Great beats and improved vocals make Jennifer Lopez's album great

To be quite honest, before hearing this album, I was never a huge fan of Jennifer Lopez. I had heard her previous album, On The 6, while at a friend's house and was not all that impressed. It seemed thrown together and weak. However, her second album, J.Lo, appears to have much more effort put in. In fact, Jennifer Lopez co-wrote and co-produced each and every song on this album, and her influence is apparent in the attitude of the CD!

Organization
The album starts out in an extremely upbeat fashion. It does slow down a bit through the middle, but picks up again at the end. If you listen to the lyrics, you'll notice that the order of the songs tell a story; the beginning seems to be about a relationship not working, the middle about breaking up, and the end on healing and feeling much better again. The start of the album focuses on her singles and songs with a 'Top 40 influence' whereas the latter half of the album is almost entirely latin-inspired.

The Music
The album has an extremely funky retro 80's sound. This is most noticeable in two of the released singles "Play" and "I'm Real". The music covers all the usual topics such as love, romance, and the club scene. Jennifer Lopez may not be the world's greatest singer, but her voice is solid enough to carry all the songs through. I personally think that she sounds best against a danceable background since she loses some vocal stability when there isn't a great funky beat behind her. The songs are diverse, but are in the range of hip hop, dance, pop, and latin music.

The Songs Specifically
LOVE DON'T COST A THING: This is the first song on the album and the first to be released from it. It is absolutely infectious and is a hip hop/dance song. It's about not wanting to be bought in a relationship, but instead to be paid attention to.

I'M REAL: This isn't the slower Ja Rule remix, but the original version (which I happen to like better anyway). The first thing I thought of upon hearing this song was 'wow, this is 80's'! It's a danceable song (and her current single).

PLAY: An extremely funky beat, but weak lyrics. This is another funky dance track (released as a single in the summer). It's about being at a club and wanting a song played - the song is quite shallow, but if you don't look for meaning, it's just fine!

WALKING ON SUNSHINE: A lighthearted and cheerful song which is pretty much a pop song. It was co-produced by her ex, P. Diddy (as he's now calling himself..).

AIN'T IT FUNNY: This song appears to be about nearing the end of a relationship, but not fully accepting that it's over. It's latin influenced with a pop-taste. It's somewhere between fast and slow - not a ballad, but not very dancy either.

CARINO: A raw Spanish/English pop/latin tune.

COME OVER: This is a slow and sexual song. Not her greatest vocal performance on the album, but solid nonetheless.

WE GOTTA TALK: A song in which J.Lo sounds angry and aggressive. It's about trying to get a guy over there to talk about their relationship. It's great to dance to and has a pop/hip hop feel.

THAT'S NOT ME: A fast pop song about giving up. Not the best tune on the album, but it fits into the line of organization that they're following.

DANCE WITH ME: A hip hop type of song with a dance influence. It's a carefree song, again, about being at a club! Great for getting in the mood for a date or so.

SECRETLY: A slow sensual song. Again, it shows her vocal weakness, but you can tell she tried.

I'M GONNA BE ALRIGHT: Another song that's midway between slow and fast. It's a dance/latin type of song with a bit of a hip hop influence. It's very optomistic, but I wish I could dance to it!

THAT'S MY WAY: Almost purely a hip hop track. Not bad at all, and it greatly helps to steer away from a slower part of the album.

DAME (TOUGH ME): A duet with Spanish singerChayenne that's extremely latin fused. The song is in both Spanish and English.

SI YA SE ACABO: More of a traditional latin tune with a good beat. Entirely in Spanish, so I have no idea what it's about!

Overall, the album is very easy to relate to. J.Lo seems to have put in a lot of effort into this CD and she should be commended for it! It's BY FAR better than her previous album and I'd recommend picking it up. It appeals to me since my tastes in music depend almost completely on the song having a loud and prominent beat, and most of the songs on this album fit that image!