Paulina Rubio - Ananda CD DVD Combo
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![Ananda [CD/DVD Combo]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZuaWz6GtL._SL160_.jpg) See Larger Image | Ananda [CD/DVD Combo] Artist : Paulina Rubio List Price : $16.98 USD Your Price : $14.99 USD ProductGroup: Music Release Date : 2007-03-20 Studio : Universal Latino Label : Universal Latino Avg. Customer Rating : (5 reviews)
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Reviews Customer Reviews for Ananda CD DVD Combo Ananda- An Introduction Rating: This was my first Paulina Rubio album. I am not sure I had heard her music before getting this, but by now early songs like "Don't Say Goodbye"/"Si tu te vas", "The One you Love"/"Todo mi amor" and "Yo Sigo aqui"/I'll be right here (Sexual Lover)" are so familiar that I am not sure if I did not really first hear Paulina when she attempted the English language crossover in 2002 with Boarder Girl. As much as I like those songs I am glad that Ananda is my introduction to Paulina.
This is a surprising album. The album is in part a cross over to the "Rockera" side from the "Popera" side. Happily she seems equally comfortable doing both. And these are a diverse and great group of songs. The opening track (and first single) "Ni una sola palabra" is a slow burner. It is about nostalgia for a time in a relationship that she knows will never happen again o matter what is said and straddles the line between ballad and full rock out. When she performs it live it is definitely more of the rock out but the dark underpinnings are always visible.
Next comes "Nada puede cambiar me"- a full rocking tribute to being wild and constantly in love. There is a cameo by Slash, which is given a great view in the music video (available with the special edition). It is very fun and always exciting. "Ayudame" is the next track and it is more of a direct ballad that the previous ones, though Paulina is still singing to a lover who is not there often enough but makes everything better when he is. Or it is, the video (not included) is about global warming. It is strongly contrasted by the following track "N.O." where she fights with someone who is leaving her. The songs demonstrate the emotion Paulina can pack into her voice.
The next song on the album is "Que me voy a quedar" which was written by Coti and Julietta Venegas. Paulina joined them to sing "Nada este fue un error" on Coti's Esta manana y otros cuento. It is one of the more experimental song mixing chanting with side whimsical asides. The result is surpisingly mature and youthful. "Aunque no seas con migo" is going to be a standard. It has been performed by others before Paulina, and will probably be sung by others later, but right here Paulina owns it in that seductive way of hers. During the release of the album Paulina expressed that "No te cambio" written by Juanes, was her favorite song on the album. It is very romantic, and excited. It is a shame they did not release this as a single.
After the heavy romanticism of the first half of the album the next three songs are surprisingly jaded. "Retrato" is one of the albums catchiest declaring that she no longer wants to see someone. But there is still that portrait... "Miente me una vez mas" (Sung in English at the Nobel Prize ceremony as "Beautiful Lies") is a dark, rocker, bleaker than anything before it on the album (maybe the bleakest Paulina ever gets). It is like being betrayed again by the person she was singing about in "Retrato" where she can only blame herself. Completing this quasi trilogy is "Hoy" where she has some seething nasty things to say about not wanting to see this person. She just wants him to suffer, like she did, but does not have the time or "ganas" to do so. On the DVD interview she debates with herself whether this is an immature or mature way of dealing with things. You can also see her rehearse the choreography that would go with her performing this on tour.
The next two songs are an upbeat swing on everything that came before. They do the same chanting style as "Que me voy a quedar" but differently. This is more about interacting with people, group thought and creating that positive energy. Interestingly whether you like these songs or not their tone sets the album, making even the darker parts before seem lighter. The regular version the album ends with "Sin final." It is about making a last night with someone last forever, and comes off as the matured hybrid of those Border Girl songs "Don't Say Goodbye"/"Si tu te vas" and "The One you Love"/"Todo mi amor." However the romance feels more real here and you mourn that this night will end with her.
The special edition includes a very fun version of The Byrds by way of Charlie Garcia song "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better"/"Siento mucho major sin tu amor." Paulina rocks it. There are some remixes that suggest the types of experimenting in musical genres in the future. The DVD includes the videos for "Ni una sola palabra" and "Nada puede cambiar me." They play on her glam image and are fun if not the most creative videos out there. There is also a video interview where Paulina gives a description of the producers and collaborators on most of the album and shows us her house where it was recorded. There are subtitle in English for the interview, though none for the music videos. I would have loved to see someone try to an un-awkward sounding translation of phrases like "volverme guapa y tu guapo con migo." There is also video of a photoshoot. A must for fanatics of Paulina. A good introduction to her career, and hopefully a sign of what is to come from her.
Customer Reviews for Ananda CD DVD Combo Cd A number of really hot songs... Rating: I've followed Paulina Rubio's career for close to 20 years. I spotted her in Timbiriche in the late '80s or so and saw immediately that she had (and has) enormous pop appeal. I still think, despite the fact that none of her later albums have really disappoined, that her first few albums were her best - particularly her 1992 release, "La Chica Dorada"*. Muy caliente! Really good band and arrangements behind her too. Lots of energy to the songs, lotsa dance numbers, cutely written and delivered.
A+++++
At first I was going to give this album 3.5 stars (de-rated because the videos were ... well, rather lame) but after listening to it several times I've decided that the music CD alone is worth all 5 stars. I may just have to go buy a concert ticket. It's that good. I hear the tunes in my head for days - and it's quite pleasant. :^)
But don't bother slotting the DVD. It's awful. Whoever directs the videos is going for the wrong approach. They should show Paulina, live in concert, doing her thing to her best tunes and it'd be a **HIT**! Trying to be artsy-fartsy/sexy isn't working. Just show what she does best on a live stage because she has the presence to carry that off.
A+++++
*Funny. I don't see it ("La Chica Dorada") for sale here.
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