JENNIFER LOPEZ - BRAVE
If J. Lo really wanted to get bold, she would have led off her fifth album with its namesake track. It’s a declaration of newfound fearlessness that Lopez sings like a nymphish Madonna, set to a steady beat and triumphant strings. The song is so good and convincingly personal that you want the rest of the album to bloom from it, like “Ray of Light” after “Substitute for Love.” But “Brave” is the closer, not the opener, and the album is another market-smart collection of radio fodder, rather than Lopez’s artistic breakout. Still, no one does classy pop quite like she does. “Do It Well” has one of her signature hip-hop breakdowns, “Forever” is harem R&B like Beyonce’s “Baby Boy,” and “Gotta Be There” samples a helium-ified Michael Jackson and references hip-hop dance-floor burner “Puerto Rico.” Maybe the album should be called “Smart” instead.
