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MUSICBOX: The Latin connection
Enrique Iglesias is one of the best selling Latin artists in the world. The album Best of Enrique Iglesias is a compilation of all his hit numbers and their remix versions. The record starts off with the seductive single from the album Enrique (1999), Could I Have This Kiss Forever? The lyrics, background music and soothing pace deserve full marks. The tempo increases slightly with the singer’s most famous single Escape, which is also the title track of the hit album of the same name. Hero, another popular single from the same album is a slower track and quality-wise, it gels well with the other tracks. The most rhythmically smooth track from Escape is Love to See You Cry. The singer truly seems to be in his element in this number and deserves praise for rendering it so well.
The best single of the album in undoubtedly Rhythm Divine. The track needs no introduction and has taken Enrique’s career to its peak, topping the charts soon after it was released. Equally good and just as emotionally charged is Bailamos. The guitar riffs in this track are out of this world and the remix version of this number is even better. The background music infuses energy in the track.
This best of album also features the title track and lead single from Enrique Iglesias’s latest Spanish album Quizas (2002). This is his first Spanish release after a span of five years, his last one being l998’s multi-platinum Cosas Del Amor. “The power of music in Spanish is so strong that I couldn’t stay away from it any longer,” he was quoted saying in an interview in London.
While Enrique spent most of 2002 touring the world, the sales of Escape soared to approximately seven million copies. The singer is all set to produce some more soulful melodies in the near future but in the meantime, check out this best of compilation.—-Azeem Haider
Teenagefanclub
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Avril Lavigne is nothing spectacular. There are no exquisite instrumentals attached and her lyrics are nothing out of the ordinary. She’s your average Jane, singing plain simple songs. And therein lies her strength. Where other artists try to excel in sense-defying compositions, she has tried the good old method of reaching out to the common soul. And the results are phenomenal.Her debut album Let Go was considered one of the five hottest albums of 2002. Her style is in no way unique; strong vocals complemented well by hard-driving guitars – she is more or less a rocker chick. But the fact that she has managed to pack enough catchy numbers in a single album accounts for her constant presence in the top ten of the Billboard Top 200 chart. Her lyrics are a bit on the weak side, probably befitting for a teenager since she has penned all the songs herself.
Complicated, the song that propelled her to stardom, is a simple catchy pop tune and not even one of the best songs on the album. I’m With You and Naked are two impressive, melancholic love ballads. Mobile and My World are flamboyant narrations about her town and her life. Anything But Ordinary is another typical yet charming pop track. Nobody’s Fool screams Eminem, what with Avril following his mode of rap narration. Sk8er Boi is a fast-driving pop-punk tune. Things I’ll Never Say starts like a country number with the good old guitar prominent, but even that morphs into her trademark rambunctious style. All this goes to show that she’s adept at exploiting any number of subgenres of contemporary music, but she’ll have to develop some distinct style in order to showcase the depth of her artistry.
In a nutshell, her songs are what you’ll get to hear in a romantic teen flick. So if you can’t stand that stuff, then you’d better stay away from this one. But this album might strike a chord with teenagers who may get inspired by this 17-year old (now probably 18) artist who already has a street named after her in her hometown, Napanee in Ontario, Canada.—Saqib Khan
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