Ricky Martin - Ricky Martin

Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin's self-titled first English-language album is a triumph of an omnivorous world-pop sensibility--but more important is that at its best, it's a real kick. The first single, "Livin' la Vida Loca," employs a revved-up ska tempo to praise a girl whose "lips are devil red [and] skin's the color of mocha." Martin is no less irresistible on the disc's other uptempo numbers, such as "Spanish Eyes," "The Cup of Life" (the 1998 World Cup theme which with he stole the Grammy telecast a few months before this CD's release), and the Soul Coughing-indebted "Shake Your Bon Bon." Ricky Martin loses momentum with its draggier ballads--even the much-touted Madonna duet, "Be Careful (Cuidade con Mi Corazon)," doesn't spark--but overall, it deserves its inevitable multiplatinum success. --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

My Best Latin Album

I read some of the reviews about Ricky Martin's self-titled album, and I was shocked to find mixed reviews. Even though I am not a hard core Latin music fan (not enough exposure), I appreciate great music when I hear it. I bought this album when it was released in 1999, and it quickly became one of my favorite albums of all time(s). It is 2008, and I still feel very passionately about it. Not only are his lyrics great, his voice is very beautiful. Whenever I listen to this album, I feel more than ever that love truly exists, i.e., Private Emotion, Be Careful, I Am Made Of You, You Stay With Me, I Count The Minutes, She's All I Ever Had, and Spanish Eyes. I also love listening to Livin' La Vida Loca. Songs like Spanish Eyes, Shake Your Bon-Bon, Love You For A Day, and Maria are highly energetic songs. I love listening to this album. This is one of the albums I possess that if they ever mysteriously disappear, I would greatly miss. I will always love this album. It is definitely a must-have. August 16, 2008

It's Not Bad

When this was released back in 1999, I was unaware Ricky Martin would ever make it to the main stream of pop music. When I heard "Livin La Vida Loca" on the radio, I was wrong. Ricky Martin had fully crossed over. I remember purchasing this album on cd and on vinyl. The ballad "She's All I Ever Had" is the best track on the album. It was a major hit for Martin and it was the follow up single to "Livin La Vida Loca". Another highlight to the album is "The Cup Of Life", I remember him performing this at the awards show and his performance was outstanding. The final single from the album "Shake Your Bon Bon", is an "ok" song, it will get you dancing but the lyrcis do not make any sense. But if you want to know what Ricky Martin was all about in the pop market, pick up this album. The track "She's All I Ever Had" is worth the purchase alone! July 9, 2008

If you want it buy it here.

Amazon stocks Ricky Martin CDs when most box stores don't. If you have friends or family that love Ricky, Amazon is your one stop shopping experience. May 8, 2008

Like a long lost friend

I originally purchased this CD when first released years ago, but lost it somehow. I recently bought it again as a replacement. I had forgotten how much fun listening to Ricky Martin(in what I believe was his prime)was. Okay, the lyrics are not profound, but I dare you to sit still while listening to "La Vida Loca", Shake Your Bon Bon" or "The Cup of LIfe". The slower ballads are also easy to listen to and I had forgotten about a duet with Madonna. Overall, a worthy purchase. April 7, 2008

Latin Pop Explosion!

Ricky Martin was not the first nor last Latin artist to release an English speaking album but he was one of the most successful and a pioneer for others. In 1998-1999 it seems like people were going crazy over the Latin inspired pop, it was exotic and finally there were artists promiting their music to a English speaking audience. Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony and later Shakira were artists that went from Spanish albums into Latin-Pop in English with big success. This music was so popular that even others like Paulina Rubio, Thalia and actress Jennifer Lopez followed, although JLO had never released any album before 1999 and the other two were not very successful. This album include some Latin-pop songs but also a few adult contemporary ballads. It's well calculated and commercial but got catchy music that proved succuseful to a broad audience. The record company people obviously knew that it would sell and we've seen others after this using oriental influnced music to their songs (Producer Scott Storch for example) to generate an exotic yet commercial sound to their music. "Living La Vida Loca" is ofocurse the highlight, a cathcy latin inspired uptempo that also became his trademark. "Maria" his first single from the album that was a big hit all over europe, but it was in Spanish, same thing with the official world cup 1998 song "La Copa De La Vida" or "The Cup of Life" which it's called in English. We also find the stupid "Shake Your Bon Bon" released in the middle of Ricky Martin hysteria and latin midtempo "Spanish Eyes". The producers were also smart enough to include 2 duets, one with Madonna! "Be Careful" and one with Swedish singer Meja called "Private Emotion" which is a ballad, ditto with "She's All I Ever Had". These songs are very calculated to fit into the English speaking crowd, but could just aswell have been recorded for someone else. The rest of the songs are fine, especially Diane Warren penned "I Count the Minutes" which sound incredibly dated by the way, but a good song nonetheless with nice hook, the others fit in smooth into the concept but doesn't stand out. Overall, This is a well crafted album made to sell to a broad audience. It got something for everyone but at the same time it's very constructed and not too personal. However, when you look back, it gives you many great memories and this album was also responsible for Latin music to finally appeal to an english speaking audience. Martin is a great entertainer and this is his finest English album to date. February 15, 2007

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