RBD - Rebels [CD/DVD] (CD)

All Music Guide

It was inevitable. After a few years of staggering commercial success throughout Latin America, including Brazil and the Spanishlanguage enclaves of the United States, the teen pop group RBD unveiled an Englishlanguage crossover album, Rebels. The release had been planned for some time announced at a press conference, even and in marketingsavvy fashion, it was preceded by a series of events intended to drum up anticipation. First there was a brief tour of the States in early 2006 that resulted in the CD/DVD Live in Hollywood. Then there was a highprofile concert at Madison Square Garden in July that was such an event it earned a snide notice in The New York Times by renowned music journalist Jon Pareles ("This is rebel music?" his article began). And then there was the runup to the release of Rebels, which was preceded by lead single "Tu Amor," the group's Englishlanguage debut, and then by Celestial. That allnew Spanishlanguage album, released in late November, included a single of its own ("Ser o Parecer") and a bonus track sorpresa featuring samples of key songs from Rebels. It all amounted to a case study in how to go about breaking an international act in America, and as the album's Christmas release date rolled around, the only question remaining was whether Virgin Records would actually break RBD stateside. After all, as onpoint as their rollout campaign had been, marketing alone doesn't make for a successful album. And indeed, Rebels itself is a mixed bag, even by RBD's standards.