Breathless pop passion gets channeled into love songs about inspiration and commitment (“If the World Crashes Down,” “Hero”), and working through relational difficulties (“Escape,” “Maybe”).
From there things get blatantly sexual. The singer watches his “One Night Stand” getting dressed the morning after. On “Love 4 Fun,” he propositions a young lady with the lure of scintillating, meaningless sex (“I’m making love for fun . . . So baby, just relax and let me do my thing”). When his “horny” girlfriend wakes him up for a quickie, he describes the experience as follows: “She’ll make you nasty, even wanna feel pain/Then she’ll make you born again.” Blending pain and erotic satisfaction also appears on the racy “Love to See You Cry” which says, “Maybe I just wanna hurt you/The sweetest pleasure is pain/I don’t know why but I love to see you cry.”
His self-titled 1995 release went triple-platinum and earned Iglesias a Grammy. He steps up the steaminess on Escape, using infectious dance grooves to sell a rickety sexual ethic. Sure, there are heartfelt love songs here too, but the heart isn’t the organ getting the emphasis. Teens who enjoy tunes with a Latin flair should check out CCM’s Freddie Colloca or Jaci Velasquez.
