One of the great things about being the only epinions reviewer who regularly posts latin music reviews is that I can count on getting a "first-in-category" review almost every time I post. It's amazing to me sometimes because I rarely review niche CDs -- most of the artists I review have shown up on Billboard's Top Latin lists, and most have sales that put them solidly in the multiple platinum disc category. Paulina Rubio's album Paulina is a typical example of this.

Paulina was a blockbuster runaway hit for Paulina Rubio, and if she can keep doing CDs that are as strong as this one, she will have a very long, very prosperous pop career ahead of her. Paulina earned an enormous amount of critical praise for Rubio and won quite a few awards for itself (including the Premio lo Nuestro Top Album of the Year for 2000), not to mention having gone double platinum in the U.S. and quadruple platinum in Mexico with sales of more than 2 million copies. Big time numbers for a singer that most english-speaking listeners would probably not even recognize. Ah well, their loss...

Power Punches...
El Ultimo Adios is one of my favorite tracks on this CD, and a bona fide hit in its own right. With the steady beat and the strident trumpet accompaniment, this song carries a lot more punch than I would expect from what is basically a moderately paced ballad. This song is an outstanding showcase for Paulina's strong vocals and her incredible range, and although El Ultimo Adios has never gotten nearly the airplay of blockbuster hits like Y Yo Sigo Aqui, I'm convinced that it's the more skillful blend of sounds and ultimately, the more masterful artistry.

Every album seems to have one bright shining star that just sounds livelier and more exciting than anything else on the CD. On Paulina, that song is -- by a very big margin -- Y Yo Sigo Aqui. If I had a hundred hands, I couldn't count the number of times I've walked into a bar or a music store and heard this song playing. It's everywhere, and it deserves to be!

Y Yo Sigo Aqui packs all the power and energy of a billion megawatt nuclear plant, but the glow you feel after doing a few dances out on the floor eventually wears off and you don't need to worry about sprouting third arms or anything like that...

If you buy this album for just one song, it will be Y Yo Sigo Aqui -- trust Tio Gringo on this one.

Vive el Verano is another big hit that's as popular with the dance crowd as it is with the pop crowd. Not quite as high energy as Y Yo Sigo Aqui, Vive el Verano is still a tune that get the crowd out on the dance floor, shaking what they've got. The song has a strong tropical beat that makes me think of some of the big salsa hits from greats like Gloria Estefan -- the bright brass highlights really just drive that comparison home with a jackhammer. It's a great tune, infinitely variable, livelier than a summer beach party, and totally danceable. A winning mix in my play list!

...and a Few Weak Jabs...
I'm not a huge fan of some of the slower tracks on this album, but it's mostly because I'm basically a high-energy kind of guy. I tend to favor faster and louder songs, and I know it. On Paulina, I often hit the Skip button when I hear tunes like Tal Vez/Quiza, but I'll also grudgingly admit that these songs let Paulina's voice show a soft, sultry edge that the faster tunes would otherwise mask. Paulina Rubio has an amazing range as a vocalist, and you really can only get a feel for what she can do by listening to the whole CD -- at least once.

Some of the tunes are a bit enigmatic to me. The droning beat of Sexi Dance will probably earn it a place on disco play lists, but the song sounds kind of contrived to me with unimaginitive lyrics that really only sound sexy because of Paulina's deep breathing -- sorry, but it takes more than an obscene phone call to turn me on... (Listen to Thalia's Menta y Canela off the Arrasando CD for an example of a truly sexy sounding dance hit.)

I was watching the music show Caliente on Univision one Saturday when I heard one of the hosts commenting on the strong tropical sound of Paulina's song Cancun y Yo. I don't know what the heck the guy was smoking, but he must get some powerful weed! The song sounds about as "tropical" to me as the Stones' Satisfaction! Cancun y Yo is basically just a slow moving ballad that plods along inexorably toward boredom and...yawn....

Paulina seems to like working sound effects into some of the songs, but with mixed results. I kind of liked the motors revving in Sin Aire, but the jets at the beginning of Tan Sola were just too much like the opening of the Beatles' Back in the USSR -- and nobody in their right mind wants a listener to recall that comparison because the Beatles were just plain musical masters. Needless to say, I was disappointed that the jet sounds merged into the slow melodies of Tan Sola, which just didn't trip this cowboy's trigger...

About Paulina Rubio
If you love latin music, then you already know Paulina Rubio -- one of the brightest stars on today's international pop charts.

Paulina was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and is the product of a privileged upbringing, her mother being the well-known Mexican actress Susana Dosamantes. Paulina herself came on the scopes of latin music fans back in the early 1990s when she was with the teeny-bopper popper band Timbiriche (which is also where Paulina's latin pop contemporary Thalia got her start). It seems that everyone who listens to Mexican pop can't help but compare Thalia and Paulina -- the two artists are like flip sides of the same coin. In my opinion, Thalia has the slightly stronger artistic edge with a livelier sound and more hits, but (dare I say it), Paulina is sexier.

Making Tracks...
I've seen a few reviewers here rating the tracks on a song-by-song basis, and I think it's kind of an interesting tack to take, so here's my quick-star rating of each song on this CD, along with a 2-3 word descriptor.

1. Lo Hare por Ti: (****) Fast pop, strong vocal
2. El Ultimo Adios: (*****) Moderate ranchera ballad
3. Tal Vez, Quiza: (***) Slow ballad
4. Y Yo Sigo Aqui: (*****) Fast pop, strong instrumental
5. Sin Aire: (****) Fast pop
6. Tan Sola: (***) Slow ballad
7. Sexi Dance: (***) Fast dance
8. Cancun y Yo: (***) Slow ballad
9. Mirame a los Ojos: (***) Slow ballad
10. Yo No Soy Esa Mujer: (*****) Fast pop, strong vocal
11. Vive el Verano: (*****) Fast pop
12. Baby Paulina: (-) Sound bite, pura basura

Bottom Line
Paulina is, I think, Paulina Rubio's strongest CD ever. I like it far better than her earlier CDs 24 Kilates and La Chica Dorada, and I think this is a watershed album for her, legitimizing her inclusion on today's center stage of top latin pop artists.

While there are some songs on this CD that I don't especially care for, most are still very solid tunes, they just aren't of a style that appeals to me, and that's not always fair to the artist: the CD as a whole really displays a marvelous variety and depth of talent. Overall, my impression of this CD is that it is extremely well done and it's definitely earned its permanent spot in my CD changer. Give it a listen, I think you'll like it...

Related Reviews:
Some of My Top Latin Artists...
http://www.epinions.com/content_1736679556

Thalia: Arrasando
http://www.epinions.com/content_43033595524

Thalia: Amor a la Mexicana
http://www.epinions.com/content_15915323012






Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Hanging With Friends