Music zone

Ricky Martin-Ricky Martin
(Sony Music)****

THE second album from the Latin pop sensation with angular good looks and a commercial sound. And it should do him no harm whatsoever. Not that anything special happens. But the songs, most of them co-penned by R. Rosa, are catchy enough. The opening current hit single Livin’ La Vida Loca is a move in the right direction. It has got a variety of upbeat sounds, all adding more fun to the celebration. Being Ricky’s English-language debut, the album is packed with lots of surprises. There is a high profile duet with the Material Girl Madonna on Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corajon). Among the major headliners are La Diosa Del Carnaval (Spanish Eyes), Love You For A Day and Shake Your Bon-Bon. Then there are a bunch of soul-stirring ballads like Private Emotion ( a duet with Swedish diva Meja), You Stay With Me (co-witten by Jon Secada) and I Count The Minutes. After Ricky’s mega success with Maria and Cup of Life a lot of hopes were set on this second album and Ricky quite lives up to the expectations.

Bruce Hornsby-Spirit Trail
(BMG Crescendo)**

Bruce became US number 1 in 1986 with his hit single The Way It Is teaming up with the range which featured mandolin, guitar and violin of David Mansfield, who was in Bob Dylan’s 1978 touring band. Unfortunately Bruce couldn’t repeat the same success again and was counted amongst the one-hit wonders. No doubt it’s all very well played here but somewhere, the album’s attempt at a full rock production doesn’t quite seem right. In fact in the entire process, the vocals are buried far down to actually make any impact. However what’s pleasing here is the way the elements of Southern Soul, R&B, Rock and Country are mixed with piano. The pick of the songs here are therefore the simpler ones: Shadow Hand, Pete & Manny, Great Divide and Swan Song. The album again is unlikely to do the same old magic, but is likely to be a hit with the ones who are yet to discover rock.

Jocelyn Enriquez - Jocelyn
(Warner Music) ***

Pop is currently suffering from a terminal case of ubiquity. A glut of close harmony combos and sloppy swing beats make it impossible to sort female pop artistes from each other. What a relief, then, to come across Jocelyn Enriquez. With rich blended tracks like Lovely People, If I’m Falling In Love, Just Get The Rhythm and Save Me From Being Alone, Jocelyn certainly deserves a round of applause. Jocelyn’s choice of material is spot-on. Her harmonies on Do You Miss Me, for instance, provide a warm, rich counterpoint to the hip-hop beat, while the trancey groove of Get Into The Rhythm perfectly captures the real party mood, Give it a shot.

Boys & Girls - Various Artistes
(Milestone) ***

A 19-track compilation of hits largely culled from boy and girl bands of the 90s is a reminder of how poptastic the joyous, narcissistic preening of new age music has become. Here we have probably the most prominent young acts in the music industry today. Some big steppers include All I Want Is You by 911, 10,000 Promises by Backstreet Boys, Stop by Spice Girls, Last Thing On My Mind performed by Steps, Let’s Go Around Again by Louise, Back To Where We Started by Worlds Apart, I Want You To Want Me by Solid Harmonie and I feel Love by Vanessa Mae.

All the tracks here are already big hits, so there’s no second thinking about them. And with so many chart-breakers together, this is a true value-for-money album.

Album of the month
From Q With Love - Quincy Jones (Warner Music)

From Q, With Love is an assembled version of the most notable works of 26-time Grammy Award winner Quincy Jones’ musical career as a producer, composer, musician and conductor. Quincy stands as one of the most successful and versatile music personalities. He has left no musical boundaries undiscovered. He has shuffled hip-hop, jazz, classical, pop, African and Brazilian music into distinctive shapes and sizes. The compilations got everything. From the theme of the Sandpiper (The Shadow Of Your Silence) to Setembro (Brazilian Wedding Song), the album is amazingly broad. The 25 love songs here are performed by some of the most notable and successful music artistes compiled from material recorded over the past 32 years. The standouts remain The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite), Baby, Come To Me, Liberian Girl, Love Dance, The Lady In My Life, One Hundred Ways, Rock With You, Human Nature, Heaven’s Girl, Somewhere and Sax In The Garden, There are performances by one of the biggest music giants like George Benson, David Foster, Aretha Franklin, Aaron Hall, Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Brandy, Brian McKnight, Frank Sinatra with the Count Basic Orchestra, Luther Vandross and George Duke.

— Saurabh & Gaurav