J.Lo
(Epic)
Lopez, schmopez. As an actress, she of the billion dollar butt is not bad. As a singer, she's decidedly average. If you like watery, R&B pastiches with a few jalapenos thrown in, this album may be for you. Otherwise, look on.
The title track, My Love Don't Cost A Thing, is probably the best of a bad lot, although its sentiments are a bit rich given that la Lopez refuses even to lie down unless it's on Egyptian cotton with a thread count of 250.
Songs like I'm Real and Ain't It Funny fuse hip-hop beats and latin flavours, but, hey honey, Ricky Martin does it better. And he's prettier. Throwing in a couple of Spanish titles doesn't fool anyone either. Si Ya Se Acabo is a flagrant rip-off of Madonna's La Isla Bonita and the Material Girl should think about suing.
Sure, the production is slick, and a small fortune has no doubt been spent on multi-track trickery to make the most of Lopez's thin voice. But this is one of those albums where you get to the end and feel like you might as well have heard the same song 15 times.
