After turning heads with her first album, “On The 6”, and an assortment of eye-popping video and film appearances, Jennifer Lopez is back with her second album, the unimaginatively-titled “J.Lo”. An elaborate collaboration between numerous songwriters and producers, “J.Lo” doesn’t stray very far from Lopez’s Latin roots, and is full of the feel-good pop that made “On The 6” such a favourite.
The album starts out with the very catchy “Love Don’t Cost A Thing”, and quickly progresses into “Play”, a funky dance number that should do well on the dance floors. Tinges of R&B and pop flavou “We Gotta Talk” and “That’s Not Me”, while the slow and rhythmic “Dance With Me” is another one that DJs should enjoy spinning. “Ain’t It Funny” has a catchy pop tune, while “Secretly” is a disappointingly monotonous ballad.
Perhaps the best cuts on this album, though, are the three tracks in Spanish - “Carino, “Dame” and “Si Ya Se Acabo”, are all well worth a listen, and add a great deal of spark to what is otherwise a fairly listenable album.
This article was first published on 14 Feb 2001.