Disco de Robyn: “Robyn Is Here”

You'd be a fool to dismiss this fine debut CD just because it's "another pop princess". But if you look past the tired genre, you'll find a very talented, vocally rich and likeable singer in Robyn, who has 3 Top 10 singles. Her voice, right off the bat, will stun you. She's Swedish, but sounds like a legitimate R&B/soul diva, a la Diana Ross or Toni Braxton. She's incredible. Her songs border on irrestistibly catchy to amazingly heart-felt, and they all pack a punch. I reccommend this to anyone looking for a fine album. I heard she's releasing a sophomore effort soon... I can't wait.

I've wanted to give Robyn credit for a while now. She was the first singer to start the Mandy Moore/Britney Spears/Jessica Simpson/Christina Aguilera/Vitamin C/Jessica Riddle - (shall I go on?) craze. Back then, pop music took a back seat to alternative/rock and soul/R&B...but Robyn set it off.

The first time I heard the song, "Do You Know What It Takes", I was in my car on my way from Santa Barbara to the Bay Area and INSTANTLY fell in love with the song. I thought it was 702 or some other new group, but when I found out who she was, I was impressed because her sound was R&B and she wasn't even American, she was from Sweden. This was back in the summer of 1997. I quickly bought the single (the e-smoove bounce mix is the best version) and bobbed my head to this new pop sound along with Aaliyah, Missy, Puff and Ginuwine that summer.

Then that fall/winter, "Show Me Love" came out with the 'cK' style video, and I HAD to buy the album cuz the song had that 'bright' sound to it. (I'll explain 'bright' in a second). I wasn't dissapointed because it was a good buy. Both "Do You Know What It Takes" and "Show Me Love" were produced by the late Denniz PoP and Max Martin, the team behind Britney Spears, NSync and the Backstreet Boys. The 'bright' sound behind these acts is also what makes Celine Dion's "That's The Way It Is" such a great song too. (That's what I mean..."Show Me Love" is musically, a close relative to "That's The Way It Is - trust me)

Although most people don't seem to know about her (in the U.S.), Robyn was revolutionary because she paved the way for artists like Pink (who is the closest thing to Robyn) to do R&B music and do it well. She also paved the way for Cheiron studios (the swedish producers behind the dance pop explosion) to really take the United States by storm. This fact alone makes this CD a buy for music fans.

But let me get to the point - the music is good. The best songs on this album (besides the ones I mentioned) are "Robyn Is Here", a chill summer song and "Here We Go", a beautiful ballad. Besides Christina Aguilera, Robyn may be the best singer of the bunch and at 15 years old, she turned this album out. Don't sleep on her - she wrote her own songs and that's the best part. She's the real deal - and she's the original blue-eyed Pop/R&B female singer of the millenium.

This was the first CD I ever purchased. I was 13 years old and my friends and I were all going through the POP stage, you know, N*Sync, Backstreet Boys, Britney, Christina, The SPice Girls, and ROBYN...I have to say that even now, 7 years later I still sit and jive to some of this stuff, including this CD which happens to be one of my favorite memory reminders. When I hear Robyn belting out "Do you really want me, am I really special" I can still see my sister at ten running around the house singing along. It feels like yesterday, but alas it's not. I like to remember my past for the soul purpose of appreciating the time I have now. My sister (who has now passed) was a big fan of Robyn, and so I enjoy looking through old pictures of us as kids while listening to this CD. All that aside (I mean what does that matter to the CDNOW.com reader) this is a solid CD by a songbird who dissapeared. I see through my searches that she has put out 2 other CD's, Imports, so I assume they were put out in her native Sweden. That aside, the hits on this CD just flow out of every track. My favorites include 'Just another g/f' 'show me love' and 'bumpy ride'...'do you really love me' has that seseme street kind of background music to it, a little kiddish, but sweet and catchy. Her debut single 'always be around (do me right)' is a great example of good pop song...catchy and the replay value is high...I can still see Robyn dancing on the car in the video...great CD, even better memories...goes to proof a little Robyn is good for the soul.

Sophisticated pop without pretensions, made by a beat-wise young woman. Better than anything between Britney and Fiona, and with far more intelligence. Check out her second album, "My Truth," which hit big and won awards in Europe, especially Scandinavia, but didn't get out in the States because it wasn't dumb enough for what the U.S. label thought the target audience should be. Forget the girls getting the hype. This is the important artist to watch.

Got this disk for "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know.." but was pleasantly surprised to find other good songs on the disk. This one will stay in the CD changer for some time to come.