CD Review: Enrique Iglesias' Insomniac

At first, you think Enrique’s latest album will be another one filled with sentimentality--the title, Insomniac, perhaps referring to sleepless nights he’s suffered through because his woman isn’t by his side, and the first track opening with a few gentle piano notes. Then as the song progresses, you realize he’s repeatedly crooning, “ring my bells/ ring my bells” and then the synthesizer kicks in.

This speaks of the whole album’s impression. Is he trying to be romantic? Eh, maybe. But try seduction: There’s a lot of that. Unlike sleazier male sex icons, at least, Enrique listens to his softer romantic side as often as he jumps about the SexyBack train.

The album is essentially divided between the corny and the dirty, with a few awkward crossovers in between, but a few factors remain consistent--it’s sexy, it’s corny and it’s uninspired. “Oh, I miss you/ Oh, I miss you/ I’m missing you more and more each day,” Enrique cries on a track creatively entitled, yes, “Miss You.”

However, a warning: Insomniac’s heavier, dirtier moments may elicit laughter. The album’s second track, “Push,” aptly features Lil’ Wayne, along some with some real poetry: “Push, push/ Back up on it/ make me believe you want it/ … don’t stop until the morning” is more of a farce of synthesized dance tunes than a legitimate one itself.

In his more embarrassing moments on the album, the 32-year-old Iglesias sounds like he’s putting on a façade to fit into the crowd of his 20-something counterparts. But at heart, he’s better suited for the love ballads he bought into before--corny but fun, gentle and unpretentious. He accepts this on “Don’t You Forget About Me,” a pleasant acoustic track near the end that proves there’s still some semblance of the kitschy sentimentality he was born to sing.