Rebelde [Edicao Portuguese] (CD - 2005)

RBD: Alfonso, Christian, Mayte, Christopher, Anahi, Dulce.

RBD lays down a radio-ready version of Latin pop that has its roots in contemporary, mainstream American rock and in classic pop on the order of ABBA. The group, which consists of three women and three men, has telegenic good looks, immediately accessible melodies, and--most importantly--a practice of rotating vocal duties that represents each singer's lead abilities and the group's impressive knack for choral singing. REBELDE kicks off with the mid-tempo, soft-to-heavy rock of the title track, and goes on to mix things up with sing-song dance-pop (as on the chorus of "Otro Dia Que Va"), New Wave-inflected rockers (""Futuro Ex-Novio"), and sweeping power ballads ("Salvame"). Highly polished and ripe for Top 40 success, RBD pushes all the right Latin-pop buttons on REBELDE.

The Brazilian version of Rebelde features the same songs as its Spanish-language counterpart, except they're all sung in Portuguese by RBD. The sequencing has been changed slightly, with the three big hits moved to the first three positions: "Rebelde," "Figue en Silêncio" ("Solo Quédate en Silencio"), and "Um Pouco Desse Amor" ("Un Poco de Tu Amor"). Beyond those key differences, the Brazilian version of Rebelde remains a nice little album of catchy pop/rock, anchored by the aforementioned hits along with a few other appealing confections, namely "Ensina-Me" ("Enséñame"), "Otro Día Que Va," and "Salva-Me" ("Sálvame"). The songs here on Rebelde are the ones that started it all. [An Edicao Portuguese was also released.] ~ Jason Birchmeier minimize