Enrique Iglesias - Escape

If Ricky Martin is the party boy of Latin crossover pop, Enrique Iglesias is more a romantic traditionalist in the mold of dad Julio. Even his uptempo, lust-driven tunes, like this album's "Love 4 Fun" and "One Night Stand," are hardly the frantic sweatfests Martin provides. Escape, Iglesias's first disc since his 1999 Top 40 breakthrough, is already a guaranteed success thanks to its first single, "Hero," which gained attention when he performed it on the September 2001 Tribute to Heroes. Title aside, this gooey love song isn't really fitting for its adopted purpose as a post-terror anthem ("You can take my breath away"?), but one imagines that won't make much difference. Iglesias is at his best when playing a little sly, like when he appropriates Nelly's "E.I." chant on "Don't Turn Off the Lights" or makes a barely veiled suggestion of what he really likes about you in the opening lines of "She Be the One." --Rickey Wright