Oral Fixation, Vol. 2

by Shakira

Overview

Shakira delights in confounding expectations, and nowhere is that better seen than in how she secured a massive crossover audience on her own terms. She blended Latin pop and American mainstream pop, on both the dance and easy listening sides of the equation, on her 2001 breakthrough, Laundry Service, but it was no crass cash grab -- she eased herself into the transition, balancing songs in Spanish and English on the record while crafting tunes in both languages to appeal to both longtime fans and new listeners. That set the stage for her magnum opus of 2005, the two-part album Fijacion Oral/Oral Fixation. Volume one was her first Spanish-language Latin pop album since 1998 and the second was her first ever all-English crossover album, and if anybody was expecting the latter to be a continuation of Laundry Service, consisting of nothing but sexy dance tunes and power ballads, Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 will be a bit of a surprise: it's a deadly serious, ambitious pop/rock album, most assuredly not frivolous dance-pop. Even when the album dives into pulsating neo-disco, it's in the form of a protest song in the closer, "Timor," which isn't exactly by-the-numbers pop. And that's a pretty good description of Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 in general -- it's pop, but it's unconventional. Even when she alludes to pop divas past, whether it's with the foreboding gospel choir on "How Do You Do" that brings to mind "Like a Prayer" or how she cribs from Alanis Morissette on "Illegal" ("You said you would love me until you died/And as far as I know you're still alive" is very close to "You Oughta Know"), Shakira twists these references to her own purposes, taking the music in unexpected directions. All these turns and detours lead to the same general destination: the sound is grandly theatrical, darkly sultry, and unapologetically lurid, a place where Madonna and U2 exist not as peers, but as collaborators. For if this album is anything, it's a global pop/rock album with each of those modifiers carrying equal weight: these are pop songs performed as arena rock, belonging not to a single country but to the world as a whole. As such, the album touches on everything from the expected Latin rhythms to glitzy Euro-disco, trashy American rock & roll, and stomping Britpop, all punctuated by some stark confessionals, as Shakira sings about everything from love to religion, stopping along the way to reveal that women with 24 inch waists may indeed be heartbroken. If some of these ideas don't necessarily gel, at least Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 is alive with ambition and, more often than not, Shakira winds up with music that is distinctive as both songs and recordings. And that means that Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 is not only a markedly different album from Fijacion Oral, but from every other record in her catalog -- or, most importantly, from any other pop album in 2005. Other artists may be bigger than Shakira while others may make more fully realized albums, but as of 2005, no other pop artist attempts as much and achieves as much as Shakira, as this often enthralling album proves. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	03/28/2006
Label:	Bmg / Epic / Sony Music Entertainment
UPC:	0886919859225
Rank:	8740

Tracks

1. How Do You Do
2. Illegal
3. Hips Don't Lie
4. Animal City
5. Don't Bother
6. The Day and the Time
7. Dreams for Plans
8. Hey You
9. Your Embrace
10. Costume Makes the Clown
11. Something
12. Timor
13. La Tortura [Alternate Version]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Shakira   Primary Artist,Vocals,Chant,Percussion
Carlos Santana   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist,Guitar
Wyclef Jean   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Guitar,Co-Producer,Vocals (Background)
Gustavo Cerati   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Featured Artist,Guitar,Keyboards,Co-Producer,Vocals (Background)
Alejandro Sanz   Featured Artist
Tony Reyes   Guitar
Mario Ichausti   Vocals (Background)
Daniel Ferrer   Percussion
Sraphic Fire   Choir/Chorus
Emmanuel Cauvet   Drums
Church Of The Epiphany Chamber Choir   Choir/Chorus
Fadi Hardan   Chant
Patrick Dupre Quigley   Choir Director
David Sinclair Whitaker   Conductor
Mario Inchausti   Vocals (Background)
Morist Jimenez   Percussion
Albert Menendez   Keyboards
Seraphic Fire   Choir/Chorus
Pro Arte Orchestra of London   Strings
Tim Mitchell   Guitar,Keyboards,Co-Producer
Mike Weiss   Chant
Brendan Buckley   Drums,Guitar,Percussion
Roberto Cuao   Percussion
Richard Bravo   Percussion
Luis Fernando Ochoa   Guitar,Keyboards,Co-Producer
Shawn Pelton   Drums
Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis   Co-Producer
Matt Chamberlain   Drums
Teddy Mulet   Horn,Trumpet
Lester Mendez   Keyboards,Co-Producer
Paul Bushnell   Guitar (Bass)
Pro Arte Orchestra   Strings
Chris Chaney   Guitar (Bass)
Archie Pena   Percussion
Pete Davis   Horn,Trumpet,Keyboards
Leandro Fresco   Keyboards
David Levita   Guitar
Lyle Workman   Guitar
Victor Indrizzo   Drums
Luis Conte   Percussion
Pedro Alfonso   Strings
Hermidez Benitez   Percussion
Church of the Epiphony Chamber Choir   Choir/Chorus
Frank Morocco   Accordion
Henry March   Horn,Trumpet
Umberto Judex   Accordion
Gocho   Co-Producer
Albert Sterling Menendez   Keyboards
Ramon Stagnaro   Guitar
Rene Toledo   Guitar

Technical Credits

Lester Mendez   Audio Production,Programming,Composer,Producer
Shakira   Audio Production,Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Horn Arrangements,Percussion Arrangement
Gustavo Celis   Mixing,Engineer,Programming,Mixing Engineer
LaTavia Parker   Composer
Vlado Meller   Mastering
Juan Santana   Programming
Heather Reid   Composer
Mark Santangelo   Mastering Assistant
Tim LeBlanc   Engineer
Serge Tsai   Engineer,Mixing Engineer
David Massey   A&R
Jim Bean   Programming
Jaume DeLaiguana   Photography
Sergio "Sergical" Tsai   Engineer,Mixing Engineer
David Sinclair Whitaker   String Arrangements
Danny George   Project Supervisor
Bryan Gallant   Assistant Engineer
The Matrix   Pre-Production
Maria P. Marulanda   Design,Art Direction
Farra Mathews   A&R
Juan Cammarano   Assistant Engineer
Felipe Alvarez   Engineer,Programming
Jose Monge   Composer
S. Spock   Composer
Chris Brown   Engineer
Jim Gaines   Engineer
Oswald Bowe   Assistant Engineer
Tim Mitchell   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Tone   Engineer
Gustavo Cerati   Composer,Producer,Programming,Additional Production
Wyclef Jean   Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Programming
Brendan Buckley   Composer
Alejandro Sanz   Composer
Iker Gastaminsa   Engineer
Joe Wohlmuth   Engineer
Olgui Chirino   Vocal Arrangement
Peter Gabriel   Composer
Luis Fernando Ochoa   Composer,Producer,Programming
Nick Wollage   Engineer
Omar Alfanno   Composer
Ben Kaplan   Engineer
Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis   Composer,Producer,Programming
Rick Rubin   Executive Producer
Eduardo Bergallo   Engineer
Leisha Hailey   Composer
G. Edwards   Composer
Jonathan Mover   Engineer
Trina Shoemaker   Engineer
Pedro Aznar   Composer
Kevin Killen   Engineer
Kris Solem   Mastering
L. Hailey   Composer
Jose Torres   Additional Production
Pete Davis   Programming
L. Christy   Composer
Lauren Christy   Composer
Shakira Mebarak   Composer
Tweety Gonzalez   Engineer
Javier Garza   Engineer
Graham Edwards   Composer
Rob Jacobs   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Scott Spock   Composer
Luis Diaz   Composer
Jose "Gocho" Torres   Additional Production
Oedri Aznar   Lyricist
Iker Gastaminza   Engineer