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Ricky Martin gets himself a new Life
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After sliding a bit musically, Ricky Martin strikes the right balance with his new album
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FUTURE PERFECT? Ricky Martin could have a sleeper that may blast the charts soon Photo: AP
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he celebrates his 34th birthday on Christmas Eve. From being a low-profile member of a native Latin band called Menudo, he has come a long way, and is currently the undisputable honcho of international Latin music.
After storming the music scene in 1998 with the single "(Un Dos Tres) Maria", and the chart-breaking follow-up football anthem "Cup of Life", Ricky Martin graduated to being the favourite poster pin-up boy of the late '90s. His unique brand of English vocals intercepted with Latin grooves, along with smooth and sensuous vocals, ensured him a high level of popularity, and his next all-English album, Livin' La Vida Loca, became a fast favourite.
After collaborating with Christina Aguilera for a track called "Nobody Wants to be Lonely", Ricky continued to sizzle the music charts for a year or two before the 2000 album, Sound Loaded was released.
This album turned out to be disappointing to fans worldwide, since the tracks lacked consistency and it seemed that Ricky wanted to do too many things at the same time. After a break of three years, he returned with an English-Latin album called Almas del Silencio, and though this album regained quite some amount of the lost credibility, it presented Ricky in an avatar that wasn't too familiar to the fans. The husky, sensuous romantic took some time to score over the ghetto-blasting dance music vocalist, but with his latest album Life, Ricky seems to have struck the perfect balance.
Ricky sounds very mature in this album, both in terms of vocal quality, and lyrics. Besides revealing his more philosophical side, the tracks in the album move from pleasantly energetic to sentimental and back. Indian listeners will find a desi touch in the Rishi Rich remix version of the track, "I Don't Care", featuring Amerie, Fat Joe and Juggy D. Another big relief is that the album is all-English, which means you not just enjoy the music, but the lyrics too.
So far, the album has been pretty silent on the international music charts, but critics worldwide predict that it is one of those that silently climbs the ladder and reaches the top.
A. VISHNU
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