Taking Sides: "New" Shakira vs. "Old" Shakira

"The Shakira pop-experience rolls into town with an air of momentousness last heard with Britney’s arrival. Shakira’s spanish-pop wiles are more exotic than La Brit though, coming on like a particularly energetic combination of Ricky Martin, Dolores O’Riordan, Jewel and, um, Adam Ant – bombastic tribal beats, avalanche-like choruses and an implausible Celtic flavour all fight for space. On the plus side: English is Shakira’s second language, and the perils of translation create some shiny pop pearlers like: "lucky my breasts are small and humble/ so you don’t confuse them with mountains." On the minus side: Shakira’s pop histrionics are so overwhelming that it would seem somehow profane to, you know, actually like it."

The world's most long-distance criticism of the Song of Solomon.

And the record company tried to make her over Christina Skanulera stylee -- Christina's style doesn't even work on her, on Shakira it's doubly bad.

Having recently heard Aterciopelados' wonderful, really sparkling Gozo Pederoso album from last year and concluded it was one of my favorites from said 12 months, I know where my preference for Colombian music currently lies.

TRUE BELLY DANCE RULES!!!

Ozlem

3rd album: "She could pull on tight leather pants and be an aggressive rocker, or leave her hair long and straight to turn herself into a sweet balladeer. Beyond her image, she was finally beginning to live what she had dreamed of for so many years: she was a star on her own terms (even though she prefers to be considered 'an artist, not a star')."

According to the magazine Cromos: "She seduces with reggae, with the sway of her hips, with her engaging facial expressions. She revisits her old passion for rock and roll. She tosses her black hair as if possessed by Janis Joplin."

5th album: "In keeping with her increasingly rocker sound, for this album she left her hair loose and messy and filled it up with little colorful braids."

"The makeover logically followed the change in her music: her eyes had the look of an Arabic woman, appropriate for singing 'Ojos Así,' and her long colorful hair gave her a contemporary hippie look for songs like 'Ciega sordomuda.'"

"As if sales weren't enough, in various countries such as Spain, Turkey, and Argentina, girls were copying Shakira's style. In almost every school, girls were colorfully braiding their hair and wore friendship bracelets, and they were wearing out the album. They adored that end-of-the-century hippie look, and they identified with the love stories she constructed with uncomplicated poetry."

But then in 2000, "Shakira began the year with an identity crisis. 'I'm going through a really insecure period. Even if many don't believe it,' she admitted in Buenos Aires. Perhaps as a way to reaffirm her personality, she radically changed her appearance. 'Here you go,' she told the journalist while touching her hair, recently dyed platinum and golden blonde. 'A lot of people told me, "No, Shakira is a brunette." Jeez! I am not my hair, I believe that I've overcome that fear.' But the reporter had not even mentioned her hair. At that moment, her old image, the one with the black and red hair, was being imitated in cities all over the world, which should have diminished her insecurities."

I kinda knew that, but I'd love to see the English-language version become a huge U.S. hit.

As an artist I think we should recognize that selling more than 10 million copies worldwide off one album is not an easy task. Certainly she is the first artist from South America to be able to do that. Sensuality helps ,yes, but you still need some charisma to appeal in a world market. And shakira has proven that she has that and more.
Of course there is lots of room for improvement, but Laundry Service is hell of a good album for her first try out on a foreign language.

TS: Charisma vs Sensuality.

I don't like her music, but I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that the synical losers that bag her music will continue to change the radio station while her music gets airplay irritating those losers more and more! Where ever When ever we're meant to be together.. hahahaha I you can't get that song out of your head! Get a life losers!

Nu-Nu-Shakira:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqLVnVQSmLA

o_O

The autotuned chorus and the HOWLS. I dig the disco guitars at 1:25, but they only stick around for like 10 seconds. I like her heavy breathing too, no creepo.

This is probably my favorite Shakira jam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtnHn72K1BQ

ok, i don't know if that's true, but it's a good jam.

The heavy breathing reminds me of "Personal Jesus". Bassline sounds familiar but i'm not sure what i'm thinking of.

go jule go jule

I like it. The bassline's reminding me of 'Blind' by Hercules & Love Affair.

song is dope -- video is that perfect shakira mix of awkward/weird & hottt

Spanish version is much better than the English one. And it's not the howls that are the best bit, it's those strings.

(trying to put out of my mind that the verses remind me of 'Californication')

nah its totally the awooos, the strings are cool but they're pretty typical disco strings

the video for "she-wolf" makes me feel the way i did whenever i saw toni braxton's "you're making me high" growing up

for a song with awooos, lyrics about lycanthropy and general werewolf imagery, and a video like that, it's oddly unassuming. her vocal is kinda restrained!

this music video is just...i dunno. probably one of the most retarded ones i've ever seen. good song tho

http://i37.tinypic.com/2i7qp7m.jpg

man every shakira album is the same!

i. stick it on
ii. it blasts past me top to tail in one big headlong rush
iii. indeterminable period of silence
iv. scratch chin, blink, decide hmm, yes that was rather excellent
v. have nothing whatsoever to add further, go back to my biz

Apologies if this is being discussed elsewhere, but I just heard it today. Is this "Explore" song using a sample of "Islands" by The xx legit or just some interwebs mashup?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpAbsabew7E

It's a straight up cover.

haha wait

are we talking about this song "empire" yet, with its Tori Amosisms in the verses and its "And I'm like [wooooo]" chorus?

I was more or less into it until I got to the chorus but that chorus, ugh

'90s Shakira kicked so much ass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3gbisdtJnA

Also love this full mariachi version from an Unplugged session

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACYEETQfTtc