Ricky Martin - MTV Unplugged (CD)

All Music Guide

At no point does Ricky Martin's MTV Unplugged sound like an intimate acoustic performance. Like most of the acts on MTV Unplugged since Eric Clapton's Unplugged, Martin brings in a full band, complete with electric bass and keyboards, so even if there are no electric guitars, it sounds big, full and polished, particularly since his band is augmented by strings and horns. It may not be smallscale, the way that Unplugged was in its earliest days, but the concert does have the effect of stripping Martin back to his basics which means that he does no Englishlanguage pop and avoids all the silly dancepop that became his stock in trade after "Livin' la Vida Loca," while also avoiding the desperate nature of his 2005 studio album, Life. What's left is the power of Martin as a live performer, and he's in good form here, delivering energetic performances of the uptempo songs and avoiding schmaltz in the ballads. It's an album for the faithful instead of stretching, Martin is relying on his st...rengths but it will satisfy those who still stand by Ricky Martin after all the ups and downs in his career. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read more Less