Rebels (album)

"Tu Amor" is perfect for the project: the song is written by Diane Warren, who turns in a lyric that is bilingual yet elementary in its simplicity; the production is a modern urban beat with a hip-hop rhythm, courtesy of R&B veteran Khris Kellow; and the vocals are primarily handled by Cristian, the most fluent singer in the group, with the chorus sung together by the group — it's a single tailor-made for TR3, MTV's brand-new channel targeting acculturated Latinos, along with curious urbanites. "Wanna Play" and "Cariño Mio," both credited to behind-the-scenes urban music talent Andrea Martin, are likewise ideally suited for RBD's pending crossover: bilingual lyrics that are elementary enough for Spanish- as well as English-language teens; a light yet trendy reggaeton production style; and traded boy-girl vocals that accentuate the undercurrent of budding sexuality central to these bump-and-grind dance songs. Unfortunately, the remainder of the 11 songs are mildly disappointing. "Connected" is a promising song, as is the other Warren contribution, "I Wanna Be the Rain," yet the stilted English pronunciation and overly simple lyrics weigh too heavily on the songs. The same can be said of the numerous English-language versions of previously released RBD songs, which — to be expected, perhaps — account for roughly half of Rebels. "My Philosophy," "This Is Love," "Keep It Down Low," and "Save Me" were all first-rate singles — originally titled "Dame," "Nuestro Amor," "Solo Quédate en Silencio," and "Sálvame," respectively — among RBD's best to date, for sure. However, too much is lost in translation, not only in terms of lyrics but also performance. When it's all said and done, the few standout new songs aren't enough to carry Rebels, at least for existing fans who already have RBD's Spanish-language albums (and who therefore have superior versions of half the album). Anyone hearing RBD for the first time will likely get more out of Rebels, since the re-recorded songs — a couple of which are pretty good — won't be redundant. Either way, Rebels isn't going to take over the English-speaking world the same way RBD's past albums overtook the Spanish-speaking world. The kids simply aren't convincing English-language singers, at least not at this point, and way too much of what made them so charming in the first place gets lost in translation here. For these reasons above all, it's best to stick with RBD's Spanish-language albums, even if you're a monolingual English speaker: the performances are better, the productions are consistent, and to be perfectly frank, sometimes the songs are more enjoyable if you don't understand the lyrics.