Nuestro Amor

rock pop

Nuestro Amor is the third album in less than a year from photogenic pop sextet RBD. The group of alleged actors and so-so singers shot to fame as stars of the teen soap opera Rebelde, and they've topped worldwide charts since spinning that into a musical career. RBD's music is plastic and innocuous, designed to tickle the fancies of young fans via flashy videos, fun clothes and Colgate smiles. Musically, the group is just a step above karaoke--unless you hit the bar on a particularly good night. RBD sings on key and remembers the words, but the vocal skills on display in Nuestro Amor are woefully limited, even for this type of disposable Latin pop. There's no edge, no urgency. Each of the group's smiley-faced clones--Anahi, Dulce, Maite, Christian, Alfonso and Christopher--take turns as lead singer, but it hardly makes a difference. The voices and the songs are completely indistinguishable and interchangeable. The instrumentation is glossy and mechanical at best, and the chirpy choruses sound like something you'd hear from a high-school choir while holiday shopping at the mall. RBD's biggest offense? Turning Kelly Clarkson's otherwise vibrant Breakaway album track "Gone" into "Me Voy," an electro-dance mess. RBD would be wise to get "gone" from the music scene and leave the pop fun to real singers. --Joey Guerra