In 1998, Philippine artist
Maegan Aguilar released her second album,
Burst. Her first album, 1995's
Sige Lang Sige (^Continue Doing It), was a masterful acoustic rock effort, and signaled the arrival of a major new singing talent on the Philippine music scene. While
Burst shows a commendable willingness to take chances and grow artistically, it ultimately lacks the punch of
Sige Lang Sige. One drawback here is
Aguilar's singing -- her voice lacks the assuredness and depth that was so impressive on the first album. In addition, whereas the first album contained an adventurous edge throughout,
Burst contains a sizeable amount of MOR fare (including a remake of the Carpenters' hit "Superstar"), which
Aguilar doesn't seem very comfortable singing. "A Path to Follow" is a slow-paced, introspective outing that features an urban-edged saxophone line. Unfortunately,
Aguilar doesn't seem comfortable here either, and is even off-key on some of the notes. However, she does handle the upbeat, rock-inflected "Salamin (Ayoko Na...)" pretty well, and also shines on the bluesy, acoustic-styled "Kiliti" ("Tickle"). On her debut album,
Aguilar appeared as a fully formed talent. On
Burst, she comes across as an artist whose voice and style need development. Quite perplexing.