Shakira has always sounded like a goat to me. Sorry, that just my opinion. Now that doesn't mean that I haven't liked some of her songs: Whenever Wherever, Objection (Tango) and Beautiful Liar with Beyonce. Hell, I even occasionally had to bop my head to Hips Don't Lie. I even like singers who sound like goats. (Stevie Nicks is a goddess) I approach this album with great trepidation. Will I like it? Will I vomit? Will I want to kill myself after listening to it like the musical equivalent of watching the video in The Ring? I have confessed already to liking the title track, despite trying my best to hate it. It is sooooo cheesy and super-weird, but it's kinda irresistible. Disco-cheese at it's very best. Great way to start off the album. The next track, Did It Again, is a nice little ditty that tracks along with quick, choppy lyrics and lots of hiccup vocals by Shakira. Great drum track and strings moving the pace and a cute vocal breakdown in the middle. Long Time is a dark sounding, deep vocal track that again has quick fire lyrics and a sexy drum line. With some Middle-Eastern influences and horns, this is a pretty catchy song. Why Wait is a great Neptune's produced track that is a dance floor burner. Great beat and bright vocals. This has club written all over it! Definitely a standout track. Good Stuff has a mid tempo chug and nice production, but is largely forgettable. Continues on with the Middle-Eastern theme that runs throughout the disc. Men in This Town is about the guys in Cali that Shakira encounters while she is working there. It takes her vocals to a different, fuller place on the chorus that sounds refreshingly full and throaty. It's clubby and danceable, another standout for the album. Gypsy is a slower, simple song that finds Shakira back in the territory of Underneath Your Clothes, where I never wanted to see her again!! I hate that song, and this song doesn't do it for me either. It doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the songs here. Spy with Wyclef Jean starts off with the most grating noise I could imagine coming out of a human beings mouth (sound like a sick cat playing a trumpet) that repeats several times as the song moves along. You have to hear it for yourself. This song sounds like generic disco and doesn't really go anywhere throughout it's three-and-a-half minute run. Mon Amour is not one of my favorites by a long shot on this collection. It is filler for the disc and I am surprised it is the album closer. Not a strong finish. There are three Spanish versions of the tracks Did It Again (Le Hecho Esta Hecho) Why Wait (Anos Luz) and She Wolf (Loba) that give an interesting perspective and help support my theory that Shakira sounds better in Spanish. Overall I am pleasantly surprised with She Wolf, as I was prepared to completely hate it. I would say it has some really nice dance cuts, but could lose the slower, simpler tunes. You're getting there for me, Shakira. Stay cheesy, I like you that way.
Monday, November 2, 2009
SHAKIRA: SHE WOLF - REVIEW
Shakira has always sounded like a goat to me. Sorry, that just my opinion. Now that doesn't mean that I haven't liked some of her songs: Whenever Wherever, Objection (Tango) and Beautiful Liar with Beyonce. Hell, I even occasionally had to bop my head to Hips Don't Lie. I even like singers who sound like goats. (Stevie Nicks is a goddess) I approach this album with great trepidation. Will I like it? Will I vomit? Will I want to kill myself after listening to it like the musical equivalent of watching the video in The Ring? I have confessed already to liking the title track, despite trying my best to hate it. It is sooooo cheesy and super-weird, but it's kinda irresistible. Disco-cheese at it's very best. Great way to start off the album. The next track, Did It Again, is a nice little ditty that tracks along with quick, choppy lyrics and lots of hiccup vocals by Shakira. Great drum track and strings moving the pace and a cute vocal breakdown in the middle. Long Time is a dark sounding, deep vocal track that again has quick fire lyrics and a sexy drum line. With some Middle-Eastern influences and horns, this is a pretty catchy song. Why Wait is a great Neptune's produced track that is a dance floor burner. Great beat and bright vocals. This has club written all over it! Definitely a standout track. Good Stuff has a mid tempo chug and nice production, but is largely forgettable. Continues on with the Middle-Eastern theme that runs throughout the disc. Men in This Town is about the guys in Cali that Shakira encounters while she is working there. It takes her vocals to a different, fuller place on the chorus that sounds refreshingly full and throaty. It's clubby and danceable, another standout for the album. Gypsy is a slower, simple song that finds Shakira back in the territory of Underneath Your Clothes, where I never wanted to see her again!! I hate that song, and this song doesn't do it for me either. It doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the songs here. Spy with Wyclef Jean starts off with the most grating noise I could imagine coming out of a human beings mouth (sound like a sick cat playing a trumpet) that repeats several times as the song moves along. You have to hear it for yourself. This song sounds like generic disco and doesn't really go anywhere throughout it's three-and-a-half minute run. Mon Amour is not one of my favorites by a long shot on this collection. It is filler for the disc and I am surprised it is the album closer. Not a strong finish. There are three Spanish versions of the tracks Did It Again (Le Hecho Esta Hecho) Why Wait (Anos Luz) and She Wolf (Loba) that give an interesting perspective and help support my theory that Shakira sounds better in Spanish. Overall I am pleasantly surprised with She Wolf, as I was prepared to completely hate it. I would say it has some really nice dance cuts, but could lose the slower, simpler tunes. You're getting there for me, Shakira. Stay cheesy, I like you that way.
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