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Sound Loaded
11/16/2000 7:36 PM, Yahoo! Music
Mike Lipton
Whether you got sick of the hype or not (and who didn't?), Ricky Martin's mega-smash "Livin' La Vida Loca" was a brilliant single and, if I might go out on a limb, as expertly crafted as David Bowie's classic "Fame." After setting about every record and winning about every award imaginable (including the highest No. 1 sales figures in Columbia Records history), Martin is back with a follow-up of red-hot "el ritmo."
While the first single, "She Bangs," doesn't quite pack the inventive wallop of "Vida Loca," it's still a powerhouse of production and hooks (the credits for the tune alone take up nearly a column in the liner notes). Ballads like "Come To Me," "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely" and, in particular, "The Touch" are decidedly more generic--and ripe for a Bryan Adams cover--lacking the ethnicity that made his English-language debut sizzle. Still, as commercial efforts go, when he turns up the juice on tracks like the rolling "Loaded," the cumbia "Amor," and the rai-influenced "One Night Man," this is the best pop money can buy.And if it's content you're after, who can argue with lines like this gem from "Are You In It For Love": "Aye mama, you're my sweet mamacita, you've gone to my head like too many margaritas." Among the 15 tracks are Spanish versions of "She Bangs," "Loaded," and "Come To Me."
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