[5][6][7] In December 1996 Luis Miguel held a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he announced his desire to record a third Romance album and mentioned the possibility of working with Manzanero and Juan Gabriel.

[16] Luis Miguel covers twelve ballads in Romances, including songs by José Antonio Méndez, Carlos Arturo Briz, Consuelo Velázquez Álvaro Carrillo, Roberto Cantoral, María Grever, Enrique Santos Discépolo, Agustín Lara.

Luis Miguel recorded Manazero's songs "Voy a Apagar la Luz/Contigo Aprendí" ("I Am Going To Turn Off The Lights/With You I Learned") and "Amanecer" ("To Be Awake").

[20] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times had a more positive reaction, which he described as a "marvelously designed and wonderfully executed blend of Latin music tradition".

[19] Another Times contributor, Ernesto Lechner, wrote that Luis Miguel's bolero performance at the Arrowhead Pond arena in California "brought the house down" and stated that the experience at the concert was "pretty close" to Beatlemania.

[23] Luis Miguel was the first Latin artist to be inducted to the Pollstar "Top 20 All-Time Grossing Tours" for most tickets sold for consecutive concerts at one venue in 1997.

[33] "Bésame Mucho" ("Kiss Me More") reached number one on the Mexican singles chart and was among the top ten best-performing songs of 1998 in Venezuela according to Record Report.

Terry Jenkins of AllMusic praised the collaborative work of Silvetti and Manzanero and called Romances "a sensuous, enchanting album".

[11] Achy Obejas of the Chicago Tribune called Luis Miguel's voice the album's strong point and noted the "presence of electronic instruments and the darker, more somber mood".

[35] On the other hand, she felt that Luis Miguel was beginning "to slip", citing the tracks "Jurame" and "Por Debajo de la Mesa" as examples.

Fernando Gonzalez wrote for the Orange County Register noting although the album is "Impeccably produced, arranged and recorded", he felt that boleros "demand more than that".

Gonzalez elaborated: " He sounds simply loud, rather than romantic, in "Sabor a Mi; he comes across as (soap) operatic rather than tormented in "El Reloj "; he is a star—not a humble student—in "Contigo Aprendi".

"[40] The Corpus Christi Caller-Times music critic Rene Carbrera wrote a positive review of the album praising the string arrangements as "elegantly done" and complimented Luis Miguel's take on "Sabor a Mí" and "La Gloria Eres Tu" as he had done it "delightfully done in the traditional way and flavored with Trio Los Panchos requinto "cling" endings.

"[41] Mario Tarradell of The Dallas Morning News wrote an unfavorable review of the recording; he criticized its productions for having all the tracks "awash in silky keyboards and airy strings with just a hint of percussion in the background".

He also panned its lead single "Por Debajo de la Mesa" for coming off as a "love song for the chaste" due to its arrangements being "so stifling, so precious, it's difficult to feel any sensuality".

[25] Luis M. Garcia of The Sydney Morning Herald referred to the album as a "lush, expensive recording", stating, "he has taken a basketful of classic, romantic boleros, updated some, rearranged others and come up with a fairly acceptable collection of what marketers would probably call 'songs for lovers'...

[42] Los Angeles Times editor Ernesto Lecnher gave the album one-and-a-half out of four stars and claimed that Romances "sinks under its own weight, delivering mostly bloated versions of timeless material".

[37] Fellow Los Angeles Times contributor Ed Morales disagreed with his review: "Lechner needs to go into his music room, turn down the lights, snuggle up with his significant other and really listen to 'Romances.'

[44] Ramiro Burr of the San Antonio Express-News said Romances "sparkles with the joy of visiting good friends" and lauded its "timeless music, beautiful orchestration" and complimented Silvetti's arrangements.