iDon [PA] (CD - 2009)

Venturing into uncharted territory for a reggaeton artist, Don Omar presents a concept album on his third studio LP, iDON. Featuring 10 tracks that make up a sci-fi fantasy of the famed Puerto Rican artist's transformation into a cybernetic half-man/half-robot character, iDON' s narrative justifies the project's experimental nature, as Don Omar blends elements of electronic music and synth-driven hip-hop into the traditional reggaeton formula. Re-teaming with Diesel (the producer responsible for one of the reggaeton icon's biggest hits, "Salió Sol") on the lead single "Digital Diva," Don Omar composes a lusty, futuristic club-banger. Elsewhere, the Don shows his sensitive side on the suave "Ciao Bella." Production comes courtesy of Robin Lex, Echo, Effect-O, and Danny Fornaris.

Throwing fans a curveball, Don Omar gets conceptual on iDon, an album that tells the story of the singer/rapper's "transformation from international superstar into a cybernetic being." While it would be nice to call this the reggaeton version of Styx's "Mr. Robato" album, Kilroy Was Here, it wouldn't be true since the other major risk Omar takes on iDon is the embracing of dance beats and the urban sound of America. "Oasis" takes the reggaeton beat into the future, and the backing track on "Blue Zone" is firmly in the genre, but "Virtual Diva" blends new wave flavors, while "Sexy Robotica" is heavily influenced by the dancefloor sound of trance. As "Galactic Blues" unveils the time travel dream of Kraftwerk rewriting Omar's "Conteo" for the Cotton Club crowd, it's hard not to admire such an ambitious effort. However, when the album puts pushing the story forward before the music, it becomes hard not to drift, requiring a bit more commitment than the average fan is willing to make. Still, Don Omar the freedom-seeking artist is, at the very least, interesting. The subject matter may be akin to Styx, but the man's fringe albums are really comparable to the more esoteric efforts of Prince, especially when it comes to general worth and the fans' level of frustration. ~ David Jeffries minimize