Laundry Service (Repackaged/+DVD) - Shakira

After four successful Spanish language albums, including an MTV Unplugged session, had made Shakira one of the best known and highest selling artists in Latin America, as well as a three time Latin Grammy Award winner, she decided it was time to try and break into the English speaking musical market. This resulted in a teaming up with Emilio Estefan who, with his wife Gloria and their band the Miami Sound Machine, were one of the first Latin artists ...
...string of 1980s pop hits.

Shakira's intention was never to follow that kind of sound, however. She has previously listed artists as diverse as The Cure, Nirvana and the Beatles as influences on her musical tastes while she was growing up. Not your standard pop fare there, then. Unfortunately, the music press didn't do her too many favours, taking one look at her blonde hair and good looks and dumping her with the title of "Colombia's ... more

After four successful Spanish language albums, including an MTV Unplugged session, had made Shakira one of the best known and highest selling artists in Latin America, as well as a three time Latin Grammy Award winner, she decided it was time to try and break into the English speaking musical market. This resulted in a teaming up with Emilio Estefan who, with his wife Gloria and their band the Miami Sound Machine, were one of the first Latin artists to cross over into the English speaking market with a string of 1980s pop hits.

Shakira's intention was never to follow that kind of sound, however. She has previously listed artists as diverse as The Cure, Nirvana and the Beatles as influences on her musical tastes while she was growing up. Not your standard pop fare there, then. Unfortunately, the music press didn't do her too many favours, taking one look at her blonde hair and good looks and dumping her with the title of "Colombia's answer to Britney Spears".

Yes, there's a slight resemblance in appearance and "Laundry Service" sold over 13 million copies worldwide, so there's some resemblance in sales figures as well. But the important thing is the music and Britney's dreadful version of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" proved that she doesn't have the voice for a rock song. If Shakira was to shake the comparison, she would have to do it musically.

For someone trying to prove she is not a Britney Spears clone, "Objection (Tango)" is a great way to start. There's a very Latin style intro, before being joined by a guitar that sounds very reminiscent of a Ricky Martin's "Living La Vida Loca". It's a high tempo and very energetic guitar led Latin pop song, which really gets your body moving.

The tempo drops all the way down for "Underneath Your Clothes", which is essentially nothing more than a pop ballad. In fact, it's very nearly nothing more than the Bangles' "Eternal Flame" with a Latin American accent on the vocal. There are parts where you could quite easily start singing the lyrics to "Eternal Flame" and they'd fit in perfectly. There is a very Beatles sounding moment part way through, however, which just about saves it from being a complete copy, but only just. I'm prepared to forgive her as she has a great voice, which makes this track a pleasure to listen to, but I wonder if the Bangles would be so willing to let it pass.

There's a very Eastern sound to "Whenever, Wherever", perhaps a nod towards Shakira's Lebanese heritage. It's a mid-tempo Eastern influenced pop song, which you could almost hear performed as part of the Eurovision Song Contest. The lyrics are worth a listen here, as there are a couple of slightly amusing indications that English isn't Shakira's first language, although as Roxette used to do pretty much the same thing, I can forgive that, especially as her voice and accent are adorable. What is perhaps more concerning is that for the second time in three tracks, the size of her breasts comes up in the lyrics, suggesting a bit of a preoccupation with them. Surely that's what groupies are for?

The sound of the album comes full circle with "Rules". It's an up tempo pop song, with some Ricky Martin style guitar in parts, although it's more of a straight pop song that "Objection". There are a few parts where Shakira's vocals sound a little like Vanessa Carlton, although she's got a more rounded voice and a more up tempo and bouncy sound than Carlton.

The pace of things goes down tempo again for "The One". Again, it's another very pop influenced ballad, although there appear to be a little bit of the Beatles influence here, rather than just any pop band. It's almost an AOR ballad as well, just missing a few more guitars to turn it into a stadium rock song. There are parts where Shakira's voice sounds a little operatic, proving that she's definitely a better singer than her look alike Britney Spears.

Despite the inlay booklet crediting the song writing to Shakira, I keep thinking that "Ready for the Good Times" is a cover version. This may just be because it's quite a generic up tempo synth pop number that would have worked perfectly in the 1980s. There are some dark undertones that would fit in with Depeche Mode, but it's got a dance-pop drumbeat that shows the influence of the Estefans for the first time. However, it's a nice bouncy pop song, and not at all unwelcome.

There's a similarly generic sound to "Fool", although it's a little more guitar than synth heavy this time around. It's another slice of fairly standard mid-tempo pop music, with Shakira's rich and beautifully accented vocals somehow rising above the song and turning a standard inane pop song into something that's actually quite enjoyable to listen to.

When you're trying to break into the English speaking market, putting a Spanish track in the middle of the album is perhaps a bit of a risk, although it is perhaps Shakira playing it safe rather than risk alienating her large Latin fan base. Whatever the reason, "Te Dejo Madrid" is one of my favourites, being another energetic pop number with Ricky Martin style guitars and a foot tapping feel. I have no idea how the lyrics translate, but this song makes me want to learn Spanish just to find out.

Next up is the rather interestingly titled "Poem to a Horse". Again, it's a fairly generic slice of mid-tempo pop and the vocals are again reminiscent of Vanessa Carlton in the verses, although in the chorus Shakira's accent comes to the fore and give the song that little extra edge. There's very little to recommend the song other than her vocals, however.

It's back to the rather 1980s pop sound for "Que Me Quedes Tu". Again, it's a very simple song and doesn't stick out, apart from it being entirely in Spanish, although the some of the guitar parts remind me of something that an AOR band might have produced. Shakira's vocals are quite laid back throughout most of this song, so even the instrument that has saved a lot of the songs on the album from being insipid is lost here, and this is certainly the weakest track.

There's another Eastern beat to "Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Asi)", which I believe may be an English version of the track "Ojos Asi", which was on Shakira's 1998 album "Donde Estan Los Ladrones". A little like "Whenever, Wherever", you can imagine this track being the Turkish entry at Eurovision, as it's another high energy pop song with an Arabian edge.

This is the end of the album as far as original songs go. "Suerte (Whenever, Wherever)" continues the Eastern theme, but it is simply a Spanish language version of the albums third track. Somehow, though, the Spanish vocal makes it sound just that touch more exotic, not that it was a bad song to start with, but there's no real difference between the two.

"Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)" is again simply a Spanish version of "Objection (Tango)" and sounds exactly the same as the album opener, being a high tempo Latin influenced pop song. Again, though, there's something a little more exotic and fitting in having the vocal in Spanish.

The original version of the album would finish at this point, although the limited edition "Laundry Service: Washed and Dried" album I have carries on. Sadly, what remains is nothing special, being nothing more but slightly different versions of first three tracks on the album. The first, the Sahara Mix of "Whenever, Wherever" is a more Eastern influenced version of this track, which doesn't work as well as either of the earlier versions and, coming so soon after the Spanish version, just sounds repetitive.

The acoustic version of "Underneath Your Clothes" add nothing to the original and, if anything, the song sounds even more like the Bangles' "Eternal Flame" in this version than it did earlier in the album. Similarly, the Afro-Punk version of "Objection (Tango)" provides nothing new, having a more tribal drumbeat, most noticeable in the intro and slightly rougher edge through the chorus, but combined with almost reggae style verses which just makes it seem like a bit of a mess.

The "Washed and Dried" version of the album also comes with a bonus DVD which, sadly, adds very little more to the album than the bonus tracks. The DVD focuses solely on "Objection (Tango), containing a live performance of the song, which is worth watching only to see Shakira's moves for the first time, but it's just a fourth version of the same song and isn't as good as the album versions as, being a live version, the vocals are down a little in the mix and aren't as clear.

There then follows a 15 minute segment which is supposedly "MTV's Making of 'Objection (Tango)'", which is quite fun to watch through once, but again adds nothing to the song. It's nice to see how the video was put together, but it looks as if very little went wrong or, if it did, they didn't want to show it, so there's nothing particularly valuable here, although the revelation that Shakira didn't know how to dance the tango when she wrote the song is vaguely interesting. The DVD then closes with a showing of the video, which is fun and fairly high energy, but it's the same basic song for the fifth time.

It's a nice DVD to own and to watch through, but you'd only really watch it through the once, and it's not worth the extra money that Amazon charge for this version.

There's not really anything brand new on this album. However, what is here is generally pretty impressive. Shakira has a much better and more rounded voice than many of the pop artists around at present and there is an interesting Latin and Eastern influence on some of the songs that make them stand out from much of the pop music around at the moment.

There's an interesting mixture of sounds and songs on here that will give the album a wider appeal. If you like standard pop music, there's a lot of that here, although most of it does have a slight edge to it to provide a little twist, even if that edge is in nothing more than Shakira's accent. If you're a fan of Ricky Martin in his "Living La Vida Loca" period, there are a few tracks here that will appeal. Likewise if you're a fan of Eastern and/or Arabian music, there are a few songs that lean that way that will hold some appeal.

Simply put, however, it's a great party album. There is nothing here that will have the long lasting party appeal of an Abba song, but there are plenty of high energy songs that make you want to move your feet and shake your body about a bit. Or, depending on how late into the party the album goes on and how much you've had to drink, shake your body around a lot. The Latin and Eastern edges to the album would also make this pretty good summer driving music, especially if you have a convertible and a pair of sunglasses handy, although the beat may make it a little tempting to put your foot down, so be careful of that.

What's best about the whole thing is that an album with this much enjoyment value is available very cheaply, now that it's around four years old. Although it should be, given that the limited edition is only just over an hour of music and there are really only 11 different tracks on it, which I would anticipate would make the original version only around 50 minutes of music. However, at an Amazon price of £5.97 for the original version of "Laundry Service" for what is for the most part a thoroughly enjoyable album, this still doesn't represent bad value. Even better is that copies have been seen on both eBay and the Amazon Marketplace from 99p.

Whatever you do, I would suggest you avoid buying the version I have "Laundry Service: Washed and Dried", as this bumps the price up considerably. For the three bonus tracks and the extra DVD, Amazon charge £14.99 and the Marketplace price increases up to £4.10, which isn't worth it for such repetitive extras. However, this version has also been seen for 99p on eBay, so if it's not going to cost you any more, it can't hurt to try it, especially as you could potentially sell it on for a decent profit at the Amazon Marketplace if you don't like it.

Not liking this album seems doubtful. It's fun, energetic pop music with better than average vocals, even if it is a little generic musically. But if you like your pop music with a little added fun, "Laundry Service" is where to find it. 

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