Composed entirely of ballads (and the exception of a few other genres), Como Ama una Mujer talks about love and heartbreak, being organic in its instrumentation and introspective in its lyrics.

Her first demo tape was called "Vivir Sin Ti" ("To Live Without You"), however former Sony Music president Tommy Mottola persuaded Lopez to do her first album in English.

[3][6] In the same year, she recorded a Spanish version of the song "Sway", called "Quién Será", for her film Shall We Dance?

Como Ama una Mujer is mostly composed by songs written by Estéfano, Julio Reyes Copello and Marc Anthony.

Initially, the song wasn't intend to be a duet, with Lopez remarking that "there was a background male voice, and Marc did the backups.

"[1] Meanwhile, when the album was almost done, the song "Qué Hiciste" was a last minute addition and was born after a dream Anthony had with late singer Rocío Jurado.

Then, since she had not studio equipment nearby to capture the essence of the song, she took her phone, called up their answering machine and told him to sing.

[3] Lyrically, the song talks about a very intense relationship and how she feels heartbroken with a lover who unraveled her happy home.

[16] The title track, the delicate ballad "Como Ama una Mujer" ("How a Woman Loves"), opens with piano and a minor-chord progression that was compared to Randy Newman's "In Germany Before the War"[15] and a melodic chorus which was noted for being similar to Kenny Rogers' "She Believes in Me".

[15] The last track on the album is "Adiós" ("Goodbye"), a ballad about leaving someone behind and it was recorded live in front of an audience that "immediately erupts into a sing-along.

[10] Lopez also promoted the album with live performances of the album's lead-single in many places, including the American Idol, while also doing the Walmart Soundcheck, where she performed "Qué Hiciste", "Tú", "Por Arriesgarnos" (with Marc Anthony), "Como Ama Una Mujer", "Porque te Marchas" and "Te voy a Querer".

It became a huge success on the charts, reaching number-one in four countries, including Italy,[22] Spain, Switzerland and the United States, where it topped the Billboard Hot Latin Songs.

[27] In a favorable analysis, Leila Cobo of Billboard noted that "Dovetailing with her choice of sound and arrangements that straddle convention and invention, Lopez mines new emotional depths.

"[18] James Reed was also positive in his review for Boston Globe, calling it "Lopez's most tasteful and reserved album yet."

He emphasized that Lopez "opt[ed] for string sections over canned synthesizers" and praised her vocal performance on "Porque te Marchas" and "Sóla".

[15] Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly acknowledge that the album "does represent a victory for Lopez by offering fairly persuasive proof that, contrary to rumor, she can sing, and without a regiment of background choralists."

However he noticed that "[a]ll that bulking up she’s been doing at the vocal gym isn’t enough, though, to turn flaccid torch songs into muscle.

"[29] Chuck Arnold of People gave the album a rating of two-and-a-half-out-of-four-stars, and praised the "writing, production and vocal help" from Marc Anthony, who made Lopez "smoothly transforms into Jenny from the Barrio."

However, he criticized the album's second half for being "dragged down by too many ballads, which, no matter what tongue they're sung in, will never be Lopez's strong suit.

"[30] In his AllMusic review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine was less favorable, calling it "music for housewives" and that "it's by far the most sedate Lopez has ever been on record."

"[17] While recognizing that her vocals never lack feeling or conviction, Vibe's Pete L'Official called its music "tacky and overproduced", but observed that "[t]he songwriting here far outstrips Lopez's previous albums, though.

"[31] John Cruz of Sputnikmusic was negative in his review, feeling that Lopez "forgets to bring the flavor of the language itself," naming it "tepid and dull" and noting that it lacked "any sort of spice," calling it "one of the years most disappointing albums,"[16] while Q magazine labeled it "[s]loppy, emotion-free, chicken-in-a-basket ballad.

"[27] In a retrospective review for Albumism, music critic Quentin Harrison remarked positively, "The contents of the LP bridged an engaging stratum of traditional-to-contemporary Latin pop aesthetics [...]."

Como Ama una Mujer debuted at number ten on the US Billboard 200 chart with 48,000 copies sold in its first week.