Shakira -- Laundry Service
7/10
There are two possible reasons I have purchased music: love or lust. Either I love the music, or when I was 19, I saw a video for "Whenever, Wherever" where Shakira crawls through the mud in leather pants. Whatever the case, I then bought Shakira's English language debut, Laundry Service. Laundry Service is a strange reminder that even as recent as 17 years ago, pop music was something created by actual instruments. Even stranger, the singer actually wrote the songs...music and lyrics! How weird is that? How desirable would it be for me to break down a 17-year old pop album track-by-track right now? I don't know, but it's happening.
1. "Objection (Tango)" -- Immediately you get the sense that Shakira is going to be genre-hopping throughout this album. This is some kind of weird tango/pop-rock fusion, and her musicians have skills. You also get the sense through her lyrics that despite the fact that she looks like God spent a little more time on her, she is going to be positing herself as a bit of an underdog. Then you get the sense that she is not going to sing in a way to be expected. She is going to start like some kind of breathy Britney Spears with attitude, then later she ill-advisedly half-raps. Weird.
2. "Underneath Your Clothes" -- Already we're at a ballad, but Shakira really introduces her most divisive element here: a facet of her voice which some have derogatorily compared to "a goat bleating." Yes, it's a strange throaty noise she utilizes when she goes to those high notes. No, it's not for everybody. At least it's different.
3. "Whenever, Wherever" -- Here Shakira really shows her appeal. She's blended Andes mountain music with American pop music, smiling through pan flutes, and laying out such lyrical gems as, "Lucky that my breasts are small and humble, so you don't confuse them with mountains." This song is so bouncy and catchy it's tough not to get sucked into the rush of it.
4. "Rules" -- This is a pure pop-rock song, with some really possessive lyrics. It's not dull as dishwater by normal means, but in comparison to some of the oddities contained on Laundry Service, it's as dull as...laundry water?
5. "The One" -- It's another ballad, and if you hated the way she sang "Underneath Your Clothes," you'll especially hate the way she sings this one.
6. "Ready for the Good Times" -- And now we've got a pure club song. Her guitarist seems out to prove that he can play in any genre, though everything has a slight, and I mean slight, Latin tinge.
7. "Fool" -- Sort of a downer ballad about how Shakira keeps falling for some loser dude's tricks. It's kind of relaxing, though. This whole album got a sort of relaxed feel, like you're in Shakira's bedroom or something, to where even when it's boring, it's strangely comforting, and also, Shakira is there.
8. "Te Dejo Madrid" -- Shakira throws her original, Spanish-speaking fans a bone, with this strangely fun, upbeat Europop song. A couple minutes in, she busts out a surprise harmonica, and you better believe she is playing that thing herself.
9. "Poem to a Horse" -- About the only time on this album Shakira doesn't sound like she has a big grin on her face. For this kiss off to a junkie ex, Shakira's band busts out a cool stuttering drum beat and some horns. It's like her angry Alanis Morissette song.
10. "Que Me Quedes Tú" -- I think this moody, atmospheric ballad is a truly great song. It combines some Middle Eastern influences with some spacey guitar effects and the bass line from U2's "New Years Day." Shakira sings this song in plaintive Spanish, and in late 2002, when I was going through one of my 5,000 depressions, this song hit the spot. Oh, yeah, she can play drums, too.
11. "Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Así)" -- Shakira takes that Middle Eastern influence from the last song and amps it up to a million, with this belly-dancing romper. It's followed by bonus Spanish versions of "Objection" and "Whenever, Wherever," and then that's it, a weird pop album for 2001, and me having to actually admit that the pop album I bought because I thought the singer was hot is not too bad. It also exists in that weird, just-after 9/11 world, which has produced some singular, strangely period-insular artifacts. It's a strange vibe, and you can just slightly feel it here. I'm not sure how to describe it...you'll know it when you hear it.
2001 Epic
1. Objection (Tango) 3:44
2. Underneath Your Clothes 3:45
3. Whenever, Wherever 3:16
4. Rules 3:40
5. The One 3:43
6. Ready for the Good Times 4:14
7. Fool 3:51
8. Te Dejo Madrid 3:07
9. Poem to a Horse 4:09
10. Que Me Quedes Tú 4:48
11. Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Así) 3:58
12. Suerte (Whenever, Wherever) 3:16
13. Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango) 3:43
Comments
We'd recommend Donde Estan Los Ladrones, which is the Spanish language album Ojos Asi came from.
Oh, and the video for Ojos Asi made me and my roommates in college (and Jessica's) go "WHAT WAS THAT? THAT WAS AWESOME!" I'm hoping you'll know where and why, even if I've seen that move in other movies, etc., since then. If you haven't seen the video yet, do it, do it NOW! ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BzkbSq7pww
I agree that she sings far more confidently in Spanish. She definitely seems to have to use that "baby voice" and "goat singing" as crutches in English, too, to sing words she doesn't seem to be comfortable pronouncing. That may be why I gravitate toward "Que Me Quedes Tu" on this album.
I left out this tidbit in the review, but I had to take 18 hours of Spanish in college (Despite explaining to the counselor again and again "But this is an ENGLISH degree!!!"), and listened to Shakira/watched Univision in hopes that my skills would improve. They didn't, but I did encounter many people at that time who shared your opinion, and recommended that I listen to Shakira's full-Spanish albums instead of this one. Kind of reminds me of that band Kent, whose discography I reviewed a few years ago. They recorded 13 albums in their native Swedish, but did two English versions of a couple of their early albums to try to break big in America. Their gambit didn't pay off, and many fans think that the singer sounds far better in Swedish, and that his phrasing sounds strange in English...and yet, I really appreciate having two Kent albums where I can actually understand what he is talking about.
Also, please, please tell me you are referring to the Bruce Lee/Karate Kid "crane technique" Kung Fu move she pulls off 24 seconds in.
Jessica says she's glad she discovered her in Spanish, or else she'd have thought the English stuff was how she really could be. Her minor was in Spanish, too, so she had that "in" with her. That and she hung out with a group of Puerto Ricans at her college, so that was another encouragement.
For me, I took Spanish in junior high and high school and always enjoyed it, but I've really grown to love it after circling back to it about 12 years ago (when I had to study it to graduate with my Master's). Something about the sounds, etc., just tickle something for me, and I also enjoy the proliferation of Hispanic/Latinx authors out there that are doing injecting such life into the literary scene and are quite accessible even as they use Spanish phrases here and there. Sandra Cisneros is my favorite for this (you can enjoy the sounds even if you don't know the meaning), but it's also fun to pause here and there and look things up. It's been a big influence for me, too, as I have a character in the novel I'm working on who immigrated from Mexico, so I've been really working at making her authentic and as awesome as she can be.
Sorry, tangent! But I would say Shakira's phrasing seems stronger and more poetic in the album I noted. "Wherever, Whenever" on Laundry Service moves pretty well and has her singing confidently, but it's still en Espanol con Shakira for me (not sure how to do a tilde over the "n" online, grr).
That's odd about your degree. Having a second language is common with graduate literature degrees, I know, so you can explore a little further than just in English, but it seems a bit much for a bachelor's. There's only so much you can even cover in a four year degree with just literature, so an extra language on top of that is a lot.
Man, I am terrible at foreign languages. Two years of French in high school (the only language offered), 18 hours of Spanish in college, and nothing to show for it. The only thing I am academically worse at is complex physics. Also...Crystal speaks perfect Spanish. She tested into my 18th hour in college. Weird. Those 18 hours were worth it for that, as well as that trip to Mexico where I drank approximately 28 gallons of Manzana Lift. It was like 10 cents a bottle. Gotta get back there.