Track Listing

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106226 in Music
• Released on: 2005-11-29
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
The English-language Oral Fixation Vol. 2 finds Shakira reclaiming some of the bite she showcased on 1998's smashing Donde Estan Los Ladrones? The Colombian rock goddess is making up for lost time: this is her second disc of new material in 2005. It's quite a feat, considering the four-year gap since Laundry Service, her scattershot, English-language debut album. Oral Fixation Vol. 2 is more mature and better focused than the spin-cycle pop of that 2001 disc. Kick-off track "How Do You Do" starts with a haunting reading of "The Lord's Prayer" before launching into a risky questioning of faith and religion. Shakira touches on the highs and lows of celebrity on a trio of tracks--the bittersweet "Your Embrace," the guitar-driven "Costume Makes the Clown," and the disco-fied, politically charged "Timor." Selfish men and failed relationships--two oft-mentioned topics of interest--anchor much of Oral Fixation Vol. 2. First single "Don't Bother" is a bitter ode to strength, jealousy, and survival; "Dreams for Plans" is a wistful collage of relationship memories; and Carlos Santana slides a sexy guitar riff under soulful standout track "Illegal." The purple haze of Prince hangs over "Animal City," one of the disc's most inventive moments. It's a free-wheeling melange of rock riffs, electronic accents, mariachi horns and confident vocals. Two songs from Fijacion Oral Vol. 1 make appearances--the somber "Something" and "The Day and the Time," which improves greatly upon its Spanish counterpart. Vol. 1, while at times enjoyable, was a portrait of a gifted artist struggling to keep her footing and retain her confidence. Oral Fixation Vol. 2 finds Shakira embracing the eclectic beauty within. It's a wonderful sound. --Joey Guerra

Customer Reviews

It just kills me to write this...
...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...

An oral fixation that will have you begging for more
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

VERY Good CD but...
...if you want Shakira's latest, "Hips Don't Lie", you can get it "free" from her website IF you have this CD. But be willing to go through tons of hassles, not to mention installing spyware from Sony ONLY to be able to hear the tune on that one computer!

Come on, Shakira, treat your fans with more respect than that!