On
Paraiso Express, his eighth studio album to date,
Alejandro Sanz returns to the soft rock style for which he's best known, the sound of his most successful albums, the million-sellers
Más (1997) and
El Alma al Aire (2000). While those albums and their three predecessors, Viviendo Deprisa (1991),
Si Tú Me Miras (1993), and 3 (1995), made
Sanz the most commercially successful Spanish singer of all time, he veered off in new directions after the turn of the century with No Es Lo Mismo (2003) and
El Tren de los Momentos (2006). These two albums, both produced by
Lulo Pérez, are highly collaborative, often daring, and downright experimental relative to
Sanz's prior work. These albums spawned their share of major hits, "No Es Lo Mismo" and "A la Primera Persona" in particular, yet they also alienated some of his fan base. To the sure delight of those alienated fans who prefer his soft rock style, no longer is
Sanz pushing stylistic boundaries like he did on No Es Lo Mismo and
El Tren de los Momentos under the guidance of
Pérez. On Paraíso Express, he chose to collaborate instead with producer
Tommy Torres, best known for his acclaimed work with
Ricardo Arjona. Paraíso Express consequently often sounds reminiscent of
Arjona's recent work, the excellent album
5to Piso (2008) in particular. This is a good fit for
Sanz, who like
Arjona is a talented singer/songwriter in need of a capable musical arranger with whom he can collaborate. The similarities between
5to Piso and Paraíso Express are most evident on the soaring ballad "Desde Cuándo," which sounds like a take on
Arjona's smash hit "Como Duele." Yet for all the similarities between Paraíso Express and
5to Piso, there is the lead single "Looking for Paradise," a bilingual collaboration between
Sanz and American R&B singer Alicia Keys. Demonstrating the same willingness to break free of boundaries that
Sanz showcased on his past couple albums, "Looking for Paradise" is a fantastic collaboration that is well-sequenced three tracks into Paraíso Express and goes a long way toward diversifying the album's style and tone. At ten tracks in length and 42 minutes in duration, Paraíso Express is a fairly brief album, so "Looking for Paradise" stands tall amid the other songs, all of which are sung solo. There are plenty of highlights besides "Desde Cuándo" and "Looking for Paradise"; in fact, this is an album with very few weak links, just a couple songs sequenced late where the tempo drags a bit. With the exception of the collaboration with
Keys on "Looking for Paradise," Paraíso Express doesn't offer many surprises overall for fans of
Sanz, some of whom may have been put off by the experimentation of his past couple albums, especially
El Tren de los Momentos. Indeed, the biggest surprise of this album is how it finds
Sanz returning to the soft rock style that brought him so much success a decade ago -- not exactly, however, as the
Arjona-esque production work of
Torres differentiates Paraíso Express from albums like
Más and
El Alma al Aire, whose stuffy arrangements now sound passé in light of
Sanz's edgy work with
Pérez in recent years, not to mention his affiliation with
Shakira. ~ Jason Birchmeier