I'm probably asking for trouble by reviewing another Ricky Martin CD, especially since so many people here seem to have it in for the guy. I've never really had an axe to grind with Martin, no matter how popular he becomes with the teeny-bopper crowd or how many hip gyrations he does on national TV. I'm really coming at this purely from the perspective of how his music sounds, and let me tell you, if you give the guy a chance, I think you'll agree that La Historia is a CD that totally rocks!

In fact, I think La Historia totally blows his "cross-over" album, Sound Loaded completely out of the water. It's night and day, folks. Sound Loaded was kind of a loser and snoozer in my book. La Historia is a big sounding album. It's faster. It's louder. It's zestier (I love using the word "zesty"). It's honestly, just a whole lot better.

La Historia should be better. It's essentially a "greatest hits" CD without the word "greatest" or "hits" actually being part of the title. Every Ricky Martin tune that you've heard on the radio, or seen Martin gyrating his hips to on TV is on this CD. That's either a very good thing if you like Martin, or it's a very bad thing if you don't.

Biggest and Boldest...
Martin kicks off this CD in high gear with a spanglish remix version of his early blockbuster hit Maria, with its infectiously urging refrain of "Un, Dos, Tres!" (shouted along by the audience at impossibly high volume if you ever get a chance to see the guy live). Gotta love any tune with "wah jepa!" shouts, and Maria has plenty of those too. I think this version might actually be even faster than the original hit, if such a thing is possible, and I guarantee it's a sure crowd pleaser!

If you like your music hotter than a kettle of Texas chili and faster than the Minnesota Twins on their way to playoff berth, then you're like me, and you'll probably want to check out my personal faves list.

Biggest and boldest tunes on this CD include (besides Maria):

- La Bomba with its spicy Caribbean salsa flavor punctuated by a dash of bright trumpet here and there and enough marimbas to keep you shaking your bon bon. (Hey! I didn't even know I had a "bon bon".)

- Livin La Vida Loca is the song that everyone and his grandfather already knows ad nauseum. Yesterday's news, no question -- and I don't dispute that it's in the league with bubblegum hits of days gone by -- but it is lightning quick with a few sharp turns and drops and dashes, and it is unquestionably one of the rockingest pop tunes to hit airwaves in years. A classic.

- La Copa de la Vida shares a lot of the high energy infectious rhythyms of Livin La Vida Loca, but the whistle blowing and ever-so-slightly tamed down beat sets it apart as its own animal. I wonder if the World Cup will ever again see so much electricity as it did when Ricky Martin set off sparks in France with this masterpiece!

- She Bangs. Say what you want about it, this tune still rocks the house with a faintly rockabilly like sound. Sure the lyrics are inane. Sure its got all the depth and intellectual stimulation of a Three Stooges film fest. That's what makes it so fun! "She bangs, she bangs. She moves, she moves." Such stuff is hardly poetry, but it sure as heck packs the dance floor and it sure as heck sold a boatload of records for Martin!

- Por Arriba, Por Abajo rocks! (At least it does once you get over the kind of cheesy marching band sound of the opening.) I don't think it was ever as popular as the other five "rockin" tunes on this CD, but it's every bit as powerful and catchy, and it should have been a bigger hit than it was (if only audiences were as smart as me ;-)

I'm really a "harder, faster" kind of listener, so I skip around a little when I listen to this CD. Vuelve is one of Martin's slower, more romantic tunes, so I tend to hit the skip button on that one. Not that it wasn't a hit for Martin -- it was. So was Bella, which I also skip. Solo Quiero Amarte is one of those sappy love ballads that chicks like but guys hate -- it reminds me of a gazillion Marco Antonio Solis or Luis Miguel tunes -- and that's not necessarily a good thing. A few tunes aside, this CD is really a good cross-section of Martin's best work, and Martin has quite a range of different material, so its inevitable that this CD will have a handful of crooner type cuts on this dics for the romantically inclined....I'll skip 'em, you don't have to!

Mark's Goofy Perception of the Day: Don't you think Bombon de Azucar sounds kind of like that inane 60s hit A Horse with No Name by America?? I never liked A Horse with No Name....

Trackin' the Tracks...
Sixteen tracks and well over an hour of blisteringly hot hits. Here's what you'll hear:

1. Maria
2. Vuelve
3. Bella
4. La Bomba
5. A Medio Vivir
6. Perdido Sin Ti
7. Livin' La Vida Loca
8. Volveras
9. La Copa de la Vida
10. Fuego de Noche, Nieva de Dia
11. She Bangs
12. Bombon de Azucar
13. Fuego Contra Fuego
14. Te Extrano, Te Olvido, Te Amo
15. Por Arriba, Por Abajo
16. El Amor de mi Vida

Bottom Line
This is a great album for anyone who likes high energy pop music.

Whether you're a die-hard Ricky Martin fan who loved listening to him when he was a teen heart throb in Menudo some 15 to 20 years ago, or whether you just got caught up in the wave of Martin popularity in the late 1990s, this album is sure to have some of your favorite Ricky Martin hits on it.

I especially recommend La Historia to anyone looking for that "one single best album" that represents Ricky's sound and attitude at its best. This is it. This is the best -- you won't find another album with such a big sound or as much energy.

Snag it!

Until next time, see you in the music store. As always, I'm the lonely gringo checking out the latin music CDs...




Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Exercising