Ricky Martin - Martin, Ricky (CD 1999)

BACKGROUND

When Ricky Martin was born in Puerto Rico on December 24, 1971, his parents could hardly have known how this child would affect the world. You might hate him, love him, be attracted to him, can t stand to hear him or see him smile, but you can t deny that as we turned the century, Ricky Martin had a huge impact on the world of music.

Martin began his music career at a young age. He did commercials but knew his love was music. He heard the group Menudo at age 10 and auditioned; he was turned down. Three years later he tried again; this time successfully. During his five years with the Latin ten group, he found an immense following of screaming fans. Leaving the band in 1989, Ricky moved to New York City trying to find his own solo niche. Failing at that, he moved to Mexico and began doing soap operas and recording Spanish albums.

Finding the success that had eluded him in the big city, Ricky decided to move on to LA in 1994 where he joined the cast of General Hospital.

His next recording project, Vuelve, on Columbia records, became a huge success winning Ricky his first Grammy. His single La Cope de la Vida became Columbia s #1 selling single in the history of the prestigious label. With the support of Madonna and former Menudo member Robi Rosa, Martin decided to record his first English album. The self titled album has catapulted Martin into a mega star in both the English pop and Latin scenes.

This was the review that I just had to write. I received the album free from BMG (one of those special offers) fully expecting it to have just a couple of neat tracks, but as soon as the music started, I knew this was a special album. I discovered that I liked the Latin sound with the foot moving beats; Ricky s voice with its sultry emotion is superb. His range of emotional tempos and his ability to sing with comfort whether in English or Spanish is just remarkable.

THE TRACKS

Livin La Vida Loca Written by Robi Rosa (who also does background vocals and plays guitar) and Desmond Child this song was very overplayed making it a commercial smash hit, but it is a great song with pure emotions and interesting lyrics. The song is an anthem to those living on the wild side. I could never decide whether she was symbolic for a crazy life or whether the song is about a crazy chick that causes you to do all kinds of crazy things.

Upside Inside Out
She s livin la vida loca
She ll push and pull you down
Livin la vida loca

Spanish Eyes Written again by Rosa and Child, this is one of my favorite songs on the cd. Great emotion and fantastic lyrics, Rosa sings vocal harmonies, and the layering of the music and lyrics is just a great mix. I especially like the Concepcion s horn work and Solano is masterful on the Latin beats with the percussion. Martin s vocal on this is powerful as he goes from a very pointed sharp hit on the notes to a subdued, soft emotion within the same phrasing. He doesn t overpower the lyrics.

She s All I Ever Had Written by Rosa, Noriega and Jon Secada, this song is a cover featuring guest vocals from Secada. The music is full and bold with great Martin vocals. There is a legion of violins on this number used with great effect. He has, at times, a huskiness to his voice that is powerful. The lyrics of this song are so beautiful, and if you have ever been so deeply in love with someone that it hurt, then this song will make your day.

Here I am
Broken wings
Quiet thoughts
Unspoken dreams
Here I am
Alone again
And I need her now
To hold my hand

Shake Your Bon-Bon Rosa, Noriega and Child strike again with this playful song. Sure the lyrics are a bit redundant, but it s a catchy song. Get those feet to moving. Many people went crazy over the video. The Latin beat is strong with this great dance number. And he wants to be your Latin lover. Oh make the girls go crazy Ricky. And it had this great little middle eastern flute sound produced, no doubt, from keyboards on an organ.

Be Careful This beautiful duet is written by Madonna and Orbit. I love the blending of their voices giving that emotional, sensual, mysterious sound. Latin heat at its best! This is a great love song. The blending of languages only builds the energy of the song. Ricky starts off with a soft, appealing sound. Madonna adds a great vibrato vocal to the mix. What can I say; this is the pairing of two great musical talents. In the liner notes at this song, this is a contemplative picture of Martin with the lyrics And a silence falls between us, As the shadows steal the light The song instrumentally features a number of concert instruments and you may think you are hearing a wonderful hand drum. In reality this is the sensational guitar and keyboard work of William Orbit and Damian LeGassick.

I Am Made Of You Rosa and Child deliver a lyrically beautiful love song about the connectivity of a couple. Rosa does some great guitar work as well. The vocals are more in tune with English rock and are a bit more overpowering than in the salsa and Latin numbers. This is one of the weaker songs on the collection. Lyrically, it is beautiful. Vocally, it could have been more with less.

Love You For A Day Rosa, Barlow, and Child written song that is a peppy party song. We are back to the salsa here, and as you hear this song you can almost close your eyes and see Martin dancing on the floor with a beautiful lady. The background singing of Ay, ay, ay started getting on my nerves a bit. I love the horns from Bartow. The song is obviously about a guy who is trying to get a lady to go home for the proverbial one night stand.

Private Emotion Written by Bazilian and Hyman. Performed by Martin and Meja with Gyan singing vocal harmonies, this song has a beautiful lyrical message, even though I don t particularly care for the roughness in Ricky s voice. Smoother would have been preferable. The roughness comes from projecting too much from the throat instead of the abdomen. The duet with Meja is pleasant. She has a very nice voice. Instrumentation is well done.

The Cup of Life This is the Spanish Radio Edit version. Written by Rosa, Child and Escolar. This was the official song of The World Cup held in France in 1998! This song is high octane here. Get ready to party to the max. Go, Go, Go. Do you really want it? The mixture of languages adds an international flavor to the song. Great dance song. Instrumentation is as strong on this song as any in the collection. Great percussion rhythm adds to the richness of the sound.

You Stay With Me Written by Warren. Slow paced, emotionally rich love song. Nice touch for Ricky. He tries to balance off that roughness in his voice by backing off the sound. Good falsettos in this song. And great guitar turnarounds from Manny Lopez. The voice has raw power that is almost a bit when he gets loud, but when he tones it down, is very romantic and soothing. Using a filter on the mike would have helped.

Livin La Vida Loca (Spanish Version)

I Count The Minutes Great sounding track with good Warren written lyrics. Great musical range for Martin with him sharing vocal backgrounds duties with Clytoven Richardson, Skyler Jeff and Conesha Monet. This song almost has the typical boy band sound to it. That must mean its good, huh. Lots of keyboards in the song instrumentation. There are some good guitar licks that sound acoustic, but none are listed, so it was either a modified electric guitar or a keyboard. Well done, however, on any count. One of the more pleasant, easy sounding songs on the collection.

Bella Spanish version of She s All I Ever Had Escolar is added to the credits for the Spanish rendering. You know, as I listen to this song, the beauty of the Spanish language really stands out. While I don t understand some of the words, knowing he English version, it tends to translate well.

Maria This is the Spanish Radio Edit version of the Blake, Escolar, Porter written song. This song shows music is an international language. The intro is riveting with great percussion and electronic sounds. Let s sing it:

Un, dos, tres

It has a driving rhythm and would make for a very quick paced dance number. The horns are used for maximum effect in one of the turnarounds.

Final Thoughts This review was originally written November 2, 2000. I took it off my sight a few years back. Wish I hadn t. But oh well, I have re-written and re-posted it though there are over 100 reviews of this album posted. Now you know my view as well. This is a remarkable album that has been played in my vehicle a number of times. The liner notes are very difficult to read because of the white print on darker background pictures. They do have great information and contain much more than many albums. Estefan did a great job with the producing of the album which was recorder in several different studios. I find that anytime I am in the slumps, all I need to do is play this album and it lifts me. It has been greatly modified from the original posting. Hope you enjoy the album and the review.