The sun eclipses itself (2005-2006) - A Shakira Overview Pt 4

Fijación Oral Vol 1 (2005)

After the enormously successful Tour of the Mongoose and the surprisingly high sales for the miserably live record Live and Off The Record, Shakira decided that it was the ideal time to rest in her laurels and produce an album solely for her enjoyment – which is to say that, predictably, it would be a coldly calculated exercise of epplied marketing research. Sadly, this time she decided to suck all the life from the few songs she produced during that period that are worthy of mention.

La Tortura/The Torment (Shaketon remix)

Released in early 2005 and led by the summer-ready single La Tortura, a stacatto-driven reggaeton-ish homage to inaudible pap and ridiculously pretentious lyrics with no meaning whatsoever (oh sorry, I forgot that philosophic conundrums are meant to be cryptically represented!), the Spanish language album Fijación Oral Vol 1 is Shakira’s proud return to her primary market, only there’s far too much pride in it and little of triumph. Simply put, the dullness of most of these songs is jarring, and not even the overabundance of delicately arranged little details and genre fusion could manage to push them beyond elevator music status. The said first single is made even worse by urban pseudo-poetaster supreme Alejandro Sanz’s trademark tuneless growling, of which we are thankfully spared for the rest of the record. Still, things don’t exactly improve from then on - however, tucked in the end of the album there's a remix version does manage to improve on the original considerable.

La Pared/The Wall

Swamped by mid-tempo ballads that start off shakily and go absolutely nowhere, the record does have its bright spots, even though they are so overproduced and clinical that it’s impossible not to long for the hip waving, semi-tone uttering, rock-and-dance bopping Shakira of yesteryear. La Pared, a timid rocker that’s far too short and lacking in the enthusiasm and grit of olden days, manages to successfully combine acoustic instrumentation with eighties’ styled synthesizer touches that give the song, a well-written (for a change!) tale that vividly expresses the need for closeness and assurance of a woman who is in an uncertain relationship, an air of urgency and vibrancy that makes it rather enjoyable. Similarly, the sinuous No gracefully floats across constantly changing tempos and varying degrees of loudness in instrumentation, but tends to fall short of its promise by being soporific in the verses and impossible to hear in the choruses due to all the clutter.

Las De La Intuición/The Ones With The Intuition

Journeys towards techno-fied semi-dance music follow the same pattern, silently imploding in the unclassifiable fiasco Lo Imprescindible and delicately blossoming in Las De La Intuición, a rather pleasant and relaxed dance track that barely manages to keep the listener’s interest with carefully laid little touches, only to surprise with the impossibly catchy chorus, which joyfully rides on wave of techno effects. Similarly, the sixties-inflected Escondite Inglés alternates childishly between soft half-whispered verses and bopping, cheerful choruses that inspire you to get up and jump around the room.

Escondite Inglés/English Hiding Place

Sadly, beyond these two highlights things become insufferably insipid. The album opener En Tus Pupilas ought to be used to treat people who suffer from insomnia – so dull and unmemorable it is that even the slowest Amazonian sloths would find it lethargy-inducing. Things don’t get much better with the faux-bossa nova pastiche Obtener Un Si, which indulgently drones its way through big band-esque winds and violins guided by Shakira’s girlie purrs. Fortunately, she tries to go back to her former self with the marginally enjoyable Día Especial and Día De Enero, which sound like cast offs from her previous records, but at least capture some of her former magic.

Día de Enero/January Day
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Oral Fixation Vol 2 (2005)

Considerably better than her much publicized return to her Spanish roots, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 is Shakira’s attempt at boring English audiences to death, and even though she tries with all her might, her wicked songwriters and co-producers don’t let her! Which is not to say that all the material here is good (in fact, most of it is soporific), but at least it is a little removed from the endless droning of her previous effort. Led by the gorgeous Don’t Bother, a tense and bitter rocker that begs to be screamed, yet is given an elegantly catty delivery by Shakira, the album received impressively low sales for a massively publicized record, and required the addition of the impossibly catchy Hips Don’t Lie, a beautiful folk/rock ode to lust at first sight on a dance floor that pushed Shakira right back to her better times: the period between 1998 and 2002.

Don’t Bother

How Do You Do?

Still, some of the record’s songs ooze creativity – the simply adorable How Do You Do? is Shakira’s attempt at being transcendental by criticizing religious fundamentalism in questions addressed to a distant, unfathomable divinity. Led by heavy, sparse percussion and explosive choruses, this simply delicious song is an excellent album opener. Similarly appealing is the album closer, Timor, a track that was censored in Sumatra for its political/protest content, even if it’s only yet another one of Shakira’s attempts at appearing intellectual enough as to cater to her main fan base (because you know, pampered middle class twenty-somethings around the world are politically and socially conscious, in case you hadn’t noticed before). Led by thumping beats and a catchy melody overcrowded with hooks, it is a simply fabulous dance experience.

Hips Don’t Lie (featuring Wyclef Jean)

Hey, You

Sadly, after this the album becomes pretty much lost in Shakira’s overreaching ambition and overall self-indulgence. While the sprawling Animal City is funny in an Adams family sort of way due to its strange, almost infantile melody and downright idiotic lyrics with futile pretensions of social commentary, the Alanis Morissette rip off Costume Makes The Clown is simply disgraceful (it looks like that anorexic Carole King wannabe is the one who’s going to sue Shakira for plagiarising her image this time), and is only saved by its chaotic and shouty chorus. Things do rise above barely-mediocre, though, with the vaudeville-esque rock number Hey, You – a disturbing declaration of love that’s seems to have been written by the average stalker, but does have a sweet, cheerful chorus and engaging atmosphere that’s truly charming.

Timor

Unfortunately, the ballads (Shakira’s Achilles’ tendon) seem to be particularly weak this time, with impossibly dull and murky numbers that start nowhere, and boringly run around in circles to end up in the same place where they started. The melancholy driven Carlos Santana collaboration Illegal is a sedated bolero that endlessly drags over Shakira’s guttural weeping, and has what must be the famed guitarist’s only uninspired and mood-crushing solos. Even though the lyrics do have the extremely witty line ‘you said you would love me until you died/and as far as I know you’re still alive’, that’s about the only thing saveable in the entire song. The boredom factor is taken a thousand notches down in the indescribable The Day And The Time, a song so boring and unmemorable it’s actually nearly impossible to remember anything about it besides its sheer awfulness.

Dreams For Plans

Similarly drag are the dreary snooze fests Something and Your Embrace, which has French lyrics that are meant to elevate it from being sheer shit by adding a touch of cosmopolitan sophistication to it (they don’t serve their purpose very well at all, of course). The only tolerable ballad in the entire record is the soft rocker Dreams For Plans, which actually has a gorgeous chorus and a delicately woven melody that truly manages to reflect the bittersweet melancholy and slight regret in the song’s lyrics. And after coming to the end of this review, I have to remind you to buy her records here.