No Es lo Mismo in Bloomington, MN

From the album title (
No Es lo Mismo
means "it's not the same"),
Alejandro Sanz
is showing what this effort is all about. At first, something that was already known: he is not the same as any other
Latin
heartthrob like
Chayanne
,
Emmanuel
, or even
Ricky Martin
. He composes and produces his own material and, although not a great singer, he's a superb guitar player. Second, this album is not the same as any other
one.
Sanz
affords various topics (like social issues and commitment) not only related to love, dancing, and having a good time (probably the most common Latin stereotype). Third, this work (his first studio album since 2000's
El Alma al Aire
) is quite different from all the previous ones. For example in
"Try to Save Your S'ong"
he tries to rap, and gets some help from
GQ
in it. To his classic sound (
ballads
plus
flamenco
), he adds
hip-hop
bolero
, and
son
flavors. The problem is that not all the things melt together smoothly. Things are more familiar in songs like
"He Sido Tan Feliz Contigo"
or
"Eso,"
in which he seems to be more comfortable. Although it's not a masterpiece, it's a pretty good album by
Latin pop
standards. ~ Ivan Adaime