Vinny Views: She's Got Some Good Hits! (J.Lo's "Love?" Review)

Love?

(May 3, 2011)

The Set-Up:

After this whole week of going back through Jennifer’s collection, we’ve finally come to what I’ve been waiting for almost 4 years now! From little snippets of leaked songs, to viral videos, to the trials and tribulations with her record labels, and the big comeback with American Idol, this album has been a long time coming. She’s gone from Latin soul, to Hip-Hop, to R&B, the Spanish, to randomness, but Jennifer certainly doesn’t disappoint this time around, bringing out more fun, upbeat dance songs and playing to her strengths.

Enjoy this little intro video, showing some behind the scenes footage from the album photoshoot!

The Play-by-Play:

“On The Floor” featuring Pitbull kicks the album off with its Latin flavor that has us all moving on the floor! Its “Waiting for Tonight” for the new decade, and it starts this new evolution of Jennifer, bumping in the clubs and getting us to dance! And God bless Pitbull and all of his Latin swagger! “Good Hit” follows, and this is another J.Lo song people are either going to find annoying or really going to love (like “Get Right”). It was the only other official viral video she put out as a teaser, and it does get stuck in your head. Sure it’s all auto-tune, and yes it sound like it’s a better fit for Britney Spears, but Jennifer holds her own, showing off this crazy, fun, and playful side of her. Up next is the second single “I’m Into You” featuring Lil’ Wayne. It’s a sweet summer love song with a brilliant hook you can’t help but sing. It has excellent production from hit-makers Stargate, and is arguably one of the highlights of the album (but that’s saying something since I found a lot of highlights with this effort). “(What Is) Love?” is up next. This is one of the songs I may or may not have downloaded from somewhere 2 years ago, and it’s one I can say I know very well now. It also was released last year during the end credits of The Back-Up Plan. It gives an honest look into the many questions we all have about love in general. It’s hard not to find a personal connection with this song, especially when thinking about Jennifer’s relationships in the past. “Run the World” slows the album down for a little bit, offering up a nice little relaxer. It’s a bumping jam with production courtesy of hit-makers Tricky Stewart and The-Dream. As this song ends, it wastes no time picking up into “Papi”, another big highlight from the album. It’s a tribal club anthem, mixing in a lot of high energy with lots of booming sounds. It’s a club jam that goes even harder than where “On The Floor” takes us all. “Until It Beats No More” follows, offering more personal trials and tribulations in her love life. When this song was first performed, she sang it live on SNL last year, and man was it awful! She never had a strong voice to begin with, but she was allllll over the place that night, never finding the notes within. And while this recorded version doesn’t change much from the live version, it is catchy and I can’t help but sing along. “One Love” is a personal recollection from Ms. Lopez herself, breaking down every relationship from her past (surprisingly she doesn’t mention her first marriage). It’s a hip-hop groove that rides along swiftly, offering up a little more substance than “Run The World”. “Invading My Mind” is the third contribution from producer RedOne, offering up the same kind of formula for his hits. While he may not be the most imaginative producer now (since all of this songs could probably be mashed up into a super song), you still can't help but move when his songs come on. “Villain” gets a little dark side of Jennifer to come out more. She sings about a previous love she just wants to forget about. “Starting Over” helps to begin to close out the album, with its tribal-drumming in the background (or maybe like a Stepping Crew, or marching band). It offers great production quality from producer Danja, and unlike “Until It Beats No More”, this album version is a big change from the live version sung on SNL. “Hypnotico” is another RedOne production, but this time co-written by the one and only Lady GaGa. It’s fairly reminiscent of “Papi”, but it offers more of a feel good feeling of going out and dancing. With the deluxe edition of the album, we’re given 4 more bonus songs. The first is “Everybody’s Girl”, a somewhat forgettable addition to the album that originally was rumored to be the follow-up single once “Louboutins” failed. “Charge Me Up” gets lost within its own production, starting to get drowned out by the better-quality RedOne productions on the album. “Take Care” is a quick little number by Tricky Stewart and The-Dream again, most likely a leftover from Rihanna, but nonetheless it’s a fun little number. The whole album is officially complete after “On The Floor (Ven A Bailar)”.

The Point:

Jennifer is back and better than when we last heard from her in Brave! No matter her age, she can still get things moving on popping, holding her own next to artists like Britney Spears, Lady GaGa, and Ke$ha. It’s a fun, up-tempo album that keeps things going from start to finish. Long live my love, Jennifer Lopez! Forget the haters, J.Lo did the damn thang!

The Essentials:

I can’t really pick one favorite (since I’m partial to loving the whole album). So here are 5:

First up is my favorite on the album “Good Hit”. The first video is a wonderful little snippet that was remixed, followed by the actual viral video with the actual song.

Next is “Papi”, the high-energy song that gets me moving no matter what!

From there we have the electric first single “On the Floor”,

followed by the perfect second single “I’m Into You”. My goodness, she does not look like she has aged a bit (or had twins for that matter). Bless her, and bless the beautiful William Levy (look down below!)