Laundry Service

1	Objection (Tango) 3:44
2	Underneath Your Clothes 3:45
3	Whenever, Wherever 3:16
4	Rules 3:40
5	The One 3:43
6	Ready for the Good Times 4:14
7	Fool 3:51
8	Te Dejo Madrid 3:07
9	Poem to a Horse 4:09
10	Que Me Quedes Tú 4:48
11	Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Asi) 3:58
12	Suerte (Whenever, Wherever) 3:16
13	Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango) 3:43

Barnes & Noble

Colombian pop rocker Shakira has been primed for U.S. stardom since her riveting TV performance at 2000's Latin Grammys, and Laundry Service is the kind of assured, eclectic English-language debut that can only further the cause. The 24-year-old beauty's strengths are right up front: "Objection" delivers a snarlingly Alanis-like vocal, peppered with an exotic tango accordion and surf guitars, and a tough feminist perspective propelled by a surging carnival rhythm familiar from hits by Ricky Martin and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. Rather than indulge the processed hip-pop of her Latin crossover compatriots Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lopez, Shakira keeps arrangements muscular and rocking, quoting U2, the Cure, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles while dropping in Andean pan pipes and charango, as on the powerhouse single "Whenever, Wherever." This, as well as her dense, literate lyrics, defies stereotypical expectations for this tropical star. But Shakira has forged her Spanish-language career upon hardheaded, inconoclastic decisions. One of these, the Arabic-flavored smash "Ojos Así" which Shakira performed on the Grammy broadcast, is reprised here as "Eyes like Yours" and retains every drop of its exotic exuberance. Surprisingly enough, Shakira's lyrics survive and thrive in translation. Always a poetic lyricist, she devoted herself to learning English well enough to write in it, and "Fool" and "Poem to a Horse" neatly capture her offbeat imagery and wordy rhymes. Perhaps the greatest testimony to her diligence is that the Spanish tracks on Laundry Service, including versions en español of "Objection" and "Wherever," segue seamlessly into the mix. Fans of Latin rock have yearned for an artist capable of translating the music's unique charms to a greater audience -- with Laundry Service, Shakira is set to make such dreams come true. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

The Latin pop and rock en Español fields are full of talented artists who would probably be huge in the English-language market if they didn't sing in Spanish exclusively. Some non-Spanish-speaking listeners don't mind listening to lyrics they don't understand -- the beat and the melody are enough for them -- but many others insist on understanding every word that is coming out of an artist's mouth. Thus, Latin stars usually don't cross over to English-speaking audiences until they start singing in English, which is what Shakira does on 2001's Laundry Service. "Whenever, Wherever," this album's infectious lead single, is to Shakira what "Livin' la Vida Loca" was to Ricky Martin: the major hit that brought her to English-speaking audiences in a big way. For Shakira, singing and writing in mostly English was no doubt a challenge -- Spanish, after all, is the Colombian star's primary language. But it's a challenge that she handles impressively well. Shakira, it turns out, sings quite convincingly in English -- and her creativity is at a high level on melodic, hooky pop/rock like "Rules" and "Ready for the Good Times." Like Shakira's Spanish-language albums, this self-produced CD is enjoyably eclectic; she successfully combines pop/rock with everything from tango on "Objection" and Andean music on "Whenever, Wherever" to Middle Eastern music on "Eyes Like Yours" (which contains lyrics by Gloria Estefan and is an English translation of Shakira's late-'90s smash, "Ojos Así"). While nine of Laundry Service's 13 tracks are in English, four are in Spanish (including Spanish translations of "Whenever, Wherever" and "Objection"). And by including these four tracks, Shakira seems to be assuring her Spanish-speaking fans that she hasn't abandoned them. Dónde Están los Ladrones? remains Shakira's most essential album, but Laundry Service is an excellent English-language debut for the South American vocalist. Alex Henderson