He worked with producers Walter Afanasieff, Emilio Estefan, Draco Rosa, and Desmond Child to create the album.
Musically, Sound Loaded consists of dance club tracks, pop songs, adult contemporary ballads, and mid-tempo Latin numbers.
[5]The singer worked on the album with several producers and songwriters, including Walter Afanasieff, Emilio Estefan, Draco Rosa, and Desmond Child, and recorded it in Miami.
"Love") is a Latin-flavored Spanglish salsa and dance club song,[22][23] with Cuban influences,[9] that uses "a percussion break, a truncated pop-rock guitar solo, and a lazy, lolling piano".
[9][16][24] In the energetic "Are You In It for Love", the singer suspects that his lover is "in it for kicks, private jets and Armani / And when the ride's over, will you even bother to call me?".
"Change the Skin") is a Spanish song, "marked by bleating horns, jagged electric guitar lines, and staccato counter-rhythms".
[27][28] The track was commercially successful, reaching number one in Argentina, Chile, Hong Kong, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, and Uruguay, as well as the top five in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other countries.
[35] The single peaked at number one in Hungary, New Zealand, Romania, Poland, and Croatia, as well as the top five in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, among others.
[38][39][40] The album's final single, "Loaded", was launched on April 17, 2001;[41] it became a top-20 hit in Belgium,[42] Romania,[43] Spain,[41] Sweden,[44] and the United Kingdom.
[46][47] Music videos were filmed for both English and Spanish versions of "She Bangs", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", "Sólo Quiero Amarte", "Loaded", and "Dame Más".
The collaboration was not released in a major commercially available single format in the United States, and consumers could purchase the song only with buying the album.
The tour began on November 13, 2000, at the Irving Plaza in New York City, and concluded on February 26, 2001, at the Guvernment in Toronto, with five concerts throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
[19] Later that year, he and Aguilera gave live performances of their collaboration on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,[67] the ITV's CD:UK,[68] and the 13th Annual World Music Awards.
[70][71] To promote the album's material in the United Kingdom, he delivered performances of "She Bangs", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" (with Aguilera), and "Loaded" on the BBC's Top of the Pops in November 2000, January 2001, and July 2001, respectively.
He highlighted "Cambia la Piel" as the album's "most interesting track", describing it as "an edgy gem marked by bleating horns, jagged electric guitar lines, and staccato counter-rhythms".
[9] Writing for Rolling Stone, Arion Berger called the album "relentlessly likable and danceable", while introducing "Loaded" as the best track.
[23] An author of Billboard noted "a smattering of well-crafted material" in the album on which Martin is "allowed to truly strut his vocal stuff", highlighting "The Touch" and "Come To Me" as "lovely ballads".
They also praised Martin's "special attention to his Latin roots by including a handful of solid Spanish-language tunes" that made the set "an album that offers a little something for everyone".
She highlighted "Amor" as one of the best mid-tempo songs in the collection and described "Cambia la Piel" as fabulous, adding the fact that the latter "prove once again that Martin is the only one of the stars of the 'Latin explosion' who actually makes Latin-sounding music on a regular basis".
[8] Similarly, AllMusic's Jose F. Promis called the album "a lushly produced set", praising its Latin-flavored dance tracks, including "Amor", "Jezabel", "Cambia La Piel", and "If You Ever Saw Her", describing the last one as endearing.
[83] Sound Loaded debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan for the chart dated December 2, 2000, becoming Martin's second top-five album on the list.
[86] In December 2000, it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over two million copies in the US.
[89] It was later certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipments of over 140,000 copies in the country.
[100] In the United Kingdom, the album was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments of over 300,000 copies in the country.