Search - Paulina Rubio :: Ananda (Spec) (Spkg)

Paulina is back in pink.

Javier Lopez | Peru | 02/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It took Paulina a while to release a new cd but I think that it was worth the wait. This versatile singer comes back with "ANANDA" that follows her big success of "PAU-LATINA" in the sense of music fusions and sevaral types of music but this time I feel that Paulina has leaned more on rock music instead of her famous rancheras with a touch of hip-hop. Electric guitars are strongly present on tracks such as "NADA PUEDE CAMBIARME" that has Gun's n' Roses's Slash on lead guitar. This song is one of the highlights of the album. In the case of "MIENTEME UNA VEZ MAS" Paulina follows the direction of Evanescence, this song has the very same style of their music and sounds very good with Paulina's voice.

Even though Paulina has concentrated more on rock, I also feel that she wanted to release something for everybody. But this is easy to understand because of group of people that she has chosen for this production. She has the style of Coti with the Ballad "AYUDAME". A mix between Coti and Julieta Venegas on "QUE ME VOY A QUEDAR" which is a catchy song but honestly the lyrics have no sense. She also had Junes as songwriter on "NO TE CAMBIO" this song is really good because it starts the first verse with flamenco and then starts a very nice combination between a very soft reggaeton, a bit of ballenato, pop and hip-hop a real gem for the album. The song that has the biggest ranchera style on the album is "AUNQUE NO SEA CONMIGO" but doesn't have a strong influence as "DAME OTRO TEQUILA" or "EL ULTIMO ADIOS".

"ANANDA" also has pop songs like "RETRATO", "N.O" and the first single "NI UNA SOLA PALABRA" written by Xabi San Martin from Spain's La Oreja De Van Gogh. Comparing this album with her previous one "PAU-LATINA"...well I think that "ANANDA" is very good I really enjoy it but "PAU-LATINA" was more solid, maybe I think this because I heard it more and I got more used to it. The one thing I wanted not to find again is the interludes after each song, they're really short but unnecessary. A positive thing about this production, is the booklet because it has several pictures and lyrics.



To finish this review I think that even though the critics for this album were not very positive. I think that it's a very good step for Paulina. The first single became a #1 hit in the U.S for several weeks and #2 in the main chart of all Latin America and gave Paulina her third entrance on Billboard's Hot 100 with a song that wasn't in English. The album debuted at #1 in the U.S on Top Latin Albums list and #25 on Billboard's 200 and became #1 also in several territories and sold up to 500,000 copies on its release week. Anyway, this is just commercial information but I think that the album is good maybe not her best but good, you won't be sorry with it if you like her music."