Paulina Rubio's 2004 album "Pau-Latina," which spawned numerous hit singles on Billboard's Hot Latin tracks chart, solidified her status as a dominant force in international pop. Each chord progression, mariachi horn, sitar, impromptu rap, guitar lick and drum beat melded perfectly on a collection of infectious Spanish pop songs.

Rubio has not replicated such magic with her follow-up LP. However, "Ananda," named for the Sanskrit word for bliss, is a solid collection of tunes that far exceeds the limits of the usual pop album, finding Rubio in a surprisingly relaxed state. She clearly knows where her strengths lie and how to tap into them: catchy choruses, sexual innuendos, fist-pumping self-help anthems and gorgeous ballads can all be found throughout the album's 13 tracks. It may pack only some of the punch of "Pau-Latina," but frankly, that is more than enough.

Lead single "Ni Una Sola Palabra (Not a Single Word)," which smartly strides the line between dancefloor anthem and widescreen ballad, has made history for Rubio, as it is her first Spanish language track to crack Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart at #98. With lyrics of great intensity, she extracts every ounce of passion from the song without sacrificing sincerity.

The potential hits keep coming. "Nada Puede Cambiarme (Nothing Can Change Me)," which features awesome guitar riffs from Slash, is a delightfully campy ode to self-sustenance, while "Retrato (Portarit)" finds Rubio sifting through the remains of a doomed relationship with such confidence that listeners will see a wiser woman moving on with her life.

This theme of independence continues with "N.O." and "Hoy (Today)." In the former she gets confrontational, trying in vain to establish communication with her soon-to-be-ex, while in the latter she exudes sex appeal while dismissing a former lover outright, even delighting in the pain he deserves. Singing with crystal clarity and intense conviction, Rubio has never sounded better.

Not all on "Ananda" goes so over the top, however. "Que Me Voy a Quedar (That I'm Going to Remain)" has a cool spring in its step, while the Juanes-penned "No Te Cambio (I Won't Change You)" is at once a blissfully romantic ballad before turning into a funky south of the border dance confection.

Furthermore, "Aunque No Sea Conmigo (Even If He's Not With Me)" is a surprisingly sexy slice of slinky pop, while "Lo Que Pensamos (What We Think)" is also injected with levity despite its political undercurrents.

Still, the defining moment of the disc goes to "Mienteme Una Vez Mas (Lie to Me Once Again)," where Rubio finds solace in her dreams when her love goes unrequited, emerging scathed but intact.

Rubio has definitely found another hit in "Ananda," and it shows from beginning to end. This music is pure fun, easy to listen to and difficult to turn off, and that is exactly what pop music is supposed to be.

Stay tuned for Rubio's second English album, the follow-up to her criminally ignored 2002 collection "Border Girl."

It took Paulina a while to release a new cd but I think that it was worth the wait. This versatile singer comes back with "ANANDA" that follows her big success of "PAU-LATINA" in the sense of music fusions and sevaral types of music but this time I feel that Paulina has leaned more on rock music instead of her famous rancheras with a touch of hip-hop. Electric guitars are strongly present on tracks such as "NADA PUEDE CAMBIARME" that has Gun's n' Roses's Slash on lead guitar. This song is one of the highlights of the album. In the case of "MIENTEME UNA VEZ MAS" Paulina follows the direction of Evanescence, this song has the very same style of their music and sounds very good with Paulina's voice.
Even though Paulina has concentrated more on rock, I also feel that she wanted to release something for everybody. But this is easy to understand because of group of people that she has chosen for this production. She has the style of Coti with the Ballad "AYUDAME". A mix between Coti and Julieta Venegas on "QUE ME VOY A QUEDAR" which is a catchy song but honestly the lyrics have no sense. She also had Junes as songwriter on "NO TE CAMBIO" this song is really good because it starts the first verse with flamenco and then starts a very nice combination between a very soft reggaeton, a bit of ballenato, pop and hip-hop a real gem for the album. The song that has the biggest ranchera style on the album is "AUNQUE NO SEA CONMIGO" but doesn't have a strong influence as "DAME OTRO TEQUILA" or "EL ULTIMO ADIOS".
"ANANDA" also has pop songs like "RETRATO", "N.O" and the first single "NI UNA SOLA PALABRA" written by Xabi San Martin from Spain's La Oreja De Van Gogh. Comparing this album with her previous one "PAU-LATINA"...well I think that "ANANDA" is very good I really enjoy it but "PAU-LATINA" was more solid, maybe I think this because I heard it more and I got more used to it. The one thing I wanted not to find again is the interludes after each song, they're really short but unnecessary. A positive thing about this production, is the booklet because it has several pictures and lyrics.

To finish this review I think that even though the critics for this album were not very positive. I think that it's a very good step for Paulina. The first single became a #1 hit in the U.S for several weeks and #2 in the main chart of all Latin America and gave Paulina her third entrance on Billboard's Hot 100 with a song that wasn't in English. The album debuted at #1 in the U.S on Top Latin Albums list and #25 on Billboard's 200 and became #1 also in several territories and sold up to 500,000 copies on its release week. Anyway, this is just commercial information but I think that the album is good maybe not her best but good, you won't be sorry with it if you like her music.

I purchased two versions of this Album, the normal version with the 13 songs listed here in Amazon and the version from iTunes that includes a special new song, 'Me Siento Mucho Mas Fuerte' (I feel a lot more Stronger) a rock ballad...This album combines all of the different fusions that Paulina has established in her previous albums, the rhythm is still there and there is a lot more feeling to the songs this time around...Paulina's voice has definitely improved over her previous album (I saw her in Concert this past Friday, September 15, 2006, and I must say that I was impressed with her performance and vocal improvement)...This album is more organic and the maturity of Paulina as an artist is very well evident in this album...I really can't pick a favorite or a couple of favorite songs, I think they each have something very special!!!...There is a little of something here for everyone, from an electronic-pop-ranchera "Aunque No Sea Conmigo" to a pulsating club beat, "HOY" (Once again this album will definitely not disappoint Music Lovers of all types)!!

I was on a surf trip in miami of all places listening to mega 94.9 latino and proud (im a white kid from new jersey) after 3 raggeton songs, which really sounded like one song that changed keys because the beat is the same, this fresh sounding female voice entered over a regular rockbeat. It was ni una sola palabra. I was interested and after i heard the beautiful chord changes in her voice after the chorus I had to find out who she is. She is paulina rubio, she is HOT, and i liked ni una sola palabra so i bought ananda and I really enjoyed it. The album is a good sampling of rock, dance, and traditional, with even a little western in sin final. I especially like track 4, it sounds very "epic" (i have no idea what she is saying) but the music is good and the drumbeat is suprisingly complicated. Mexican popstars are WAY better than gringos! Latino and Proud!

Ananda es u disco muy bien hecho de pop rock latino. La Chica Dorada ha hecho un disco con canciones bein escritas y melodias que captan la oreja. Seria una compra intelegente para los fans de Senorita Rubio