Remix albums are rare, but these two high profile CDs offer the chance to own some of those little known remixes. Too bad the CDs don’t offer much more than keeping the artist’s names visible.
Destiny’s Child And Jennifer Lopez, both from Sony-owned labels, have put out a collection of remixes of many of their best known hits as well as some of their lesser known album tracks. The problem with both of these CDs is that only a handful of the tracks are recognizable. The rest are remixes of songs that didn’t need them.
First up is Jennifer Lopez’s “J to the L.O.,” which features about a dozen remixes of her hits from her first two albums, including the very popular hit remixes of “I’m Real” and “Ain’t it Funny,” both featuring Ja Rule.
Credit has to be given to Lopez for taking a chance with the disc and releasing a mostly dance album with the remixes. While her recent tracks with Ja Rule are very much R’B weighted, the rest of the CD features dance remixes which have been previously hard to find, such as “Waiting for Tonight” and “If You Had My Love.” Both of those remixes were great restructured versions, and almost justify the purchase of the CD. Almost.
The question falls as to what J.Lo was thinking when she hurt her musical credibility by doing the remixes of “Funny” and “Real,” which seemed to indicate that her label had no faith in the original version. Forget the fact that the album version of “Funny” seemed to show that her singing abilities were improving. Instead, her record label decided not once, but twice, to have her sing in monotone and having Ja Rule rap about things like her butt.
Despite that, people like them, and pushed the CD to #1 upon its release.
The two tracks are interesting and offer something a little different for Lopez, but they don’t have the power that the originals do. What’s amazing is that more contemporary stations haven’t alienated Lopez. They believed in the strength of the originals and still played them. So Lopez held her ground for now, but may not later if she keeps remixing her songs into slow tempo monotony.
Other than the above four tracks, the CD is a bunch of dance tracks and one new song that you probably wouldn’t recognize nor care to get to know. Therefore, your finger will likely be stationed over the track forward button.
Overall, there are moments to this CD, but unless you get it cheap at a mass merchant like Best Buy or Circuit City, don’t bother.
Also from the R’B genre is the Destiny’s Child remix CD, which put out their “This is the Remix” CD last week. The group proved they could sing, with the girl power mentality that seems reminiscent of Spice Girls, with about as much staying power on the radio. When was the last time you heard “Bug a Boo” on the radio?
With the group going on hiatus while solo options are explored, “Remix” is an attempt to keep their name in the spotlight. The label would be most likely better off releasing songs that were cut from the CDs for being too weak.
Many of these remixes also are little known to most listeners, and the way they were remixed will make people wonder why anyone bothered. Like Lopez, Destiny’s Child’s remixes were cut from a small set of albums (three, in their case), and some of the remixes are of songs that won’t be known. Other remixes are of songs you wouldn’t recognize anymore because they were completely destroyed once the remix was complete.
One needs to look no further than the remixes of “Emotion,” “Say My Name,” or the cartoon-like remix of “Independent Women” off the “Survivor” CD to understand that someone must have slipped and fell one too many times during a rehearsal.
The tracks worth listening to before flipping the CD out of the window are mainly the slightly reworked versions of “Jumpin, Jumpin” and “Survivor,” as well as the “No, No, No” and “Bootylicious” remixes. But then, most of these were readily available before, so chances are you have them if you’re a fan. The other songs are just not worth purchasing this CD for.
While J.Lo’s CD had some rare tracks worth looking for, Destiny’s Child shows that sometimes it’s not smart to tinker with something that’s not broke. At least the original songs had something enjoyable until they were overplayed.
The end result? This pair of discs appears to be not much more than a “don’t forget us” attempt, like a greatest hits album by someone who’s only had two real hits. Unless you’re a huge fan wanting all their CDs, or if you’re someone who doesn’t have the good mixes from these albums, you probably don’t have much reason to spend money on these. Besides, you’ve got other great ways to spend your money. A root canal comes to mind.
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