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Life (Ricky Martin album)

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Life
Studio album by
Ricky Martin
ReleasedOctober 10, 2005 (2005-10-10)
Length46:44
Language
  • English
  • Spanish
LabelColumbia
Producer
Ricky Martin chronology
Almas del Silencio
(2003) 		Life
(2005) 		MTV Unplugged
(2006)
Singles from Life
  1. "I Don't Care"
    Released: September 13, 2005
  2. "Drop It on Me"
    Released: November 22, 2005
  3. "It's Alright"
    Released: March 7, 2006

Life is the eighth studio album and third English album recorded by Puerto Rican performer Ricky Martin. It was released by Columbia Records on October 10, 2005, in Europe, October 11, 2005, in the United States and October 19, 2005, in Japan.

Promotion

[edit]

"I Don't Care," produced by Scott Storch and featuring guest vocals from rapper Fat Joe and R&B singer Amerie, was issued as the album's lead single. It peaked at number sixty-five on the US Billboard Hot 100, and reached number three on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The Spanish-language version, called "Qué Más Da" peaked at number seven on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs. "I Don't Care" reached also top ten in Italy and Finland.[1] In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number eleven. Life's second international single, "It's Alright" became a hit in Europe, after it was re-recorded as duet with singer M. Pokora. It peaked at number four on the French Singles Chart and was eventually certified Silver by the National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (SNEP).[2]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[3]
AllMusic[4]
The Denver Post[5]
NewsdayB+[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
Slant Magazine[8]

AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Life a "livelier, better record than Sound Loaded, but he never once sounds as assured as he did on his 1999 breakthrough [...] On Lfe, you can hear him struggle with what he should do and who he should be. Sometimes he struggles and succeeds, which is enough to make it worth a listen – and it might even score him a hit or two – but that palpable sense of exertion means this isn't quite the comeback or makeover it was clearly meant to be."[4] Billboard remarked that Life "grows on you while managing to be entirely entertaining. If some of it does not sound like Martin, it is because his singing is often too far back in the mix, a mistake for a voice that is so distinctive, if not extraordinary."[9]

Rolling Stone's Barry Walters found that the album "aims to update the singer's hyperactive pop with trendy reggaeton rhythms, but the result is a scattered mess that spews indiscriminate polish and calculated grit over hackneyed material [...] Mixing bombastic rock, cornball dance cuts and crocodile-tears-dripping ballads, Life seems destined for a speedy death."[7] Sal Cinquemani, writing for Slant Magazine, found that the album "gets off to a remarkably slow start" and had Maritn "struggling with an identity crisis similar to that of George Michael in the early '90s," with "none of these songs" coming "close" to his previous songs.[8] Tijana Ilich from About.com felt that Life was "not a bad CD. It just tries to be something for everyone, and doesn't quite pull it off."[3]

Commercial performance

[edit]

Life debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200, with nearly 73,000 copies sold.[10] It also reached the top ten in Argentina, Mexico, and Spain,[11] while also peaking within the top 20 in Italy and Switzerland.[12] In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number forty. [13] The album was later certified Gold in Argentina and Mexico.[14] In January 2011, Billboard reported that it had sold 274,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[15] By November 2006, Life had sold 694,000 copies worldwide.[16]

Copy protection controversy

[edit]

In the fall of 2005, the album appeared on a list of the 52 CD releases from Sony BMG that were identified as having been shipped with the controversial Extended Copy Protection (XCP) computer software,[17][18] which, in addition to preventing a copy of the disc from being made, was identified by many security software vendors as having also reported the users' listening habits back to Sony and also exposed any Microsoft Windows computer known to have the CD inserted to malicious attacks that exploited insecure features of the rootkit software.[19] Sony discontinued use of the technology on November 11, 2005,[20] and recalled this and other titles affected by XCP, and asked customers to submit copies affected by the software to the company so that it could replace them with copies that did not contain the software.[21]

Track listing

[edit]
Life track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Til I Get to You"
  • Martin
  • Noriega
  • López
  • Randy Cantor[a]
4:56
2."I Won't Desert You"
  • Martin
  • Noriega
  • López
  • Cantor
3:50
3."I Don't Care" (featuring Fat Joe and Amerie)
  • Storch
  • Garrett[b]
3:48
4."Stop Time Tonight"Diane Warren
4:00
5."Life"
  • Martin
  • Noriega
  • López
  • Martin
  • Noriega
  • López
4:07
6."I Am" (featuring Voltio)
Garrett3:31
7."It's Alright"
3:31
8."Drop It on Me" (featuring Daddy Yankee)
3:54
9."This Is Good"
3:35
10."Save the Dance"
  • Martin
  • Noriega
  • López
  • Mann[b]
4:05
11."Qué Más Da" (I Don't Care) (Luny Tunes Reggaeton Mix) (featuring Fat Joe and Debi Nova)
3:29
12."Déjate Llevar" (It's Alright – Spanish)
  • López
  • Lamilla
  • García
  • Pajon, Jr.
  • López
  • Pajon, Jr.
  • will.i.am
  • Noriega[b]
3:34
iTunes bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Sleep Tight"
  • Martin
  • Noriega
  • López
  • Christy
  • Edwards
  • Spock
  • Martin
  • Noriega
  • López
  • The Matrix
3:52
French re-release bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."It's Alright" (featuring M. Pokora)
  • López
  • Lamilla
  • García
  • Pajon, Jr.
  • Martin
  • López
  • Pajon, Jr.
  • will.i.am
  • Noriega[b]
  • 6Mondini[d]
3:22

Notes

  • ^a signifies a co-producer
  • ^b signifies a vocal producer
  • ^c signifies a background vocal producer
  • ^d signifies a remix producer

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Life
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Argentinian Albums (CAPIF)[22] 6
Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 44
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[24] 60
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[25] 47
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[26] 26
European Albums (Top 100)[27] 31
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[28] 34
French Albums (SNEP)[29] 61
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[30] 57
Italian Albums (FIMI)[31] 14
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[32] 121
Mexican Albums (AMPROFON)[11] 5
Scottish Albums (OCC)[33] 61
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[34] 8
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[35] 34
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 17
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 40
US Billboard 200[36] 6

Certifications and sales

[edit]
Certifications and sales for Life
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[37] Gold 20,000^
France — 73,000[38]
Mexico (AMPROFON)[14] Gold 50,000^
South Korea (RIAK) — 3,474[39]
United States — 274,000[15]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

[edit]
Release history and formats for Life
Region Date Label Format Catalog
Europe October 10, 2005 Columbia CD 5205492
North America October 11, 2005
Australia October 16, 2005 82876733822
Japan October 19, 2005[40] Sony Music Japan SICP-918

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ricky Martin – I Don't Care". austriancharts.at. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  2. ^ "Ricky Martin & M. Pokora – It's Alright". austriancharts.at. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Ilich, Tijana. "Ricky Martin's Life". About.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  4. ^ a b AllMusic review
  5. ^ Baca, Ricardo (October 23, 2005). "Reviews". The Arizona Republic. p. 56. Retrieved December 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (October 27, 2005). "First Look: Cds". Tucson Citizen. p. 59. Retrieved December 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b Walters, Barry. "Rolling Stone : Ricky Martin: Life : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 9, 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Slant Magazine review Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Reviews: Spotlights". Billboard. October 23, 2005. p. 47. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  10. ^ Harris, Chris (October 19, 2005). "Alicia Keys Scores Third Billboard #1 With Unplugged". MTV. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Swisscharts.com – Ricky Martin – Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  14. ^ a b "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved September 28, 2011. Type Ricky Martin in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and Life in the box under the TÍTULO column heading.
  15. ^ a b "Ask Billboard - Viva la 'Vida' singer". Billboard. January 28, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  16. ^ Adams, Steve (November 4, 2006). "Martin's World View". Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 44. VNU Business Media. p. 66. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  17. ^ List of titles affected by XCP
  18. ^ "Sony officially lists 52 XCP infected CDs & faces a loss of sales". Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  19. ^ "Microsoft to Zap Sony DRM Rootkit". eWEEK. November 12, 2005.
  20. ^ "Breaking News, Business News, Financial and Investing News & More - Reuters.co.uk". arquivo.pt. Archived from the original on December 23, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  21. ^ Graham, Jefferson (November 14, 2005). "Sony to pull controversial CDs, offer swap". USA Today. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  22. ^ "Argentinian Monthly Albums Chart". CAPIF. Retrieved January 25, 2011.[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Ricky Martin – Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  24. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Ricky Martin – Life" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  25. ^ "Ultratop.be – Ricky Martin – Life" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  26. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ricky Martin – Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  27. ^ "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  28. ^ "Ricky Martin: Life" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  29. ^ "Lescharts.com – Ricky Martin – Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  30. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Ricky Martin – Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  31. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Ricky Martin – Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  32. ^ リッキー・マーティンのアルバム売り上げランキング (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  33. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  34. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Ricky Martin – Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  35. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Ricky Martin – Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  36. ^ "Ricky Martin Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  37. ^ "Discos de Oro y Platino" (in Spanish). CAPIF. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  38. ^ Decant, Charles (February 10, 2011). "Charts US : Nicki Minaj enfin numéro un, Ricky Martin de retour". Ozap (in French). Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  39. ^ ":: Best Selling Foreign Album in Korea (1999-Now)". October 2005. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  40. ^ "LIFE Ricky Martin CD Album". CDJapan.
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