La Revolucion (CD - 2009)

By 2009, the duo of Llandel Malave Veguilla (Wisin) and Juan Morera (Yandel) were well established as reggaeton royalty. While Wisin & Yandel professed a desire to return to their mid-1990s, pre-reggaeton explosion style on their seventh record, LA REVOLUCION, their heady fusion of disco-era Latin R&B and up-to-the-moment street-hop continues to evolve unabated. It's Wisin & Yandel's show, and they open it with proper bravado on the title track, injecting a sly romantic undercurrent to what could have been a straight boasting banger. Proof positive of the Puerto Rican pair's prowess comes on "Mujeres In The Club" where 50 Cent slows his drawl to a mesmerizing crawl, pocketing his swagger, simply augmenting a slyly seductive single.

Released just weeks after their previous album, Los Extraterrestres, won Billboard's 2009 Latin Rhythm Album of the Year award, La Revolucion finds reggaeton superstars Wisin & Yandel on a serious roll. After the opening title track suggests a futuristic concept album on the scale of Don Omar's 2009 release iDon, La Revolucion slips into a much more standard album for the duo, which is hardly a disappointment. Bouncing between grand club numbers and smooth ballads, the overall structure is familiar to all returning fans, but just like Omar in 2009, the duo have become fans of euro-disco synths and urban dance music. The slick "Quitame El Dolor" stomps the ground like a Flo Rida cut while "Mujeres in the Club" creeps and swaggers in such a G-Unit way that special guest 50 Cent sounds right at home. On the other hand, a handful of cuts -- "Perfecto" with Yaviah and Ivy Queen being the best -- prove that the duo can still create vital and undiluted reggaeton as they please. Purists might balk at how they choose to do so but La Revolucion is more about expanding the duo's sound while making sure that high quality control is still in effect. ~ David Jeffries minimize