It is always a challenge to create an album that is fun and innovative. Enrique Iglesias slightly misses the mark with his new album, 7.

Iglesias draws less from his Spanish roots and becomes more mainstream to fit the current pop culture by using Justin Timberlake-like beats and sounds.

While the album intersperses ballads with dance songs, the overall effect is somewhat repetitive. Songs like “Live It Up Tonight” and “Break Me Shake Me” show Inglesias’ fun side, but when looking at his past albums it is clear that his style has not evolved much and thus the innovation is lacking.

With only one Spanish song, a version of “Addicted,” Iglesias’ album appears to be an attempt to join mainstream music and leave his Latin legacy behind.

“I wanted to concentrate on the lyrical content this time,” said Iglesias of his new album. “At the end of the day a great melody is great but the lyrics are what makes a song timeless.”

He said that the lyrics reflect his personal life because, “I don’t want to feel stupid singing a ridiculous song years from now.”

However, with repetitive lyrics appearing in song after song like, “You’re the drug that keeps me from dying,” and “It’s killing me inside to know I put you through this hell,” one begins to wonder how many ways Iglesias can sing the same tune.

Iglesisas did step away, however, from these seemingly “safe” lyrics, as he expresses in the track, “Free,” a more, Britney Spears-like theme:

“I’m free/Free to do the dirty things you like/I’m free/ Free enough to do what’s on my mind/ When you go down and freak on me/That’s when I’m free.”

When looking back, Iglesias will not find all of his lyrics to be ridiculous, but then again, weren’t most of them the same anyway? 7 fails to surprise listeners, using repetitive themes and basic musical sounds.

Despite the occasional upbeat and fun rhythms, the songs blur into everyday radio music. This can only leave us to question whether we just heard a new Justin or Britney.