With her hare-brained, disaster-ridden English-language foray firmly behind her, five years ago this week actually, Latin pop icon Thalia is moving forward her life. With "Lunada (Half Moon)," her second consecutive Spanish LP since that unsuccessful endeavor, complete with a new baby in tow, the singer/actress has clearly abandoned any aspirations for courting the Anglo market. 2008 finds her sticking to what she does best - sinking her teeth into the latest confections the Latin pop hit makers have to offer. However, the results are mixed.

Frenetic, thoroughly entertaining lead single "Ten Paciencia (Be Patient)" zooms in and out of consciousness in an instant with its propulsive, dance floor ready energy before transitioning into "Sangre Caliente (Hot Blood)," a sexy, smoldering summer scorcher that should have been the lead single instead. Immensely hooky and seductive, it is perfectly crafted to blast out of boom boxes on hot sandy beaches.

Other tracks falter, and the album begins to fall apart. It is fast-moving affair under 40 minutes, perfect for the listener with the short attention span, or at least it would be if the songs were all worth listening to. Many are not.

Like 2005's "El Sexto Sentido (The Sixth Sense)" "Lunada" sounds less like an album than a grab bag of songs thrown together on a disc. However, that album was thoroughly entertaining, with many sugary, guilty pleasure pop tunes and gorgeous, widescreen ballads, all of which showed off Thalia's solid vocal range, even though the album in and of itself was not particularly memorable. This time results are similar, but the amount of enjoyable songs is much smaller.

The curiously titled "Desolvidantode (Unforgetting You)" is almost as impressive as some of Thalia's greatest ballads like "No Me Ensensaste (You Didn't Teach Me)" or "No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (I Can't Live Without You)" with a solid, moving performance and a memorable chorus and lyric, but it is disappointing that it is the only full-fledged ballad on the disc, especially since she usually turns in stellar performances singing such compositions.

The endearing "Bendita (Blessed)," written by Thalia, however, makes for another fine moment. A cute, genuinely touching song about her newfound happiness as a mother, the interspersed sounds of her baby daughter laughing is adorable.

Other songs like that bouncy, Carribbean-accented "Isla Para Dos (Island For Two)" and "Sera Porque Te Amo (It's Because I Love You)" with its catchy, by-the-numbers song structure and plonkety-plonky production values, are pleasant listens. Only the most diehard Thalia fans will remember them by 2009, however. They are the pop music equivalent of Coca Cola - easy to guzzle down, but not exactly part of a memorable dining experience.

Further tracks like "Yo No Se Vivir (I Don't Know How to Live)" and "Aventurero (Adventurer)" are simply ineffective, shedding light on the fact that this LP was definitely not given the attention her last few efforts in her native tongue have received. They are not only easy to forget but mind-numbing and lackadaisacal. With a slim offering of 11 fleeting tracks, that leaves plenty to be desired.

"Lunada" has a few catchy moments, but compared to albums like 1997's sun-drenched "Amor a La Mexicana" and 2005's "El Sexto Sentido," it is a considerable dissapointment on the overall. While it boasts a handful of solid tracks that listeners will surely enjoy, it sounds like an album that was pieced together in time to meet a deadline, uncomfortably so. It's certainly not an album that will remain on the charts for any extended length of time. Still, the handful of potent zingers, along with Thalia's consistently impressive efforts as a vocalist, means it is not a wasted effort. Next, however, more strong songs are needed.

It's great to hear Thalia once again. This time around she worked with Emilio Estefan, whom she worked previously on 'En Extasis' and 'Amor A La Mexicana'. This album is not as good as 'Extasis' or great as 'Amor' but it is still worth listening to. Lunada is full of uptempo songs that are fun & catchy. The opener, 'Ten Paciencia' bursts with energy and is easily the most danceable track on the album. Another fun song is 'Aventurero' (my personal favorite), which displays some caribbean sounds and features Sean Paul. Sean really brings a nice touch to the song. 'Sangre Caliente' is reminiscent of 'Piel Morena' with its midtempo sound. Actually, this album can serve as 'En Extasis Part 2' because the songs really remind me of that album.

The only real ballad is 'Desolvidandote' which is a decent track but lacks the emotion of 'No Me Ensenaste' or 'Olvidame.' Lunada also features a cover of Juan Gabriel's amazing track, 'Insensible.' Thalia actually does justice to the song by adding a nice caribbean flavor to it. The album also contains Thalia's message to her first child with the song 'Bendita.' The song is sweet and touching (Thalia actually wrote the song herself).

Overall this album is decent. It lacks the energy and flavor of her previous works. It's too bad that Thalia wasn't more experimental like in her Thalia (2002) album. Nontheless, it is still fun to listen to Lunada and it is definitely the perfect companion for the nice hot summer.

Download This:
Ten Paciencia
Aventurero
Insensible
Sangre Caliente
Bendita

Great album. Love most of the songs, they catch on very quickly. I must admitt when I heard the samples I wasn't feeling it, but then wow great album. Very "playa" and perfect for the heat blast here in O.C
Thalia thanks

Finally, Thalia is back with this new album, and is the best one of this summer and one of the greatest of Thalia. Congratulations. I highly recommend it.

This album is by far the best one out there. It is a party album, all songs intended for you to dance until you drop and have a good time. The songs are really catchy and sexy. Thalia demonstrates her talent as a singer and producer next to music mogul Emilio Estefan, who produced her aclaimed albums "En Extasis" and "Amor a la Mexicana". In "Lunada" you can find different rhythms like pop, reggaeton, cumbia, reggae and ballad all put together to create the best album ever. Thalia wrote herself "Bendita" (dedicated to her baby girl), "Solo se vive una vez"(with a very positive message) and "Desolvidandote" (her best ballad yet, where she effortlessly demonstrates her vocal talent). Songs like "Ten paciencia" and "Insensible" are songs that can make anyone feel like a million bucks. "Sera por que te amo", "Con este amor" and solo se vive una vez" are good pop songs."Sangre caliente" is a very sexy song. I love the whole album, but the songs I always put on repeat are: "Con este amor", "Insensible", Yo no se vivir" and "Aventurero" (featuring american rapper Sean Paul). Once you hear the whole album, you'll want to listen to it all the time!!!