Anyhow, Shakira, is a musical artist, she has a good deep soulful voice, plenty of kick and vitality. Despite having a deep voice, she is more than capable of reaching those high notes when she has to.
Laundry service, which is her first officially released album into the UK (others have been available on import), is, I am afraid to say, her worst.
Like most artists, Jennifer Lopez (or J-Lo as she prefers to be known nowadays) for example, enter the music industry with promises of keeping their traditional music at the heart of their music, that is of course until they get paid lots of money to do crappy manufactured stuff.
She has, however managed to keep to her spirit, and maintained a lot of original work (all the songs are her own, she even writes her own music). There is a good balance of English and Spanish music. A couple of the songs have English and Spanish versions, which is nice.
The album includes the unfortunate No.1 song, Whenever, where-ever (and also includes the original, columbian/spanish version, suerte/lucky).
Also included on the album, is underneath your clothes, which is still not my first pick from the album, but a great song none-the-less.
In addition to those two, there is a great array of traditional columbian music, combined with the works of modern synthesisers and the like.
I am a big fan of spanish, greek and south American music, and am therefore a little biased toward Shakira's music. I prefer the songs on this album that she has not released as singles (and probably won't), and they have a more romantic, spanish feel, with excellent guitar/banjo backings, combined with Spanish and English lyrics throughout.
The spanish lyrics are very good, but the English versions and english songs are not up to the same standard. You just get the feeling they've translated it from spanish, realised it hasn't rhymed or worked, and put in a random word in its place.
Nonetheless - a great album. Incorporating great dance, relaxing, romantic music, mainly of South American style, with an English/American flair.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I haven't got this album but I love Underneath Your Clothes! x
Johnsie 18.09.2002 02:41
Not my cup of tea but an interesting op..
Fiz_whiz 09.09.2002 01:18
I love underneath your clothes but haven't heard much of the other tracks on the album. For a VH I would have liked some more info on the other tracks on the album to get a sense of whether I'd enjoy it or not. If you add to this let me know and I will re-rate accordingly :) Fiz
Colombian superstar Shakira's first English-language disc,Laundry Service, carries the ... more
pointed credit "Entire Album Produced by Shakira". That might be a signal to US fans who helped two of her previous discs go platinum under the media radar--a sign t...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Colombian superstar Shakira's first English-language disc, Laundry Service, carries the ... more
pointed credit "Entire Album Produced by Shakira". That might be a signal to US fans who helped two of her previous discs go platinum under the media radar--a sign ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon...
Advantages: Too many to list, but that spanish/holiday feel, it brings is the main advantage! Disadvantages: None at all! Still listen to this 2 years later!
Bouncebackability 19.06.2005 (25.06.2005)
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Review of Laundry Service - Shakira
Sep 3rd, 2002
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