios: Chocolab Midi Estudio, his own studio (JLG Studios) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Circle House Studios in Miami, Florida.
On Monday January 22, 2007, the lead single "La Llave de mi corazon" was released along with the music video starring the actress Zoe Zaldaña. The song was an immediate success and top the airplay charts in some countries. According to Guerra, he spent three months recording the track and explained "My main objective was to do something that sounded completely different from everything else you hear." Along with the release of the lead single, "Medicine for my soul" was sent to the airways as a promo single. In a press conference, Guerra revealed that the album contains four merengues, two bachatas, three romantic songs and two salsas.
On February 2007, Guerra revealed that the album contained 13 tracks, including two songs in English and his intentions to record songs in Italian and Portuguese. Guerra later explained that he decided to record in other languages in order to crossover to other markets outside Latin America and the album was supposed to be an artistic renovation on his musical career because it contains music elements of mambo, el funk y el rock mixed with tropical rhythms such as merengue, bachata and salsa. Also, he stated that it was his most romantic album. Later in that month, Guerra was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Lo Nuestro Awards and performed at the ceremony.
By 2007, Juan Luis Guerra had sold over 7 millions albums worldwide. The released of the album by EMI Music marked the second time, since his previous album Para Ti`s one off deal with Venemusic, that Guerra signed a distribution deal with a big label. The artist previous albums since 1985's Mundanza y Acarreo were released by the indie label, Karem Records.
