Vuelve () is the fourth studio album by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. Sony Discos and Columbia Records released it on February 17, 1998. Martin worked with producers KC Porter, Robi Draco Rosa, and Desmond Child to create the album. Following the worldwide success of the song "María" from his previous album, A Medio Vivir () (1995), Martin returned to the studio and began recording material while on tour. Vuelve is a Latin record with Latin dance numbers and pop ballads. "María" caught the attention of FIFA, who asked Martin to write an anthem for the 1998 FIFA World Cup being held in France. Martin subsequently recorded "La Copa de la Vida", composed by Porter, Rosa, and Desmond Child for the World Cup.
Critics' reviews of the album were generally positive; they praised its uptempo tracks and its production, though some criticized it for containing too many ballads. Martin received several accolades, including the Best Latin Pop Performance at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards in 1999. Vuelve debuted at number one on the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number forty on the Billboard 200. Martin's performance of "La Copa de la Vida" on the Grammy Awards show was credited for boosting the album's sales. Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it sold more than 888,000 copies in the United States, standing as the 10th best-selling Latin album in the country. Vuelve reached number one in Norway, Portugal, and Spain, as well as the top 10 in seven other countries, including Australia and Italy. As of 2008, the album had sold over six million copies worldwide.
Vuelve spawned six singles: its title track, "Vuelve", "La Copa de la Vida", "La Bomba", "Perdido Sin Ti", "Por Arriba, Por Abajo", and "Casi un Bolero". "Vuelve" and "Perdido Sin Ti" both reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs in the US while "La Copa de la Vida" became an international hit in both Europe and South America. For promotion, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve tour performing in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States.
Background and recording
In 1995, Ricky Martin released his third studio album, A Medio Vivir. On it, he shifted from his traditional ballad-style compositions to a riskier fusion of music focused on traditional Latin sounds, epitomized by the song "María". Taken aback by the starkly different musical style, his record label executives felt the song would ruin Martin's career. Despite this, "María" was chosen as the album's second single and became a breakthrough success, reaching number one in France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Finland, Italy, Turkey, and the whole of South America. As of 2014, A Medio Vivir has sold over three million copies worldwide. "María" caught the attention of FIFA. They contacted Martin in the middle of his tour and asked him to write an anthem for the 1998 World Cup; Martin subsequently recorded "La Copa de la Vida" () composed by KC Porter, Desmond Child, and fellow ex-member of Menudo Robi Draco Rosa. According to the vice president of marketing at Sony Music Europe, Richard Ogden, FIFA chose Martin because he "exemplified all of the ideals that organizers of the famed football (soccer) tournament wanted us to try to embody in music".
While on tour in 1997, Martin returned to the studio and began recording material for his fourth studio album. He said the experience of touring and recording at the same time was "brutal and incredibly intense". On December 7, 1997, Martin confirmed he was completing his next project and that the album would be released in February of the following year. He worked on the album with producers Porter and Rosa, and recorded it in studios across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Spain. The album's title, Vuelve, was announced on January 25, 1998. In an interview with CNN en Español, he emphasized it was going to "reaffirm the internationalization of my career and I know that it will help me a lot to destroy the stereotypes that may exist with my culture".
Composition and lyrics
Vuelve is a Latin album composed of 14 songs, consisting mainly of "red-hot" Latin dance numbers and "melodramatic" pop ballads. The uptempo tracks "Lola, Lola" and "La Bomba" () mix the musical styles of salsa and rumba with jazz, rock, and pop. On "Por Arriba, Por Abajo" (), Martin asks the saints to have his love interest dance with him. It is a samba-influenced track, accompanied by African chants and "wicked horn blasts". "La Bomba" is influenced by the Puerto Rican dance of the same name; its lyrics discuss how the singer gets drunk from the rhythm. The song features Cuban musician Paquito Hechavarría on the piano. "Lola, Lola" is an uptempo number, on which the singer sings about the women he desires. The title track, penned by Venezuelan singer-songwriter Franco De Vita, is a "sultry" love song with a gospel chorus and includes the narrator pleading with Martin's love interest to return as she gives meaning to his life. In a 2007 interview with Estudio Billboard, De Vita recalled he had been writing the song for 10 years when Martin asked him to compose a track for the album. "Corazonado" () and "Perdido Sin Ti" () are ballads with "aching, slower-paced narratives", with the latter track being a "bedroom staple with a dreamy hook and a simmering feel". "Casi un Bolero" () is a bolero about an artist "[o]bsessed with his own broken heart and threatening to die if his lover does not return". An instrumental version of the song was recorded for Vuelve, which serves as the closing track.
"Hagamos el Amor" () is an orchestrated ballad with a string arrangement and a "brooding" piano". "La Copa de la Vida", the official theme for the 1998 World Cup, is a samba song featuring various instruments including bells, whistles, horns, trumpets, and percussion. On the song, Martin declares life is a competition where one has to "dream to be the champ". "Así es la Vida" () is as "openly pop as it is romantic" and includes a chorus in the background. Martin recorded two cover songs in Spanish for the album: "Marcia Baila" () and "Gracias por Pensar en Mi" (). Les Rita Mitsouko originally performed "Marcia Baila", and was a success in France in the 1980s. "Gracias por Pensar en Mi" is an adaptation of "A Via Lactea" () by Legião Urbana from their album A Tempestade ou O Livro dos Dias (1996). Renato Russo had written it months before he died of AIDS. The narrator for "Gracias por Pensar en Mi is a person close to dying. Vuelve also features the song "No Importa la Distancia", the Spanish-language version of "Go the Distance" by Michael Bolton from the movie Hercules. It was released as a single for the Latin American edition of the Hercules soundtrack in 1997 and peaked at number 10 on the Latin Pop Airplay chart.
Singles
The title track was released as the album's first single on January 26, 1998. It was his first number-one song on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in the US. The song became a top five hit in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Panama, and on Mexico's ballads chart. It reached number one in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela. The track was the theme song for the Mexican telenovela Sin ti (1997). "La Copa de la Vida" was released as the second single on March 9, 1998. The song grew to be an international success, appearing on the charts in more than 60 countries, and reaching number one in 30 countries, including Australia, Belgium (Wallonia), Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Germany, Italy, Panama, Spain, Nicaragua, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela, as well as topping the European Hot 100 Singles chart. It peaked at number two in Norway, as well as on the ballads chart in Mexico, and the Hot Latin Songs chart in the US. The song has been ranked as the best World Cup anthem of all time by multiple publications.
The third single from Vuelve, "La Bomba", was released on June 16, 1998; it reached number five in Spain, number 27 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, and ranked on several charts in Europe and Australia. The album's fourth single, "Perdido Sin Ti", was released on August 18, 1998, and became Martin's second number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart. "Por Arriba, Por Abajo", was the fifth single to be released from Vuelve on November 3, 1998; it reached number 13 in Spain and number 33 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. The album's final single, "Casi un Bolero", was launched on December 21, 1998. "Corazonado" was released as a promotional single in the US and peaked at number 20 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. Music videos were filmed for "Vuelve", "La Copa de la Vida", "La Bomba", "Perdido Sin Ti", and "Por Arriba, Por Abajo".
Marketing Release Sony Music released Vuelve in Puerto Rico on February 12, 1998. Martin was on hand for the album's launch. It was released on the same day in the United States, February 24 in Spain, and the following month across the rest of Europe and Southeast Asia. To promote Vuelve in Asian markets, Sony Music Asia released a promo CD containing three versions of "María", and "The Cup of Life" (the English-language version of "La Copa de la Vida"). Sony Music Japan launched the album in the label's native country on March 25, 1998, to coincide with Martin's advertisement campaign for Suzuki. The European edition of Vuelve includes the Spanglish radio edit of "La Copa de la Vida" while the Australian adds the radio edit of "María" as well; neither features the instrumental rendition of "Casi un Bolero". The Japanese release includes the three aforementioned tracks. For the Asian market, the album includes two more remixes of "La Copa de la Vida" in addition to a remix of "La Bomba", the Spanglish rendition of "Casi un Bolero" and Martin's previously recorded songs "Corazón" (), "Dónde Estarás" (), and "Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo" (). Martin advertised Vuelve on Siempre en Domingo in Mexico and Hey Hey It's Saturday in Australia.
Live performances To further promote Vuelve, Martin embarked on the worldwide Vuelve Tour; he performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United States. The day after releasing the album, Martin held two sold-out concerts at the 30,000-seat Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico on February 13 and 14, 1998, respectively. In South America, he performed in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. His shows in Venezuela and Peru were held as benefit concerts, the former as part of "A Venezuela Without Drugs" campaign, and the latter for the Foundation for Children of Peru . Martin also participated in the second annual "Festival Presidente de Música Latino" in the Dominican Republic on June 26, 1997, where he had top billing for the event. In Asia, he toured in India, China, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore. A concert was planned for Indonesia in May of the same year but was cancelled because of anti-government rioting. In the US, he performed at the Miami Arena in Miami, the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, and Madison Square Garden in New York. His sold-out performance at the Arrowhead Pond grossed over $446,805 which landed it at number 10 on the Boxscore chart on November 7, 1998. For this achievement, the concert's promoter, the Nederlander Organization, presented Martin with the Estrella del Pond Award. His show at Madison Square Garden grossed $632,180 placing it second on the Boxscore chart of November 10.