Martin forever

I do not know if he keeps count but I have a feeling that Martin Nievera has recorded more albums than any other Filipino male artist. Female topnotcher is hands down, Pilita Corrales who has done hundreds, many of them big sellers. Among the males the winner is Victor Wood although at the rate Martin is going with at least one release a year not counting the compilations, I won’t be surprised if he had already caught up with the Jukebox King.

Now there is only one reason why an artist would be able to record a lot of albums. He sells. A star might continue to be active in concerts, films and TV but the recording will cease once he stops selling. Martin is one of those who continue to sell even after over 25 years in the business. And I think this is because of qualities he shares with Pilita and Victor.

Tops among these is a distinctive voice and style. You cannot mistake them for anybody else or accuse them of being clones of foreign artists. That is why despite some covers and many years later, their originals stay their own. A Million Thanks To You for Pilita and Malupit Na Pag-ibig for Victor and Be My Lady for Martin.

Another one is the originality in their approach to materials. They can take any song and make them their own. Remember what Pilita did with Dahil Sa ‘Yo or Victor with Eternally and Martin with I Dreamed A Dream. Their versions proved to be so successful that it is their names that pop up at the mention of those titles, notwithstanding the fact that a lot of other singers have already sang those songs.

I thought of all these while checking out Martin’s The Forever Collection. This is a boxed set of the three CDs in his Forever series. I do not recall when the first album came out and Pinoys are so guilty of wanting to make everything seem new, that there is nothing in the box that says when Martin made these recordings. Get a sense of history, please. But anyway, the Forever albums are made up of love songs made doubly memorable by Martin’s sentimental comments about every cut.

“Forever’s not a word, it’s a beautiful place. To get there together is worth every race.” He says of Kenny Loggins’ Forever. “To die a thousand times I’d do for you. For to live without your kiss I could never do.” He wrote of Roberta Flack’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Now the idea of Martin falling in love and promising Forever is not likely to hold up anywhere anymore. But you have to agree this guy can sing like he means every word of these love songs.

Chances are Martin fans already own copies of these albums. But they are now so old and probably worn out that they can certainly use a new set. Besides, as I have discovered while listening to these, the albums hold up better when you hear them one after another.

CD 1 is Forever: Wildflower, You Take My Breath Away, The Promise, It Might Be You, Of All The Things, Ikaw Lang Ang Mamahalin, The Harder I Try and What Matters Most.

CD 2 is Forever Forever: Just Once, Love Me For What I Am, Sweet Baby, Forevermore, Something New In My Life, Just When I Needed You Most, Best Of Me, I Don’t Want You To Go and Somewhere In Time.

CD 3 is Return To Forever: Against All Odds, Goodbye Girl, The Last Time I Felt Like This, Please Don’t Ask Me, Some Good Things Never Last, Someone That I Used To Love, Too Shy To Say and Kahit Isang Saglit.

Incidentally, now also available is Martin’s 18 Greatest Hits, made up of his early breakthrough recordings with Vicor. He was still feeling his way around then, which is evidenced by the assortment of songs.

Some pop, Please Don’t Throw My Love Away, You Are To Me, some dance, You’re Gonna Get It Tonight, On The Right Track, and some OPM ballads, Be My Lady, Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin, Say That You Love Me, Holiday, Paradise and others.

Martin was only 18 then but judging from those songs, it was undeniable that he already had what it takes to be a star.