I was never really that interested in Enrique Iglesias (though my aunt loves Julio, Enrique's father) until I bought it for less than a nickel (a music store was going out of business)! After about 3 weeks of not touching it, I finally decided to give it a try while cleaning up my room. I fell in love with the CD afterwards. Enrique is very talented and writes all his songs!! And I say this is the best CD because it's not like my other favorites where there are a lot of songs I like on the CD and then there are those that I don't. On this CD I don't have to skip tracks 'cause I love them all!!

1. Escape - 5/5 Extremely catchy! Very good song! Great song to start off with

2. Don't Turn Off the Lights - 4/5 Not as good as the first track

3. Love To See You Cry - 3.5/5 Lyrics sound creepy. OK

4. Hero - 5/5 Great song, very heartwarming. Hit single.

5. I Will Survive - 3/5 At first I thought it was Gloria Gaynor's song, but it's not. OK

6. Love 4 Fun - 4/5 Upbeat. Very good song to make up your dance grooves to

7. Maybe - 10/5 The BEST song on the album! When I first listened to this song, I felt like I knew all the words!! I was singing along with him and didn't care that I was making up the lyrics! Very very catchy!!

8. One Night Stand - 4.5/5 Great. This is the name of his tour

9. She Be The One - 3/5 Not the best on the album. Bearable

10. If the World Crashes - 7/5 Second best on album (can ya tell?) It's really easy to fall into his mood and sing along. Great song

11. Escape (Spanish) - 4/5 I don't understand what he's saying but it still sounds sexy!!!

12. Don't Turn Off the Lights (Spanish) - see above

13. Hero (Spanish) - see above

***As always, I suggest you listen to the track samples before buying CD's and then being disappointed. Though you won't be with this one! :)

Enrique returns with his sophmore effort ESCAPE. After a 2 year break and the muli-platinum sucess of his english debut album ENRIQUE, he kicks it up a notch. This album is awesome. It's upbeat, dancy vibe draws you in with one listen. ESCAPE is dance/pop bliss with touches of electronica. On the lyrics side of things, Enrique presents himself as the shy, submissive, and sometimes dominant singer that he is. On ESCAPE he likes lusty women that take control on songs like "one night stand", "she be the one." The slight S&M themed "love to see you cry" in which he states, "I don't know why/but I love to see you cry" and "the sweetest pleasure is pain". In "escape" he chants "you can run/you can hide/but you can't escape my love." Besides all of that playfulness, ESCAPE offers some tender moments as well. Tracks like the hit "hero" and "maybe" are beautifully done. Enrique has an intimate, sometimes off-key voice through out ESCAPE. His vocals are strong and clear and his accent adds sort of an akward, destinct quality to each track. ESCAPE is pure fun.

While some national magazines have lobbed pretty harsh criticism at this CD, it's not as bad as those publications would have you think. Though it's not a major musical milestone, I don't really think Enrique Iglesias was shooting for an album that would change people's lives. What he does deliver, though, is a nice collection of uptempo songs with an occassional ballad thrown in for good measure. The CD kicks off with three very enjoyable tracks. "Escape," "Don't Turn Off The Lights," and "Love To See You Cry" are almost club-ready tracks, just a remix away from packing dancefloors. True, much of it is derivative, but at least he's drawing from quality stuff--"Love To See You Cry" sounds very close to Modjo's "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)." From the opening trio of tracks, the album shifts gears for the current radio staple, "Hero." Enrique Iglesias is not the greatest of ballad singers, but his delivery here is solid, and he does have a fairly strong voice to work with anyway. He often seems to substitute breathy vocals for soul, but with something as confectioner-sweet as this, it's excusable. The only other track that slows down is "Maybe," is midtempo track that kind of blends into the rest of the album. If there's one thing this CD is guilty of, it's of trying to put its arms around too many different uptempo sounds. "I Will Survive" does borrow somewhat from the Gloria Gaynor disco classic, but it also seems to be lyrically paced in a manner close to Paula Abdul's "Straight Up." "Love 4 Fun" sounds like an updated Ace of Base track. And "She Be The One" is a pretty weak lyrical stab at being hip (nice beat, though). The other two tracks, "One Night Stand" and "If The World Crashes Down" would fit perfectly on Cher's "Believe" album. The final three songs are Spanish-language versions of three of the tracks on the album. Is this album perfect? No, not at all (the Mariah Carey-esque shreiking at the end of "Don't Turn Off The Lights" is pretty startling and doesn't really help the song out). But the production is pretty good (Iglesias co-produced a lot of it, as well as co-writing all of the songs), and even if it does draw from some less-than-stellar talents, he has been able to craft songs that are pleasing to hear, if not life-altering. It's also interesting to note that he seems to rely less on the Latin rhythms that punctuated his last English-language album, and that serves him fairly well. This time next year, you probably won't be listening to this one incessantly, but then again, CDs that spin in your CD player for more than twelve months are fairly few and far between. If you're a fan of breezy pop songs, then this one's for you. Chances are you'll be hearing a lot of these songs on the radio over the next few months anyway, so consider this a sneak peek into what 2002 holds for us.

Let's examine 'Escape', track by track.

1. Escape (8/10) Great way to start off the album. Nice, fresh, dance track. I love the beat, and that "yoku ooooOoooo" towards the end is brilliant and catchy.

2. Don't Turn Off the Lights (4/10) I was really disappointed with this track. It's just not Enrique caliber. Sounds like a combination of Nelly (the rapper) & Nelly (Furtado).

3. Love To See You Cry (6/10) I like the guitar acoustics. This song sounds a bit like Modjo's "Lady", which is ok. I like this song, smooth, relaxing, love, dance, song. Catchy lyrics.

4. Hero (7/10) I didn't REALLY love this song, although it was such a huge success. Yes, it is catchy, and a beautiful song, but Enrique isn't the best ballad singer.

5. I Will Survive (8/10) Brilliant melody. Violin and piano mixes well. But it seems like it's missing something. Not sure what, though. Maybe a heavy beat like 'Escape'?

6. Love 4 Fun (7/10) The opening sound gives you an 80's feel. Then a 'never heard before' beat comes in. I like this song. Guilty feeling. The trumpets work well here, too, along with the guitar.

7. Maybe (8/10) Beautiful piano opening. Very catchy song. I like it.

8. One Night Stand (6/10) Your regular club hit. This song is ok. I don't LOVE it, but it's fairly catchy. Has the Cher 'Believe' sound.

9. She Be The One (9/10) This track is amazing. I love it. Of course, the title is grammatically incorrect, but whatever. It's extremely catchy, and I love it. The beat, guitar, it's all good.

10. If the World Crashes (8/10) VERY catchy chorus. I like this song as well. "if the world crashes down.... over me...!!" Nice melody.

11. Escape (Spanish) Nice to have this in Spanish.
12. Don't Turn Off the Lights (Spanish) He must of run out of other material to have had to put this on.
13. Hero (Spanish) Also beautiful in Espanol.

I'm sure Enrique did not produce this album to change the face of music. He just created something for us to have fun with, and I think he accomplished that. Overall rating of "Escape" 7/10

I'm really not an Enrique fan. I think that his voice is one of the weakest in the industry. But the songs he chooses to record for his CD's are first rate.
I was in Tower Records and they were blasting the track "One Night Stand" (produced by Metro, it could have been sung by anyone including Cher). And you know what? I felt compelled to purchase the CD. "Escape" is a solid offering. I'm afraid to say it, but it's one of the better things I've purchased in a while, and the songs are quite addictive. Enrique's vocals are all over the map (this can be good and bad). In the 80's throwback "Don't Turn Off The Lights" he manages to squeeze some frightening Mariah Carey notes in at the end. Where did this idea come from? Who cares....because it manages to effectively spice up the CD. I can't really find a bad song in the bunch. To be honest, I think "Hero" is the least exciting, least interesting song here. So if you actually like "Hero" then you're sure to love the album, because many of the other tracks are real winners. I think that the main title track "Escape" is absolutely teriffic. (i like it almost as much as Rhythm Divine, which I thought was beautiful) The lyrics are fun, and Enrique makes the most out of his paper thin voice. (side bar: I'm sure the producers on this CD got paid for overtime working on cleaning up the notes). If you want something light and fun, then pick up "Escape." Just don't go looking for a voice. May I suggest Cristian Castro. (now that's a voice!)