Another side to Ricky Martin

This is going to be kind of a quick post because I am getting ready to leave town and ran out of time, but I wanted to share a little gem that I stumbled on the other day. I was flipping channels when I came across "Ricky Martin Unplugged" on MTV Tr3s. Now before you rush to judgment, hear me out on this. I know Ricky Martin has infiltrated the US airwaves with his Latin-infused style of pop music, but there's another side of him.

The MTV series showcased a less poppy Martin performing songs of his Spanish albums; songs which have a much stronger Latin influence in their style and rhythm. The songs were full of the infectious rhythms and horn lines that make Latin and Salsa music so irresistible. I was never a Ricky Martin fan before, and still am not entirely, but I did discover a newfound respect for his musical abilities. I downloaded the cd later to give it a second listen, and he truly has some good songs that probably land somewhere between Latin American pop and Salsa.

Here's a couple of the better songs off the album. In particular I like the songs that are more upbeat and based heavily upon Latin rhythms. Some of the other songs on the album are more just straight pop songs and really aren't that good. I think I would really like Ricky Martin if he would cut the cheesy pop stuff, but still he can make some pretty good music. And even if you don't want to give Ricky credit, at least listen to the backing band, because they are pretty impressive. I think of these four my favorite is Pegate, its pretty much impossible to listen to this song just once, the chorus is just too addictive.

Ricky Martin - Maria

Ricky Martin - Pegate

Ricky Martin - Lola Lola

Ricky Martin - La Bomba

Hope you enjoy, and please don't hate me for writing about Ricky Martin.

- Alec