Elvis Crespo is one of those rare talents who takes a specialized genre like merengue and breaks it into the mainstream with flair. With his atypical long, straight black hair, Andalusian eyes, and spacy demeanor, Crespo is a neo-mod sex symbol perfectly assimilable by the dance-music market. So when his debut album, SUAVEMENTE, became a runaway sales success, it was only logical for him to put out an entire album of remixes of his merengue tunes designed for clubs from Miami to Milan.
Clocking in at close to an hour, REMIXES is a nonstop beats-crazy revamping of Elvis hits. While all the tracks are packed with pulsating rhythms, "Tu Sonrisa (Eddie 'Love' Arroyo Remix)," with its playful Spanglish lyrics and samba-disco beat stands out. Two versions of "Come Baby Come," Crespo's duet with Argentine disco queen Gizelle D'Cole, show off her seductive voice while simmering with a trancelike energy. But the swingingest track is "Suavemente (Cibola Extended)," which uses a lot of salsa-piano riffing and hip-hop-ish cutting and scratching to make your dance floor day.