Customer Reviews

Best of Ricky Martin

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After making a huge splash with his English-language debut, and an equally huge thud with his commercially underwhelming sophomore set, Ricky Martin is back with this European-only English-language compilation, collecting singles from the previously mentioned albums. While 'Livin'La Vida Loca' was massive stateside, subsequent singles didn't seem to make as much impact, despite the fact that they were of equal, and sometimes greater, quality. While the uptempo material is usually the primary draw(particularly 'She Bangs',the catchy-as-hell'Shake Your Bon-Bon'and the grossly overlooked 'Loaded'), he is also quite adept at handling ballads, highlighted here by 'She's All I Ever Had' and the Meja duet 'Private Emotion'.All in all, this set easily justifies what all the hype was about--let's hope the disappointment of his sophomore set doesn't sour his attitude towards possiblilities of future success in the English-language market.

I like anything Ricky does. Been listening to him since I was 12 and he was 12. So, although some may think that it's a bit (what's the word...Oh yeah..,)Pretentious for him to have a cd releasing Greatest Hits, it bears reminding that Ricky Martin should have definitely had a Greatest Hits to include all of the other music he's recorded. The problem with that is that most of the people who know who he is now, because of the songs released in English, wouldn't or couldn't appreciate what he's done way before they knew that this multi-talented BORICUA existed. I witnessed that firsthand at his concert at the Garden in NY. Once he started singing his songs from his first Spanish self-titled album, most of the girls screaming at him shaking his bombom, sat down promptly and lost interest. So take it from me, if you want to add this to your collection, please do. Whether new fan or an old one like me. But remember, if you want to experience him at his best, listen to some of his solely spanish stuff too. It's worth it.

Woah, two greatest hits package in the same year?
Well, hell, Ricky must have thought he had enough hits in his hands in order to release this goody to his international fans.
Well, fact is he really has...although a greatest hits after only 2 releases may sound a little bit too pretentious.
Whatever the case, if you have been dancing to his hits (LIVIN' LA VIDA LOCA, SHAKE YOUR BONBON, SHE BANGS AND LOADED) or smooching over his ballads (SHE'S ALL I EVER HAD or PRIVATE EMOTION) from 1996 on...then 2001 is the time to enjoy them all rolled into one CD.
The guy also put on some nice extras (the duet with Christina Aguilera on NOBODY WANTS TO BE LONELY or the duet with Madonna on BE CAREFUL WITH MY HEART).
AMOR is being remixed in 2 alternate versions for the dancefloor, and the non-single COME TO ME is now part of the tracklist for some reason i cannot understand - i would have preferred seeing THE TOUCH by Diane Warren....
And then there is a medley of a live performance that will knock you off your feet.
Nice!

Of all the CDs I've purchased this one is the lowest quality of fidelity ever. The producers have compressed the life out of a high energy artist. This one can only sound good on earbuds or tiny computer speakers. CDs are usually known for full fidelity, sharp crisp highs, lots of dynamics, close to a live performance sound. The producers have turned a high quality performer's work into mush. Thanks Sony and Angelo Medina, you've produced a new low.

This is a REALLY tough album to review because Ricky Martin is an international performer, and my understanding is his best work is performed in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, so this has left me struggling to write a fair review.
(This would be like if I bought a country singer's CD based on a few hits that "crossed over" to the pop charts, then proceeded to give the CD an unfavorable review because I didn't care for all the country music on it.)
The best I can do is ADMIT that this is going to be a biased review. If you do not consider yourself to be primarily a fan of Popular Hits, sung in English, then please take no offence and simply disregard this review.

With that said, my opinion of this CD is split right down the middle, resulting in the 3 Star rating. If you are looking for a [mostly] English "Best of..." album that includes all of Ricky Martin's "American Top 40" solo hit singles, then this is the one to get. However, this compilation only has 14 tracks, and out of 14 I only recognise 6, maybe 7, of them from radio play/MTV. The other half of the tracks are not bad, but priced at nearly [...], it seems hardly worth it.

I just keep reminding myself that this is a "Best off..." disk, not a "Greatest Hits" package! It's an okay CD, but if you are anything like me, you probably just kinda want the hits that you already know. Download tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9 & 13, or shop around for a low price on a used copy. If you spend [...] +shipping on this CD, you'll probably be a bit disappointed.

RICKY RICKY RICKY!!! What can I say about you other than I find your musical experience so fun fun fun!!! You have always struck me as a genuinely nice guy and your good energy and irrestible vibe are what I believe you infuse into your wonderful work. This import greatest hits, THE BEST OF RICKY MARTIN definitely reflects those qualities and will be charished by ardent fans and will probably generate some new ones too. This is a generous collection of songs, and has a great bit of cover art featuring the singer in a sexy pose bursting forth in joy and freedom. I enjoy most of the tunes here, but my favorites are The Cup of Life, Livin La Vida Loca, Amor, Loaded, and the duet Nobody Wants To Be Lonley with Christina Aguilera. Lots of fun, joy and repeated listenings everyone!!! RICKY recenty "came out" (no surprise to most of us - they say the Popes Catholic too!), and it will be interesting to see how this new authenticity with himself will work into his future recorded material. All groups of people need to see themselves reflected in art, literature, music, and culture; gays and lesbians are no exception and now that RICKY is "out" he can bring this aborted group some much needed tunes to celebrate their mostly overlooked lives. I fully reccomend THE BEST OF RICKY MARTIN and think it showcases rather well a certain chapter of his life's book. It will be interesting to see what he comes out with next. I also suggest RICKY MARTIN'S 17, as it's another more recent greatest hits package where RICKY has choosen all of the tracks himself and they are all sung in Spanish. ***** Glad you came out Ricky and much love to You, your children, and your whole family. LOVE, JOY, PEACE, MAGICK.......

Very good album, I like the spanish greatest hits album "La Historia" a little better. If you only know english, this album will be great for you. If you are equally fluent on both english and spanish than "La Historia" will be the better choice.

muy buen disco. si eres fan de ricky martin tienes que comprar el cd "aprendiendo a querer" de jessica cristina, donde ricky grabo con jessica el tema "todo es vida". este tema es el primer duo de ricky en su carrera musical y fue grabado en 1992.

Enjoyed this cd very much. Heard some renditions of Ricky Martin songs I had not heard before.

music for people who love life and want alot of joy and movement to celebrate those things. after 9/11 we need all the life affirming stuff we can get.