Oral Fixation vol. 2

Shakira | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 29, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000BOH8XW
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (142 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,722 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #36 in Music > World Music > South & Central America > Colombia

Track Listings

1. How Do You Do

2. Don’t Bother

3. Illegal (featuring Carlos Santana)

4. The Day and the Time (featuring Gustavo Cerati)

5. Animal City

6. Dreams for Plans

7. Hey You

8. Your Embrace

9. Costume Makes the Clown

10. Something

11. Timor

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It just kills me to write this..., December 13, 2005

By 

M J Heilbron Jr. "Dr. Mo" (Long Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Oral Fixation vol. 2 (Audio CD)

...but I thought this album was boring.

No seriously. I'm a huge Shakira fan. We're both from the same town in Colombia.
I've been trying to get American audiences to listen to her for years, and no one was happier than I when she finally hit.
I belong to the fan club.
She had me at "Hello."

I really enjoyed "Fijacion Oral, Vol.1", and I naturally assumed I was gonna love this too. I even said so in my Amazon review way back when. But I slipped this into my car CD player, and...

...nothing.

I mean sure, it's impeccably produced and played, and I love her voice with all its' quirks and swoops. She could sing my tax form and I'd love it.

But nothing jumped out as being "awesome" or "amazing"...things I've come to expect with each of her releases. Beginning with "Pies Descalzos", she has compiled a staggering catalog of quality albums. Even her Unplugged disc is one of the best they've ever done.

"Don't Bother" is a weak single. The first one off this record should have been "bigger", yet I don't know which other one to pick.
There are a couple of interesting things on the album...I mean, this isn't by any means a BAD record...it's just not nearly as good as anything else she's done in years.

Carlos Santana's cameo in "Illegal" is typically nice. The two Spanish-to-English conversions work, for the most part...actually I think "Something" improves on its' predecessor.

But the melodies aren't as catchy...overall, the songs themselves just aren't as good as on Volume 1.

I waited so long for this record...it just bums me out that I'm going to have to wait that much longer for the next one...

Shakira fans will have to have this...no question. I would have bought this record even if I read that this was the worst album since "Glitter". But this is not going to add any fans to her already immense following...

43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An oral fixation that will have you begging for more, November 29, 2005

By 

Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oral Fixation vol. 2 (Audio CD)

No-one can accuse Shakira (real name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll) of being a run of the mill Latin pop artiste. Her voice can be picked out from across a room, and those dance moves – you’d have to be visually impaired not to notice her.

There’s a reason for her popularity, and in this English language follow up to Fijacíon Oral Vol.1 (June 2005), she proves that she can keep her English-speaking fan base happy too.

Dramatically starting off with a choral rendition of a section of “The Lord’s Prayer”, “How Do You Do” is definitely one to watch, and first single “Don’t Bother” is about losing a lover to an admittedly better woman in all areas but one.

“I’m sure she doesn’t know
How to touch you like I would
I beat her at that one good
Don’t you think so?”

Chock full of great songs, she follows up the first two songs with “Illegal” featuring Carlos Santana, and “The Day and the Time” with Gustavo Cerati. “Animal City” and “Dreams for Plans” are also good, “Hey You” is a bundle of retro fun, and then she turns down the pace for “Your Embrace” and “Something”. Just to make sure you know your rest break is over after the last few songs, she hits you with the dance track “Timor” as a grande finale.

This is an oral fixation that will have you begging for more.


Amanda Richards, November 29, 2005

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Prompts Her Audience To Think, Feel and Care, January 11, 2006

By 

Rudy Palma "The Writing Fiend" (NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Oral Fixation vol. 2 (Audio CD)

There is no doubt that Shakira is a major force in both the Latino and Anglo music industries, and her latest album "Oral Fixaton, Vol. 2" helps continue her ascent to legendary status. Still, listeners expecting an album full of soaring vocals and syrupy romance as showcased on last summer's magnificent "Fijacion Oral, Vol. 1" will be surprised by an album characterized by many different themes and styles.

The oddity is that "Vol. 1," which was a completely Spanish disc, debuted even higher on the Billboard chart, scoring the best sales week for any non-English album. Also, lead single "La Tortura," the slick, sexy party record featuring Alejandro Sanz that was unstoppable through the fall and became the most successful Spanish single ever released, peaked far higher on the Billboard Hot 100 than "Don't Bother," the lead single from "Vol. 2," which fizzled at #42 despite an impassioned performance, catchy hook and lingual advantage. Still, the English disc is a rarity among pop music; it is experimental and interesting.

The ball starts rolling with the hair-rising "How Do You Do?," a track that has been cut from the album in the Far East do to its outrightly calling God to task.

"How do you do?/How does it feel to be so high?/Are you happy? Do you ever cry?/You've made mistakes, well that's okay `cause we all have/But if I forgive yours, will you forgive mine?"

She also breathes new life into "Dia Especial" from "Vol. 1" with "The Day and the Time," which tells the tale of a stormy relationship that triumphs over obstacles. She perfectly recaptures the mood of the original incarnation and sings like her very life depends on it, much like she does on the heartrending ballad "Your Embrace."

"Hope it isn't too late to say I love you/Hope it isn't too late to say/That without you this place looks like London, it rains everyday/Don't you know it babe, I'm only half a body/Without your embrace."

Meanwhile, the melancholy "Dreams For Plans" shimmers beneath sparkling production, while "Hey You" is a slinky piece of flirtatious fun ensconced in mariachi horns that brings levity to the album. She also sings out for those oppressed by war in the courageous "Timor" and provides her best chance at a hit single with "Illegal," a refreshingly understated piece that derives an awesome punch from Carlos Santana's playing and belittles those who play games with others' hearts.

Despite a few tracks that would have been better left off the record in favor of others, especially "Something," a dissapointing translation of the unbelievable "En Tus Pupilas" from "Vol. 1," one fact cannot be denied: Shakira does not rest on her laurels, but instead consistently challenges herself as a writer and prompts her audience to think, feel and care. There is something to be said for that, especially from a woman who not long ago barely knew any English.