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It hardly ever gets any faster than mid-tempo, and even when that could have been a terrible mistake, she shows she can handle 70's soul quite well.

First cut "Jenny from the block" is instantly catchy and the most up-tempo track you'll find in here. Even when it can be a winner it sounds out of place with the rest of the songs.

If you are looking for new songs following the path of "Love don't cost a thing", "Waiting for tonight" or "Let's get loud", then go for Britney, because you won't find what you want in this album.
Something that deserves a chapter of it's own are her ballads .This time, to my surprise, they have been improved, and they sound romantic rather snoozy.

"Again" is an excellent track where Jennifer shows that her vocal range has widen since previous efforts. Her voice sounds sweet in songs such as "Baby I love you" or "Dear Ben".

"You belong to me" a Carly Simon cover, is another standout track, even when your mom tries to sing over it.
The overall result is good. Well, it must be when you have ten people writing a song. Jennifer co-wrote nine tracks and the cd is definitely well produced, if not overproduced at times. I would say it's a very good album though not quite what you would expect from a Jennifer Lopez album.

She moved on from her typical sound and tried something different. Usually when an artist makes such a change in their career, either they sell half what they used to or disappear a couple of albums after. Hope this is not any of those cases since "This is me...then" is not her worst, nor her best.


Save Your Cash!   January 1, 2003
 16 out of 22 found this review helpful

JLO's This Is Me... Then sounds okay to me when I first bought it but after more time of listenin, I find this album the worst album that I bought last year. Mainly because this album contains alotta ballad that simply sounds the same.

The only good songs are collaborations wit LL Cool J ALL I HAVE and wit Jadakiss and Styles JENNY FROM THE BLOCK. Her remake of Baby I Love You is the worst track on the album and I often skip that. On ballads, the only decent track is only AGAIN which I really like the piano solo. Most of the songs in here doesn't sounds like JLO cuz her vocal in here is plain and monotonous and most of em are crappy love songs.

The good thing on this album is that JLO actually writes her own lyric. All of us didn't know that JLO could actually write a song.. LOL!! "This Is Me... Then" is Ain't Real and It's Funny and LOVE DO COST A THING and that's a really awful album. Could someone refund me my fourteen bucks I spent on this trash??


Watch out, Aretha! J-Lo is coming to get ya!   March 1, 2003
 16 out of 21 found this review helpful

Ah, Jennifer. I was cracking up when I heard the chorus of Jenny from the block - she is claiming to be so humble and real. C'mon!! Then I saw something on TV about her - I don't know the name of the program (though it could have been called: "The mind-numbing eccentricities of a way-too-rich-woman-who-lost-her-mind." I mean, she has an eyebrow specialist, a fingernail specialist, a toe-nail specialist, a bikini-line specialist..etc, and if any of them is out-of-state or even out of the country, she just sends over the plane tickets, and voila! If you watched this program and your stomach didn't turn, you are just plain blind!! Go ahead - buy her perfume, her clothes, her cd's, go to her movies, buy 'em on DVD, let's keep those eyebrows trim at god knows how much money for every session. I mean, it is just plain sickening. Yeah, right, you are still Jenny from the block. You own the (--) block, for chrissakes!! Oh, this is a cd review, right? Well, like I said, Aretha Franklin must be shakin! J.Lo's powerful voice and brilliant music certainly puts hers to shame, right? Of course, J. sells more because : a- she is much younger, b- she is much more physically attractive (when she has been groomed by her specialists), c- she shows every last inch of skin on her body on every video and photo shoot. None of these reasons have ANYTHING to do with MUSIC as you can plainly see. Anyone who thinks this woman deserves to be making records, to be heard, to make MILLIONS with the sales of her records is absolutely insane and does not know one bit about music. That is just a fact.


Syrupy Slop   November 26, 2002
 15 out of 23 found this review helpful

This album is a complete dud. If you think "Jenny from the Block" is bad, believe me, it gets much worse. Her voice is too weak to sing ballads. If the ballads were good she might could get by with her limited voice, but no such luck. This cd will make many music fans remember Paula Abdul and think, "Hey she wasn't as bad as I thought." People thought JLo could be the next Madonna, but to me she's not even good enough to be the next Paula Abdul. What's with all the divas releasing bad albums? Mariah Carey, Whitney and now Jennifer Lopez have all seen their latest albums trashed. There is a reason for this....they all are bad albums!


This Is Me...Then   December 16, 2002
 15 out of 25 found this review helpful

Put all the a s s jokes, her high publicity romance with Ben Affleck and the rumors that she's a diva aside, if for nothing else, Jennifer Lopez should be given credit for always keeping folks interested in whatever it is that she might be involved in. Whether it's a movie or a remix with Ja Rule - La Lopez is using her 15 minutes of fame to the absolute maximum. This Is Me...Then is Lopez' third full album (not including J To Tha L-O: The Remix) in only three years. The multi-talented girl from the Bronx has been perpetually busy and has managed to, despite critics claims that she (to put it bluntly) can't sing, sell millions of albums.
- Track Listing -
1. "Still"
2. "Loving You"
3. "I'm Glad"
4. "The One"
5. "Dear Ben"
6. "All I Have" f/ LL Cool J
7. "Jenny From the Block" f/ Styles and Jadakiss
8. "Again"
9. "You Belong to Me"
10. "I've Been Thinkin'"
11. "Baby I Love U!"
12. "The One" (bonus track version)

ms time and time again.

One of the things that I respected about Jennifer Lopez is that even though she is vocally, fairly limited - she recognized where she was able to go as a singer and built her music around that. "This Is Me...Then" is completely evocative of that same sense. As a whole the album is slower than previous musical forays and although some may doubt my assertions - her voice has gotten continually stronger.

J.Lo kicks off her album with "Still" one of the albums bright highlights. The song sounds reminds the listener of 80's R&B, and it works flawlessly for Jenny. "The One" is an excellent song when it appears for the first time, but the reprise (bonus track version) is even better than the original. "Dear Ben", as cheesy as it may be is a beautiful tribute to love. The production is fluid and is highlighted by a melodic string orchestra: "I love you/ You're perfect/ A manifestation of my dreams/ You make my body feel/ About a million different things.". Sappy? Yes. Beautiful? Undoubtedly.

"All I Have" which features one of the grandfathers of Hip-Hop, LL Cool J is Lopez' attempt at recreating the smash hit "I'm Real" which featured Ja Rule. It's an excellent job at recreating the chemistry and as the second single - it will probably be huge. Containing a sample of "Very Special" which has been used and used and used and used some more - Lopez' voice sounds very crisp and Cool James adds a nice layer to the track.

For fans of Lopez who might have questioned the first single "Jenny From The Block" - fear not because the album is much better than that of the underwhelming single. "Again" is a real treat and surprise. I'm surprised by the strength of Lopez' voice and that she's able to carry this mid-tempo ballad so well. Even though the song itself is nothing amazing, her voice is solid and the focus of a great song. "You Belong To Me" is the only real serious speed bump on "This Is Me...Then". A remake of the Carly Simon original - nothing about the song really works all that well. It ends up sounding a bit strained and contrived. "I've Been Thinkin" gets the album back on the track. The vigor in Lopez' voice is wonderful and the sound of the song is subtle and soft.

Like much of the album, its mid-tempo, kind of sweet and the production has been stepped down a bit to allow Lopez' voice to shine. "Baby I Love U!" is the best track that "This Is Me...Then" has to offer. It has a bit of a jazz sound to it, It's here that its worth mentioning that Lopez co-wrote all but 2 of the albums 11 songs and is listed as co-executive producer along with faithful and solid producer Corey Rooney.

- Final Thoughts -

Jennifer Lopez is a woman who knows what works for her. She chose a partner in production who knows how to bring the best out of her. There's not really a "bad" song to be found on "This Is Me...Then" ("You Belong To Me" is the closest thing to bad) and for the first time, the focus is on the fact that Lopez does have a capable voice. She's definitely not going to be passing Mariah or Whitney in range or talent for that matter - but she along with an excellent team have put together a solid album that will keep you interested. Make no mistake, while men (and woman) admire her looks - she's busy taking over the world, one day at a time.