Martin goes original again

Being an artist, it is perfectly understandable that Martin Nievera rankles over being described as the King of Remakes. It is true that he first made his mark with originals, Be My Lady, Holiday, Happy Valentine, On the Right Track, Ikaw ang Lahat Sa Akin and others. Still, it cannot be denied that he has enjoyed an immense degree of success these past years with a series of albums where he mostly rehashed old materials.

No one is complaining about that though. I for one, believe that Martin can spend his entire lifetime singing every beautiful song ever written and I, plus many others, will always enjoy listening to his own versions. He is, anyway, one of those unique performers who has the ability to take any song and make it his own making them sound all new and at times even better than the original recordings.

But Martin is complaining. He wants to stretch his muscles as a singing star and get out of his very profitable but he feels, less than fulfilling, rut. So to commemorate his 20th year as a singer, he has come out with an album that is made up of almost all originals. I say almost because, while there are several new compositions. The album also includes old favorites like Chuck Mangione’s Love is Stronger Far Than We and Love, which if I remember right was first recorded by Diana Ross.

Titled Chasing Time, the album has Martin doing promising new works by Filipino songwriters like Isang Saglit, Isang Sandali, by Moy Ortiz and Edith Gallardo, True Love, by Ben and Deng Escasa, Sana by Andre Estrada, Chasing Time, by Louie Ocampo, Nasaan Ka Man, a collaboration by Louie and George Canseco and Habang Ikaw ay Narito by Ricky Sanchez. The most notable thing about the entire collection is that there are four compositions by Brian McKnight. As his Pinoy fans know very well, Brian is the man behind the big hits Back at One and One Last Cry.

McKnight is not only a popular singer, he is also songwriter and producer of note who has worked with Quincy Jones. Boyz II Men and Vanessa Williams and it is most unusual for somebody of his stature to give four of his songs to a single artist for a single album and to even produce one of the cuts himself. That, I believe, says a lot about his belief in Martin’s talent which I think should make all of us Filipinos very proud of our king of remakes.

Brian’s songs in the album are Never Say Goodbye, All the Way, Over and Thank You for Saving My Life, which he produced and which was first released as part of Brian’s own album Superhero. We are all familiar with how Martin sings when he has Louie Ocampo as songwriter and producer. Well, Brian is no Louie so these songs present a very different, more R&B sounding Martin who is doing his vocals "from the pocket." The result is quite charming in a black sort of way and is quite interesting.

Incidentally, McKnight is expected back in Manila next month for two shows at the Araneta Coliseum on Dec. 5 and 6. This should give all those fans who missed his sold-out concerts with Regine Velasquez at the Big Dome last Valentine’s Day a chance to finally see him perform live. He will be joined this time around by Asia’s Nightingale, Lani Misalucha who also has the vocal power to fill up the entire Araneta. Brian’s presence plus Lani’s already promises two very memorable evenings. But allow me to indulge in some wishful thinking. Don’t you think that aside from Lani, it would also be nice to see Martin join Brian on stage for a live rendition of Thank You for Saving My Life or Never Say Goodbye?

But to get back to Martin’s new album. The previously mentioned songs are not all that buyers will get when they buy Chasing Time. The package comes with a free VCD which contains music videos of two Smart commercials plus the songs Never Say Goodbye, which is the first single release from Chasing Time, Imagine Me without You and Can’t Stop Christmas. Then there are once more bits of Martin’s poetry, personal musing he wrote to describe his feelings about the songs included in the album.