Sony
Pop, 1999
Oh boy. Marc Anthony has a lovely voice that makes me think of hot, late night and sultry sheets and cool wine. But here, in his self-titled English debut, he crams in so many nondescript R&B ballads that I end up snoring away instead of getting seduced.
The only bright spark is the melodramatic but utterly captivating magical fantasia of When I Dream at Night. Here, he tells of a man who falls in love with a phantom woman. Happiness is only found in his sleep. Oh, the pain of it. When he lets loose a cry of pain and torment, I get a chill down my spine. What a beautiful song!
There’s also the overplayed I Need to Know, a sexy swinging tune ruined by the calling of the lady he is wooing “baby girl”. It’s too much of a Lolita scenario to me.
But everything else is slow, anonymous ballad. After a while, my eyes start to cross, and I take up my remote and replay When I Dream at Night again. And again. And again. It really is such a beautiful song. Sigh.
