The title of Jennifer Lopez's new album sums up it well. She certainly was "brave" to release this embarrassing ensemble of tunes, which recalls the early ’90s and watching "Beverly Hills 90210."
Essentially every song in this cheesy aerobic remix with a Latino edge is about her husband, singer-songwriter Marc Anthony, about how much she loves him, how she can't function without him and how her entire life before him was a complete mistake.
Just in case her box office disaster, "El Cantante," which starred the happy couple, didn't prove that she loves him enough, J.Lo felt it necessary to release this album. Listeners can now hear her love for him as well as reminisce about her making out with Antony for the entirety of the film.
Songs such as "Stay Together," "I Need Love" and "Never Gonna Give Up" sound like journal entries or perhaps even anniversary cards that the two of them wrote each other. In "Forever," J.Lo's cheesiness is most apparent. Repetitive lyrics include "I wanna be with you/ Feel the heat with you/ I'm floating in the distance." The industrial echoes legitimately gave the reviewer a headache after listening to it once.
"Do It Well" is J.Lo's most promising song on the album. There is also a remixed version with Ludacris that trumps the original, and actually has the possibility of making radio playlists for a few weeks. This track is not cheesy, but modern and upbeat, with a chorus that is easy to remember and sing along with.
"Do It Well" sounds like a combination of old-school, ballad-heavy J.Lo and Christina Aguilera. Ludacris even raps a solo in the middle of the song, where he introduces himself as the man who throws girls off track because he is so good looking. He even includes some now-trendy Spanish.
It has been two years since J.Lo's last album, Rebirth, and it's fair to say that it has all been downhill since her 2002 album, This is Me, Then featuring her hit song, "Jenny From the Block." Clearly, J.Lo's intense love has distracted her from creating enjoyable music, and now that she is a mommy-to-be, perhaps it will be her message to stop performing and just try being a mom.