"Vuelve" (transl. "Come Back") is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin for his fourth studio album, Vuelve (1998). The song was written by Franco De Vita, while the production was handled by K. C. Porter and Draco Rosa. It was released to radio stations by Sony Discos as the lead single from the album on January 26, 1998. A Spanish language power ballad and Latin pop song with elements of rock and gospel, it is about the singer's true love, who gives the meaning of his life. It received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented its romantic lyrics and Martin's vocal.
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 hit, reaching number one in France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Finland, Italy, Turkey, and the whole of South America.[1] As of 2014, A Medio Vivir had sold over three million copies worldwide.[2] 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".[1] 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.[3] He worked on the album with producers KC Porter and Rosa, and recorded it in studios across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Spain.[4][5]
The album's title, Vuelve, was announced on January 25, 1998. In an interview with CNN en Español, he emphasized the album 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".[6] The album consisting mainly of "red-hot" Latin dance numbers and "melodramatic" pop ballads.[7][8] "Vuelve" was released as the album's lead single on January 26, 1998.[9] While "La Copa de la Vida" was released as the lead single from the album in Asian and European markets,[10] "Vuelve" was released as the third single in Austria and Germany on December 2, 1998.[11] The track was included as the second track on Martin's fourth studio album, Vuelve, released February 12, 1998,[12][13][14] The song was also later added to Martin's compilation albums La Historia (2001),[15]17 (2008),[16]Personalidad (2015),[17] and Esencial (2018).[18] De Vita recorded his own version of the song on his studio album Segundas Partes Tambien Son Buenas (2002),[19] with a "distinctly rock sound".[20] When De Vita was asked why he made his own rendition of the song in an interview with El País, he clarified that he was not competing with Martin and simply wanted to give the track "another point of view".[21]
"Vuelve" was penned by Venezuelan singer-songwriter Franco De Vita, while its production was handled by KC Porter and Rosa.[7] A Spanish language power ballad and Latin pop song with "slow rock harmonies",[23][24][25] it is a "sultry" romantic love song with a gospel chorus.[22][26] The track runs for a total of five minutes and eight seconds.[14] Lyrically, "Vuelve" which translates to "Come Back" in English, is for Martin's "true love, whom he says gives his life meaning".[27] 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.[28] He had previously collaborated with Martin by composing the previous album's title track.[29] In the track, Martin chants: "Vuelve, que sin ti la vida se me va. Vuelve, que me falta el aire si tú no estás. Vuelve, nadie ocupará tu lugar" ("Come back, without you my life goes away. Come back, the air is missing if you're not here. Come back, nobody will take your place.")[30]
Critical reception
"Vuelve" has been met with generally positive reviews from music critics. John Lannert of Billboard magazine described the track as "moving",[31] while David Wild of Rolling Stone mentioned it as "lovely".[32] An author of Radio Cooperativa named it "pure romanticism",[33] and Vilma Maldonado of The Monitor called the song's hook "instant and unforgettable" and its lyrics "warmly romantic".[34] Writing for Vista magazine, Carmen Teresa Roiz regarded "Vuelve" as a "brilliant, melodic work".[35] For The Dallas Morning News, Mario Tarradell praised its "sexy" refrain and felt it "makes the best of his power-keg vocals".[36] Although she acknowledged the song's success on the music charts, the Miami Herald editor Leila Cobo criticized "Vuelve" as one of the album's "weakest tracks".[8] In a 2018 article for Billboard however, Cobo reflected on "Vuelve" and cited it as an example of Latin pop having previously been a "crooner’s game" and remarked: "[...] thank God for songs like 'Si No Te Hubieras Ido', 'Vuelve' or 'El Buen Perdedor' - how could we have survived heartache otherwise?"[26] The Los Angeles Times' Ernesto Lechner declared that the song's "delicate electric piano and anthemic chorus" would make its parent album "most likely survive the test of time".[37]
Carlos Mario Castro from El Sabanero X named "Vuelve" Martin's best song, calling it "great without a doubt". He continued praising it for highlighting "the vocal capacity of Ricky Martin".[38] An author of Cultura Colectiva named it Martin's "best heartbreak anthem" and stated: "Even if your heart is in a good place, this song is great to sing your lungs out."[39] In a retrospective review of the Latin songs that reached number one in 1998, Billboard editor Jessica Roiz stated Martin "made everyone shed a tear" on "Vuelve".[40] In 2015, Univision staff ranked the track as Martin's sixth-best ballad.[41] Similarly, Claudia González Alvarado from Chilango ranked it as his sixth-best ballad in 2021.[42] It was listed on MDZ Online's Ricky Martin's "Unmissable hits" which a writer described as "creative",[43] and was mentioned as one of the 13 "Best Ricky Martin Songs to Add to Your Party Playlist" by Amanda Mitchell on Oprah Daily.[44]MTV Argentina also ranked it as one of Martin's best songs in 2020.[45] In his review for Vogue in 2021, Esteban Villaseñor ranked the song among Martin's most popular songs.[46]
"Vuelve" is one of Martin's most commercially successful songs in his career.[53] In Latin America, it reached number one in Costa Rica[54] El Salvador,[55] Guatemala,[56] Honduras,[57] Nicaragua,[55] Peru,[58] Puerto Rico,[57] and Venezuela.[59] It also peaked at number five in Panama and on the ballads chart in Mexico.[57][60] In the United States, "Vuelve" debuted at number five on the BillboardHot Latin Songs on the week of February 14, 1998.[61] The single reached on top of the chart two weeks later, succeeding "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, becoming Martin's first number one hit in the chart.[62] It spent two consecutive weeks in this position being replaced by "No Sé Olvidar" by Alejandro Fernández.[63] "Vuelve" ended 1998 as the fourth best-performing song of 1998.[64] The track also reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay and Tropical Airplay charts.[65][66] On the former chart, it spent a total of three weeks in this position and was the best-performing song of the year.[64][67] In November 1999, it was labeled as one of the "hottest tracks" for Sony Discos in a list including the most successful songs released by the label since the launching of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in 1986.[68]
A music video for "Vuelve" was filmed at the Ennis House in Los Angeles, California,[69] and directed by American director Wayne Isham.[70] At the beginning of the video, Martin is facing the rain. Afterwards, he appears performing the track at various areas of the house.[71] Carlos Mario Castro from El Sabanero X described the visual as "simple but high quality".[38] Cristal Mesa from mitú named it Martin's 24th best music video on her 2018 list and commented on that the "fresh-faced singer was melting hearts with his smooth face and extra stylized hair".[72] An author of Cultura Colectiva listed it among the "13 Videos to Appreciate Ricky Martin's Talent and Sickening Good Looks".[39] It was later included on Martin's video compilation albums The Ricky Martin Video Collection (1999),[73]La Historia (2001),[74] and 17 (2008).[16] The music video was uploaded on the singer's YouTube channel on October 3, 2009, and has received over 90 million views, as of September 2021.[75]
Dominican Republic singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra performed a live bachata cover of the song at the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year gala where Martin was honored with the accolade in 2006 and Guerra's rendition received the most applause.[93] "Vuelve" has been covered by several contestants on various music talent shows. Andrea López y Jonathan González performed the song on the third season of Cantando por un Sueño in 2011.[94] The following year, La Mole performed it on its fourth season along with Natalie Scalzadonna.[95] In the same year, Gonzalo Andrada covered the track on La Voz Argentina's first season.[96] On its third season in 2021, Alex Freidig and Oscar Rojas competed in a battle of covering the song, which Freidig won.[97] Also in 2021, Yohan Amparo performed the track on season one of The Voice Dominicana.[98] Prior to the single's release, "Vuelve" served as the theme song for the Mexican telenovelaSin ti which premiered on December 8, 1997.[99]
^Martin, Ricky (1998). Vuelve (Album liner notes). United States: Sony Discos, a division of Sony Music. 7 509948 878922.
^Barquero, Christopher (January 25, 1998). "Ricky Vuelve". La Nación (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020. Es un LP que lo voy a usar para reafirmar la internacionalización de mi carrera y sé que me va a ayudar mucho a destrozar los estereotipos que pueden existir con mi cultura.
^Cobo, Leila (March 23, 2002). "Reviews & Previews". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 12. Nielsen Business Media. p. 24. ISSN0006-2510. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
^"Entrevista con Franco de Vita". El País (in Spanish). March 25, 2008. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021. Qué pasa, que no te han gustado mis versiones de 'Vuelve' o 'Hay un extraño en mi bañera'? No pretendo competir con ellos, sino simplemente darles otro punto de vista.
^Lannert, John (February 28, 1998). "Reviews & Previews". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 9. Nielsen Business Media. p. 70. ISSN0006-2510. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
^Roiz, Carmen Teresa (April 4, 1998). "Música". Vista (in Spanish). The Hanford Sentinel. p. 72. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^Christensen, Thor; Tarradell, Mario (March 8, 1998). "Eric Clapton's 'Pilgrim' doesn't make any progress". The Dallas Morning News. A. H. Belo. p. 12C.
^ ab"Ricky Martin es el número uno". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). March 22, 1998. p. 69. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
^ ab"Lista de popularidad". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). May 11, 1998. p. 43. Archived from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
^ abcd"1998: The Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 52. December 26, 1998. p. YE-66. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
^Woodward, Mel (October 23, 2013). "[Live Review] RICKY MARTIN". Reverb Magazine. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
^De Leon, Angelica (December 4, 1997). "Vuelve Gaby a las aulas". Reforma (in Spanish). p. 3.
^Vuelve (CD Single) (Media notes). Ricky Martin. Austria: Columbia. 1998. COL 666644 1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Vuelve (CD Single) (Media notes). Ricky Martin. Europe: Columbia. 1998. 666644 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Vuelve (7" Single) (Media notes). Ricky Martin. Mexico: Columbia. 1998. PRCD 658686.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Vuelve (CD Single) (Media notes). Ricky Martin. Mexico: Columbia. 1998. PRCD 97222.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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