Insomniac

by

Enrique Iglesias

Edit

I think at first listen I thought, huh, this is different. Not a typical Enrique album. I loved his album, 7. And I wondered why it sold so little in U.S.A. I think this new album is a change but a change in the right direction. I was not sure how much I liked this album until I noticed how much I've been singing part of Ring My Bells. I loved Do You Know the first time I heard it. Tired of Being Sorry is great, too. Somebody's Me is great, very touching. These songs grow on you once you give them a chance, read the lyrics, make you feel like it's late at night and your experiencing something very personal. Which is what I believed Enrique intended. Thank you Enrique for being so honest and personal.

Enrique Iglesias is really in a bad boat. Because, it seems like in this era, if you are trying to set off a Latin explosion and your name isn't Shakira, it's going to flop. Look at Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony (I didn't put those last two together on purpose), none of those people have had any recent hits. And if you look through charts, Enrique hasn't really had a big smash in a good long time. So, as expected here, he tries really, really hard to impress you, by going off on different genres and different styles. And, like anyone else going completely out of his or her comfort zone, it really fails. One forgettable thing is Enrique Iglesias's very sad attempts to appeal to the hip-hop group. Songs like "On Top of You" and "Push" (latter featuring Lil' Wayne) are dead-drop forgettable tries at another scene. But, aside from that, Insomniac provides a solid, poppy and fun listen, regardless that the disc might feel a little dated (it ain't summer 2002 anymore), and you may have one or two blander songs to deal with. Enrique Iglesias should stick to what he does best: ballads; and that shows in "Somebody's Me", the acoustic "Don't You Forget About Me", and radio-friendly "Little Girl", and dancehall vibes, like "Tired of Being Sorry", or the best of both worlds, "Wish I Was Your Lover". And the two pop-rock songs "Stay Here Tonight" and "Sweet Isabel" are above passable. And like any other Enrique album, we are treated with three Spanish songs, all of which are already on the album in English, these are "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)", "Somebody's Me", and "Tired of Being Sorry". Enrique should try sticking to his roots for his next album, but Insomniac is still a very solid, contained, and fun listen. 3.5 stars.