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mediacritic sux for CAUM they ignored 3/4 great review from important source it would have 60, with them.

J-Lo: Back And Brave

Melissa Vega

MUSIC

'Brave' world Gay
J Lo returns to her roots, sings about love curing all

BUCK C. COOKE
Friday, October 19, 2007

WHEN SINGER/ACTRESS JENNIFER Lopez announced that she was releasing two albums in 2007, most people wondered "When in the hell will she have time?"

Aside from her movie with Marc Anthony, "El Cantante," her new fragrance, fashion lines and a tour on the way, Lopez somehow found time to follow up her Spanish album, "Como Ama Una Mujer," with "Brave," which might be her best CD to date.

Lopez comes on strong vocally and musically with the opening track, even if the lyrics are a little lame. "Stay Together" is, fittingly, an ode to making a relationship work, no matter what.

Maybe this is Lopez's response to some critics who are thinking, "Why is she working with her husband? Did it work with Diddy, Ben Affleck or Cris Judd?" Lopez sings "Stay together/It's the new break-up" and "Stay together/That's the new trend" in response.

The subject matter might be trite, but "Stay Together" is a great retro jam and a likely single. The production is tight and the beats are smokin'. Lopez's vocal ad-libs in the background are reminiscent of one of her biggest hits, "Play."

LOPEZ CHANNELS THE VILLAGE People on the explosive "Hold It, Don't Drop It," packed with plenty of brass and disco funk. It barrels through your head and fills you with the urge to dance.

"Do It Well" is the lead single from "Brave," and Lopez brings the big beats and some of her newly discovered vocal command to the track. "Do It Well" booms as it blends hip-hop with disco. Dance remixes are sure to follow, and the album contains a bonus track of the song featuring Ludacris rapping in Spanglish.

Michael Jackson turns up on "Gotta Be There" - in the form of a sample. Lopez uses the Jackson Five's "I Wanna Be Where You Are" and gives a shout-out to the ATL, blending modern dance grooves with '70s sensibilities.

Things slow down on "Never Gonna Give Up." The beginning of the track finds La Lopez singing over strings, and while the tempo picks up a little midway through, it's still much mellower than the beginning of the album. Lopez sounds great. This may be the result of production, but we've got to give her some of the credit since she's matured as a singer since her debut.

"Mile in These Shoes" has a strut-inspiring beat, but Lopez comes across as soft - even as she fires a salvo at her naysayers. She starts out saying that she's learned to give the finger to her critics, but then she takes the theme of the song a bit too far - even pointing out she favors YSL and Steve Madden.

"The Way It Is" and "Be Mine" are two of the CD's weaker tracks, back on her favorite topic: love. Yawn and skip these two.

"I NEED LOVE" IS A SWEET song about cuddling up and kicking the hustle and bustle of the singles scene to the curb. Even with the saccharine subject matter, Lopez brings the funk, but she sweetens up the tone for a song more suited to a coy mid-tempo dance-at-home with your man than a bump-and-grind session with some random guy at the club.

The title track "Brave" brings the tempo back up, the last regular track on the album. Lopez sings of confidence, self-assurance and perseverance in a song likely to become an anthem for one cause or another.

"Brave" is largely a dance/pop album with plenty of hip-hop overtones. Lopez brings her A-game, enlisting a who's who of producers and writers. Her existing fans will adore it and other fans of pop and dance should eat it up, too.