I'm Gonna Be Alright, because I've Got Enrique on Standby.. (J To Tha L-o! - Jennifer Lopez)

Member Name: BestMum

Product:	J To Tha L-o! - Jennifer Lopez
Date:	06/08/02 (417 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It includes her recent remixed hits

Disadvantages: All the other tracks

Dark haired (depending on which day it is) sultry Latino beauty, drooled over by countless men world-wide... But less about myself and more on the good lady in question, Ms Jennifer Lopez, J-Lo.

Love her or hate her, most of us can't help but enjoy her music, especially the remixes she's been releasing of late. She's not on my top-ten list of favourite people but I felt I should add a few more pennies to her already bulging bank balance thanks to the handful of people who have breathed new life into a selection of her songs.

So J-Lo now resides next to my other recent purchase, Enrique, and if I see any funny business going on, she'll be straight out the window, I can tell you.

ABOUT J-LO:

Born 24th July 1970 in the Bronx, NYC, she is one of three sisters. She spent a year and a half studying dance in NYC, whilst performing on the club circuit with her dance troupe before landing a part on In Living Color, as a Fly Girl.

Shortly after she was snapped up to appear on South Central and never looked back. She quickly became the name on everybody's lips and auditioned successfully for the part of Selena Quintanilla Perez in an official biography of the life of Selena, which catapulted her to international stardom.

After appearing in various successful films including Out of Sight with George Clooney, she felt that she now had the experience and the respect of those both in and out of the business to do what she really wanted to do - sing and dance.

On The Six was released, an album which took it's name from the train Ms Lopez used to take to and from endless auditions before making it big. It cemented her name in the showbiz world as a superstar.

After a couple of trips, ASDA finally managed to put the right disc into the case and I prepared to be dazzled by Ms Lopez. Here's my experience:

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LOVE DON'T COST A THING:
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As the track begins it kindly informs us that this is a remix, just in case we were in any way unsure. It starts off much the same as the original, although you'll find a few dramatic pauses at the end of each verse and chorus. Other than that, it sounds much the same. It did have the blessing of being a fairly funky track anyway so didn't need much in the way of a shake-up and I'm glad they've kept a winning formula here. There's a nice little rap section mid-song, courtesy of Fat Joe. Definitely a toe-tapper, hip swinging, women's lib track.

AINT IT FUNNY:

Yeah Baby. Subtle seductiveness, this kind of beat is one you could imagine yourself getting amorous to. We've all heard this one so you know what to expect. Exactly the same as the version recently released, thankfully, featuring man-of-the-moment Ja Rule lending a hip-hop feel to this one. Nothing like the original, but then we don't expect it to be.

GONNA BE ALRIGHT:

Hip hop heaven. Crank that knob and enjoy. I loved this track when it blasted across the airwaves recently, featuring Nas. The downside to this one is that he doesn't appear on this version, but the gaps on the track are still there so it sounds unfinished. It's a great mix nonetheless and one that will be played right through the summer.

I'M REAL:

This CD comes with a parental advice notice and this track is one of the reasons why. The song begins with Ja Rule asking "What's my F***ing Name?" What's the point, you may ask; I certainly did, sadly he completely ignored me and continued rapping. It's completely out of context with the song, but that's just my opinion!

This track seems to just glide on by quite easily without much effort or excitement. The same version as the remix recently released. A good track, no fireworks though.

WALKING ON SUNSHINE:

The only problem wit
h writing music reviews is that you have to listen to each track thoroughly. I could just tell you it's dreadful without playing it all, but let's give it a few moments to grow on me...dum de dum, dum de dum, it's dreadful.

"We're walking on sunshine in the middle of the night, and if feels like I'm somewhere above the sky; aye, eyaye, eyaye." Make of it what you will. I personally wanted to make it into loo paper, but didn't have the necessary egg box and washing up liquid bottle.

It's got quite an 80's disco feel to it, but the lyrics are fairly weak, and you could get away with playing it in the car without the trashy-music police pulling you over, but certainly not in the house, and only if it was on a hot summers day. But we don't get any of those so, woohoo, I don't have to put myself through the torture again!

IF YOU HAD MY LOVE:

"If you had my love and I gave you all my trust, would you comfort me?" Any takers? Just as I thought, you shallow, shallow people! I loved the original version and was afraid the remix wouldn't do it justice, but I was relieved to hear that it wasn't too bad. It's a little busy though, and there are parts when her voice has been digitally enhanced (ala Cher). Not quite as gripping as the original but it has a good hip-swinging beat.


FEELIN SO GOOD:

Another old song given an 80's remix, and I hated the 80's. It actually reminds me of an episode of Friends in which Ross shows off his keyboard skills to his fellow Friends, to their utter dismay. Far too many synthesized mutterings.

A rap opens the track which again includes needless swearing - I don't know whether she's looking for some brownie points for being hip and trendy but even though she's not the culprit, it doesn't really go with her image.

I actually quite liked the original version, but t
he remix just doesn't sound quite right. But it's playable, and not one I necessarily wanted to skip to the end.

LETS GET LOUD:

There is a definite strong nightclub feel to this track, which isn't really my thing. Lots of "Pump It Up" at the beginning, and then a calming piano solo before the incessant "Thud Thud Thud" kicks in. All of a sudden, as the supporting vocals arrive on scene, the track takes on a completely different guise and becomes a Latino knee-knocker.

Were any animals harmed during the making of this track? The song pauses before a crescendo of small yappy-type dogs (I think it's actually "Hey, Hey, Hey")! Not one I could play every day - it's four minutes too long.

PLAY:

Easy drum beat greets us at the entrance. Then J-Lo enters the room with a digitally enhanced voice, with my four-year-old niece on keyboards (which I've yet to confirm, you understand). More swearing "Play my M-F song". This track is far too messed-up to do anything for you, other than give you a headache. It's a musical experiment gone badly wrong. Not for me, as you probably guessed!

WAITING FOR TONIGHT:

More techno here too. A strong club feel to the first few opening bars, and it continues in much the same way. Not bad but it's not superb either. If you're a regular nightclub attendee then you'll probably like this track. Sadly I am not!

ALIVE:

We're brought crashing back down to earth at the speed of light with this track. Whitney, sorry J-Lo goes all gushy with this slushy track about finding her way, feeling lucky and happy just to be alive. She co-wrote it with 'beau' Cris Judd - so the words have real meaning, for 24 hours maybe! Anyone want a glass of Cynical Crush?

SI YA SE ACABO:

Easy for you to say. Latin Disco, J-lo actually sounds quite good in Spanish. As
I was listening I was expecting Terry Wogan to pop up at any second and proclaim "J-Lo Nil Points". Sadly he didn't appear, he would have brightened things up. This is far too Eurovision sounding, although it's a fairly upbeat track and maybe a good one for pre-Friday night get-togethers, or Post-Friday night in a drunken state when you really don't care what it is you listen to.

QUE IRONIA (Ain't It Funny)

Ain't It Funny - it is! Spanish language version, this is actually quite good, yey! The only problem is that it's been recorded at a much faster pace than normal and when it gets to the chorus and the supporting singers appear, it sounds like they've been smoking dodgy tobacco.

It made me laugh though, and I actually played this one through to the end, just to cheer myself up!

UNA NOCHA MAS (Waiting for Tonight):

Nothing new added to this track, just that it's performed in Spanish.

NO ME AMES (Duet with Marc Anthony):

Another fairly slushy track to finish off the album, with a very Latin feel to it. It could easily be a TV soundtrack for the Love-Boat maybe. Hmmm.

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So, thankfully, I can now turn this darned thing off and in future I shall remember to use the program function on my CD player to listen to the few decent tracks.

I was really disappointed with this album, I expected so much more but I suppose it's got something for everyone. If you are open-minded in your musical taste then you'll probably quite like it. It's still worth purchasing, if only for the recent releases as it works out cheaper than buying the CD singles separately.

"Hey Enrique...wait up...wanna play Scrabble?"

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