Review: “Ricky Martin” by Ricky Martin (CD, 1999)

Today’s Pop Rescue from a fate uncertain is the 1999 eponymous album Ricky Martin – the fifth by the Puerto Rican singer er… Ricky Martin. Will this album be worth Livin’ for, or does it belong in your Bin-Bin? Read on…

Ricky Martin - Ricky Martin (1999) album. — Ricky Martin – Ricky Martin (1999) album.

This 14-track bilingual CD opens with the blast of brass from the hit UK #1 lead single Livin’ La Vida Loca – a song that I remember being a guaranteed dance-floor filler with an almost hypnotic sound to it. It’s a track that brings Ricky to the microphone fast, and he sounds perfect here, flanked by the brass, rapidfire percussion, and guitars. The chorus is a masterpiece too, and Ricky fills the song with energy. Absolute perfect start to the album.

Next is Spanish Eyes, which gives us rich sweeping strings and acoustic guitars. Ricky’s vocals are soft and gentle here – almost breathy. This switch in delivery meets the more relaxed and wafting track, which meets the reflective narrative of the lyrics. Again, the punctuation of the brass bursts work wonderfully, adding dramatic riffs amongst the plethora of percussion instruments and piano.

Second single (although not released in the UK) She’s All I Ever Had is next, and here we find Jon Secada tucked away on backing vocals (as well as writer co-credit, with Walter Afanasieff). His vocals are mixed in beside Ricky’s and a lovely sounding sitar. This is a emotive power ballad, that the 1980s would shed a tear for, with strings that soar as much as the emotions do.

That’s followed by Shake Your Bon-Bon which I can only guess is a song about bags of sweets. This was the album’s third single but the second to chart in the UK, where it reached a decent #12. There are few vocal moments with the guitars here that remind me of Beck, but that’s where the similarity ends. It’s playful, and the trumpet is as sultry as the lyrics in this song. It’s a fun and fairly catchy song.

Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corazón) follows that, and here we find its a track with Madonna. Alongside her on the writing credits is William Orbit (who also has musical credits too), but within just a few notes, you’d be able to predict that with his trademark synth pad sounds. There’s a really nice repeated guitar and bass sequence onto which Ricky sings in a soft lower register. It’s a fairly downbeat slow song, which explains why it never made it as a single – instead it sounds like a track that could have been on her Ray Of Light album from 1998.

Next up is I Am Made Of You, and this seems to take us to a simpler harder beat and guitar track. Ricky sings against this sound, and this allows him to show off his heavier rock-styled vocal power, with occasional bursts of Bono-esque delivery. The backing track seems slightly menacing as a result.

Then we’re on to Love You For A Day. This lifts the tempo up and attempts to return us back to the party feeling of some of the earlier songs. However, the vocals are weaker here and thus it feels less catchy and less interesting.

That’s followed by the fourth and final single, Private Emotion which features Meja on vocals. The track gave Ricky and Meja a #9 UK hit. It’s a nice mid-tempo ballad, with a gentle beat, and as the song evolves we’re treated to vocal harmonies between the two and these sound wonderful – and Meja’s contrast and vocal power really works a treat. They’re joined by an growing track that keeps taking the song to new places. Really nice song.

Included here next is the “Official Song Of The World Cup France ’98” – The Cup Of Life (Spanglish Radio Edit). The track really goes all in on the thumping track – with every piece of percussion in the southern hemisphere at play here. Ricky gets to sing like an England fan in the chorus, and Spanish in the verses. Musically, the track is messy, with prequel vibes of Livin’ La Vida Loca. It reached #29 in the UK when it was released in 1998.

Then it’s You Stay With Me, the first of two songs penned by legendary songwriter Diane Warren. This one is a gentle heartfelt narrative ballad, and Ricky’s soft vocals work wonderfully here as it plods along, offset by a string section. It’s a nice song.

Then we’re on to Livin’ La Vida Loca (Spanish Version), which allows us to hear how catchy it sounds to people who understand Spanish. Other than the lyrics, there’s no noticeable difference to the music and unstoppable energy to it.

That’s followed by I Count The Minutes which brings us in on piano and electric guitar. This gives way to a simple beat and guitar, as we drop in on another Diane Warren-penned track. This time, Ricky gets to sing a mid-tempo somewhat sad love song, although the chorus does lift things a bit. It’s a nice track.

Next is Bella (She’s All I Ever Had), which gives us a slightly different version of the earlier She’s All I Ever Had track, as this is all in Spanish. Here, the sitar are back again, as is Jon Secada, all sounding wonderful. It’s a nice track anyway, so this almost repeat is a nice reminder of the track. Enjoy!

The album closes with Maria (Spanglish Radio Edit) and here we get Ricky singing in Spanish and English against what sounds like a mixture of anything by 2 Unlimited (courtesy of the sampled vocals and stabby synths), meets Dario G (for the dramatic drums and synths). It sounds somewhat dated now, and thankfully is here at the end.

Ricky Martin’s lead single ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ (1999).

Verdict

Over all, this album is a wonderful mix of energetic heartthrob meets heartbroken crooner, over all the percussion you can imagine.

Opening track Livin’ La Vida Loca is the stand-out here, but it’s followed by Private Emotion, You Stay With Me, Shake Your Bon-Bon, and to some degree Maria too. These are fun tracks, or deal you with some wonderful vocal performances. The Madonna duet is somewhat of a miserable waste of such a powerhouse of talent.

The lowest points go to I Am Made Of You – which had shown some hope with the harder rock vocal style and blew it, and Love You For A Day which feels like Ricky had had a busy day the day before and needed some sleep as it’s a fairly weak song. The 14 tracks makes the album about 1hr long, which would be nicer if it was a little shorter, but the Spanish and Spanglish versions of songs (this being Ricky’s first English album) work fine, as they’re familiar songs with the interest of being in a different language for English language users.

It’s a decent album, fun, but it’s hard to beat the energy in that lead single.