Artist: Ricky Martin Album: "Sound Loaded" Headline: "Latin flavor highlights second album by Martin" By Siana H. (published November 2000) He bangs, he bangs, oh baby with this second album. The sophomore attempt by Ricky Martin is a very Latin yet significantly English musical spectacle. Mr. Martin was one of the first to ‘crossover’ and start the Latin explosion of the late nineties in the United States and is also the first to release a second album in English. The headmost of a trio of major Latin stars to bring ‘spice’ to the States, Mr. Martin left Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez in the wake of his ‘vida loca’ and left his mark on all of America. Then the famous hip shaking song that almost everyone knew the words to started to become unpopular. Now, people are starting to recognize and remember that destinctly 'Ricky' kind of sound with the first single off of his seond primarily English album, "Sound Loaded" entitled 'She Bangs.' Sound Loaded is among the best of Mr. Martin's releases to date. Although it has its share of cheesy ballads, the dance tracks more than make up for them. 'She Bangs' has the same strong Latin aspects as ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ and listening to it will make you want to dance. It starts out with an almost disco-like backbeat, and continues with powerful guitar licks, blaring horns and catchy choruses. Most of the songs on this album, like ‘She Bangs,’ portray the female species as a feisty one who breaks hearts, is a tease and is definitely not the girl next door. Mr. Martin seems to love ‘her’ for all of these qualities. The second track, ‘Saint Tropez’ is very tropical, and could pass off as anadvertisement for visiting Puerto Rico or any other Latin island. The song starts off sounding like a smooth jazz-like Sade hit, but then breaks in to a semi-salsa number with full congas, horns and piano, which are synonymous with the typical Latin tropic sound. ‘Saint Tropez’ is yet another song on Sound Loaded that depicts woman as a tease, and is actually named in this song as a ‘panchanguera,’ which loosely means ‘dancing party girl’ who likes ‘dangerous places’ and ‘walks on the wild side.’ Not that Mr. Martin minds it, according to the lyrics. One of the better ballads on this album is track 8, called ‘The touch,’ and starts out like ‘Casi un bolero,’ a hit Spanish song from his best album to date, Vuelve (‘Return’.) This song is the only ballad on this CD that doesn’t make Mr. Martin sound like Sting or Phil Collins, but rather someone like Brian McKnight or perhaps a little bit of R. Kelly. Mr. Martin sounds more like a young lover, which is better, because when he sings it Phil Collins style, it just doesn’t sound his age. The best track and the most blatant use of the ‘women are naughty’ theme is entitled ‘Jezabel.’ This song begins with Marc Anthonys ‘I Need To Know’-esq violin measures, and then climbs up to ultimate mischievousness with steamy horns and great use of Latin percussion. The lyrics for ‘Jezabel’ are extremely suggestive, and are what make this song fun to listen to. “I’m going down your winding road/around those killer curves/that work my nerves/you’re dangerous/you’ve got a camera down your shirt/you’ve got a slit in your skirt/for your dirty work tonight/now ain’t that right.” These aren’t exactly the most subtle lyrics, not that they are trying to be, though. Three tracks are translated from English songs into Spanish on the album, and no changes are made other than that. There is one song that is completely in Spanish, called ‘Cambia la piel’(‘Change the skin’) that is almost as good as ‘Jezabel.’ It is a very danceable and percussion filled track that may catch on like ‘La Copa de Vida’ did in both English and Spanish. Overall, great lyrics and an impressive studio band make this album a must-have for any Ricky fan. There is a bonus for all of Mr. Martin’s female fans. The CD cover is eye candy for any girl out there who enjoys seeing Mr. Martin up close and personal, and makes it seem that there is not one bad angle that you could take a picture from. Mr. Martin’s vocals are just as attractive as his features, and hopefully, not everyone overlooks that aspect of the 29 year- old Puerto Rican. Mr. Martin is music to anyone’s ear, because if you ever want to add a little spice to a mundane music world, this is the perfect solution. If, however, you don’t like ‘little Ricky’ at all, you got some ‘splainin to do! Overall Album Rating: B+