Shakira! Skakira! From Colombia...

Shakira is an artist of great talent. I have known her music recently thanks to her English debut with "Laundry Service". You could listen to "Whenever Wherever" everywhere here in Italy. Then I saw a special on TV about her life and I understood that she was much more than that song. I have loved her voice, the way she sings and the expression of her eyes containg like a spark of electricity, the one showing a person in search of something. And this research can be read across her lyrics. Be it love rather than social themes. Even though I really enjoyed "Laundry Service", I do think this album is incredible. I have also understood that I prefer her when she sings in Spanish, she reaches me sooner. I don't know if that happens because Spanish is similiar to Italian or simply because I love this language. But that is that. I also like her songs in English, the way she spells the words. I hope she can record something in Italian someday as I heard her speaking in my language on Italian TV and she's perfect. So perfect that you could think she was Italian, with no accent, perfect grammar and so on. Astonishing Shakira! I've beeing discovering your previous stuff now. I wanna listen to "?Donde Estan Los Ladrones?" because I have had the chance to listen to beautful tracks such as "Ciega, Sordomuda", "Si Te Vas" and "Ojos As? " and I was impressed by their beauty.

Tasty But Not My Fix (3.5 stars)

Shakira's albums tend to be rather messy. She always sounds like an inspired artist, but only sometimes like a pro. Her albums sometimes lack cohesiveness, and Fijacion Oral Vol.1 explains why. Adding two remixes at the end of the album feels like a bad idea from early on and ruins the effect a ten-track version of this album could have had. Also, Shakira has never used as much filler as she does here. "Las De La Intuicion" sounds out of place here and is a decidedly dull song. "Obtener Un Si" never really goes anywhere, and the sweet "Dia de Enero" requires a lot of plays before it actually stays in mind. As for "Lo Imprescindible" lyrics and music are more than a little mismatched, but it is still a great song.

Best of 2006?

I bought this cd as a gift for my wife because she likes spanish music. I am more into rock music such as weezer, pavement, elliott smith, and rogue wave. The first time I heard the cd, I thougth it had some good dance beats and liked her voice. After repeated listens, I was hooked. I can't understand a word she is saying, but it is more beautiful in spanish than it would be in english. I go through so many cds, and there are very few cds that I don't get sick of after a while. This is one album that I can listen to over and over and not get sick of.