Consumer Guide Album

Ricky Martin: Ricky Martin [C2/Columbia, 1999]
The boy-group boom is harmless-if-bad. Martin is more like bad-if-not-worse. Since he was already marked for death with Menudo, don't be so sure his rebirth is a one-shot. But don't make him a Latin-pride poster boy either. Slicked-up rhythm workouts and romantic pap were tokens of progress circa Xavier Cugat and Desi Arnaz. In an America where Spanish is a second language, they're the reactionary strategems of one more crappy pop star. C