** ENRIQUE IGLESIAS, “Vivir,” Fonovisa
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Blame it on his dad, his good looks or Fonovisa’s promotion, but Enrique Iglesias has achieved mega-stardom with the old formula: corny love ballads, conventional arrangements and predictable lyrics. With “Vivir” (“To Live”), the follow-up to his hit debut, he has more of the same verse-chorus-verse tales of loooooove, under the production of cheese-master Rafael Perez-Botija and guests of the caliber of Brazilian percussionist Paulinho Da Costa, guitarist Michael Landau and--believe it or not--Billy Preston on organ.
The record does, however, show a slight improvement over its predecessor. This time, Iglesias wrote most of the songs (strong compositions within the poor standards of the genre), added more power ballads with edgy guitar solos, and tried some reggae, as in the case of “Lluvia cae” (“The Rain Falls”). Fonovisa has shipped 3 million copies of “Vivir,” so it is now official--this is Enrique Iglesias’ hour. Run for your life.
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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).
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