Te Acordaras de Mi
, released in 1998, is where
Olga Tanon
's discography begins to go astray. Here she leaves behind the consistently thrilling (and chart-topping)
tropical
music she'd enjoyed for several albums, namely
Mujer de Fuego
,
Siente el Amor...
, and
Llevame Contigo
. She'd done this once before, releasing an album of
Marco Antonio Solis
songs,
Nuevos Senderos
, in 1996. Instead of releasing another album of regional Mexican-styled music, however -- and a modest, enjoyable one at that, as
had been -- she courts much broader appeal, fashioning herself as a
Latin pop
diva a la
Thalia
. The photogenic telenovela star is the logical point of connection, because
features key contributions from hitmaker
Kike Santander
, who had almost single-handedly made
's
Amor a la Mexicana
the amazement that it was a year prior, in 1997. And, too,
Santander
had worked with
Gloria Estefan
before that, on
Abriendo Puertas
in 1995. So
Tanon
was clearly aiming far beyond her
fan base with
, aligning herself with a proven popsmith like
, and the other telling sign is the absence of her former stable of songwriters:
Yaidelice Monrrozeau
Rodolfo Barreras
Raldy Vazquez
Gustavo Marquez
, all of whom are sadly MIA. This was a bold move, for sure, and the result is scattershot. The three
songs are fantastic, as expected: the album-opening
"Tu Amor"
is a barnburner, one of
's all-time best dance songs, while
"Hielo y Fuego"
and
"Un Hombre y una Mujer"
are also excellent. Beyond the
veers all over, generally interspersing uptempo
dance-pop
with romantic
ballads
. The uptempo songs tend to be the highlights, most notably the fierce
"El Nino."
The
tend to be generic, on the other hand; the best is
"Escondidos,"
a
Cristian Castro
duet. So consider this initial crossover venture a measured success:
boasts a few really great hits, certainly, along with some good album tracks, yet it also includes a surprising number of misses -- not a particularly good omen, given how superlative and rock-solid
's last few albums had been. ~ Jason Birchmeier