Jennifer Lopez

Epic

Actress-singer Lopez returns with the follow-up to her 1999 debut, On the 6. Throughout most of J. Lo, she wisely sticks with the dance-pop music of her first album. The best song is the first single, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing”—a sexy dance song with attitude. Other standout tracks are “Play” and “I’m Real,” the kind of dance-funk Janet Jackson excelled at before she got more serious with The Velvet Rope. The problem with Lopez and this disc is her attempts at singing ballads. She attempts Madonna-style erotica on “Come Over” and “Secretly,” and the results are, well, ridiculous. Her voice isn’t strong enough to carry the music, and lyrics like “I can smell your scent” are outright laughable. The Latin-salsa dance songs like “Dame (Touch Me)” and two sung in Spanish (“Carino,” “Si Ya Se Acabo”) also work well here. When Lopez wants you to dance, you do what she does so well—get up and shake your ass.