Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Its title to the contrary, Jennifer Lopez's fifth album makes no attempt to change the formula that made her last four records platinum hits: freeze-dried, dance/hip-hop schlock that's high on production and low on originality. With a name like "Rebirth," you'd think Lopez would try something different in an effort to rehabilitate her public image (3 marriages by the age of 35, a string of flop movies, and obnoxiously diva-like behavior). Fat chance. Her latest record is a bust, despite the fact that it has production from some of the biggest names in the business (Timbaland, Rich Harrison, and Rodney Jerkins). They all deliver the beats and hooks as expected, but they do so to conceal two critical flaws: 1) the album's trite lyrics and 2) Lopez's limp, expressionless voice. The kickoff single "Get Right" was a guilty pleasure of mine for a week before its shrill horn sample worked my last nerve. "Cherry Pie" is disposable funk rock; Timbaland's "He'll Be Back" barely registers, and the CD saves the absolute worst for last on the melodramatic "(Can't Believe) This Is Me." To its credit, there are no sappy love ballads like the embarrassing "Dear Ben" from her 2002 release "This Is Me...Then." But there's virtually nothing on here to inspire an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Rebirth" is so simple-minded and juvenile that I can't recommend it to anyone over the age of 12.