Gypsy Reviews
June 4th, 2010 | Published in Music News | 6 Comments
Gypsy
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(out of 1 reviews)
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She Wolf
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(out of 68 reviews)
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June 4th, 2010at 2:32 pm(#)
Review by C. Scanlon for Gypsy
Rating:
Shakira is way better than she ever needs to be.
I mean, the song writing alone is enough already, true reflections upon our life and society and how we live and what it means to be fully human, and poor.
Like so many artists, her first album is already enough for a lifetime of listening.
Go back and hear again Pies Descalzos. Okay there are occasional images of the kind of whiny “emo” girl that was just so fashionable at the time, but the entirety is transcendent, and strong.
And she speaks for the poor ad for the marginated, and gives.
I liked Shakira very much while she was still brunette, and saw her as the finest folk music artist of our late days, transnational, as it was.
The culmination of this period must be seen in Shakira – MTV Unplugged. Still not yet unleashed a dancer, trying out a few tentative Robot steps. Still a brunette. Still very thoughtful and rather shy, yet strong.
And intelligent. Above all very intelligent and aware, and strong.
Then she was discovered by the world, and then blonde, and was no longer afraid to dance freely (Although that video for Ojos Asi (The One) was already intensely enough), and I feared losing her as we lose so many.
Now I hear Gitano, in Spanish, and I see she is still with us, the inner folk musician making brilliant statements of life, strong and free.
Transcendent as if this is nothing, as it once was, bridging gender and language and cultural and political and religious barriers as if this were nothing at all, loved by all.
As once were our own pop musicians so long ago.
But this is so much more than pop.
She plays the pop game but is not owned by it.
She plays the fashion queen yet transcends even that.
Give a careful listen, also to Loba and you will be richly rewarded.
Reflect with her upon our life and how we live, and why.
Hear in this the life we should live, in solidarity with the poor, and ask why not.
June 4th, 2010at 3:19 pm(#)
Review by vedderoh1 for She Wolf
Rating:
I still remember the exact moment when I heard Estoy aqui for the very first time: I was in my bedroom, studying for midterms and as the chorus ended I thought “wow, that’s a voice”. Only after I saw the video did I realize she was roughly my age and full of potential. Shakira’s career took off with such impulse that a single trip around the earth would not be enough to make her fuel run out.
Fourteen years later and five albums under the arm the story seems to be the same. Or almost, at least. She Wolf finds her at a point in her life where everything has fallen finally into place, but maybe this has not quite sparked the flame to create an outstanding record. To put it simply, not even her last song in English (that sexy duet with Beyonce) could have prompted me to think twice whether to continue listening or turn off the stereo.
There are many factors that contribute to make Shewolf an utter disappointment for any true fan. First, she cannot convey in English what she transmits when she sings in Spanish. That has been a fact with very few exceptions (Hips don’t lie and Underneath your clothes) that no matter how much we try to defend, has no escaping. Her voice finds a wall every time she delivers her verses in a foreign language and, in this case, the added synthesizers and dance beats help no further.
Second, she has allowed individual producers to slaughter her unique style hoping to obtain a more universal appeal. Unfortunately, that gamble results in a lifeless performance that any Britney could replicate.
Third, Shakira has never needed to prove herself to anyone, but in She Wolf she sounds as if every note was written to do so. Otherwise it cannot be understood why her identity is lost at the hands of merciless producers that make her tracks disappear amidst cliches and unexplainable arrangements, or why she seems to navigate aimlessly in creatively chopped paths.
Not everything deserves the waste basket here. Ironically, the six bonus tracks included in the U.S. release of the album (not in the original pressing released in the rest of America) contradict and improve everything that she has offered in the first ten tracks. Thus, Lo hecho esta hecho and Anos Luz, the Spanish versions of Did it again and Long time soar when she imbues them with her soulful native tongue, and acquire a new dimension when she words the meaning of her delectable prose.
I am positive that in a matter of months she will surprise us with a fantastic record in Spanish. She has to. The point of her music was never to gain millions of fans, but to touch them and embrace them, to make them one in all, and with this erratic attempt she has obviously lost that vision. The talent remains, but the form has betrayed her and us, hopefully momentarily.
June 4th, 2010at 3:36 pm(#)
Review by Brian Rooney for She Wolf
Rating:
Shakira is not only one of the best pop artists in modern music, even better she is an intelligent, compassionate, creative individual who is unafraid to pursue her own vision despite anyone’s expectations. She Wolf is one of her best albums, full of consistently beautiful and uplifting music.
A note to the She Wolf haters: did you somehow mistake Laundry Service for Hamlet? Get a grip. She makes pop music. She has always made pop music. She is still at the head of the pack, and will very likely remain there despite any number of personal reinventions. Pick up the soundtrack to Love in the Time of Cholera–that is very recent new music from Shakira, and it is much more traditional, maybe you’ll like it better. Personally I can listen to Did It Again a thousand times in a row before I start getting sleepy. And have you seen that video?! Oh my god she can dance like no other. Those hips don’t lie, but they sure can hypnotize.
June 4th, 2010at 4:23 pm(#)
Review by Steve Hazzard for She Wolf
Rating:
I was very much looking forward to the new Shakira CD “She Wolf”. Damn, I was very disappointed! Honestly, if you blindfolded me and played the “She Wolf” CD (assuming that I never heard the CD), I could not tell you with reasonable accuracy if I was listening to Shakira or Britney Spears! Shakira has gone mainstream pop, not only in her music, but also in her appearance. Now she looks like just another blond pop singer. Shakira has lost her individual identity for the sake of mainstream music sales! The “She Wolf” CD is an abomination of music styles none of which compliment Shakira’s abilities or personality. After listening to the first couple of tracks, I sampled the rest of the 16 tracks (a few of which are remixes and/or Spanish versions of an English track, and what’s with all the rappers, those tracks are real bummers!), I ejected the CD, put it in its case and stuck in the bottom of my CD collection. I am ashamed to say that I shelled out $15 for this piece of trash! I am hopping that Shakira can return to the roots that got her to the world stage that she occupies today. Otherwise, to use an old vinyl phrase, she’ll be stuck in the back of the cut-out rack!
June 4th, 2010at 4:47 pm(#)
Review by atlantic1 for She Wolf
Rating:
I’m the biggest Shakira fan there is and I am not Hispanic, I hunted down Pies Descalzos without thinking twice, I grabbed Donde Estan los Ladrones off the shelf without hesitation and without having heard a single note from it (and I was not sorry), the disappointment started creeping in after Laundry Service and I thought it peaked after hearing the English-language version of the Oral Fixation. Boy, was I wrong! This latest album, She Wolf, is a genuine piece of garbage, I even turn the radio off in the car when they play songs from it. There is no musicality in it, zero, zip, nada, it sounds like a bad karaoke.
Shakira has a wonderful voice and is otherwise an excellent composer (and dancer, etc., etc.), is probably very intelligent, she has no reason for polluting her career with such creations, and she has no reason for associating herself with black rap music (which sounds like, well, black rap music).
I did myself a favor and stopped expecting anything good from Shakira a long time ago, and I have to admit that sometimes I am totally surprised/impressed: when she puts her real musical talent to work, she IS the greatest singer on the planet. She Wolf, however, is a disaster, it’s a shame, kid.
June 4th, 2010at 5:44 pm(#)
Review by Esperanza for She Wolf
Rating:
I have to say that after listening to this CD I feel as if Shakira died; little by little with changes to her appearance and style the main stream had consumed her all I hope that perhaps she may get back on track with her next CD; If you ask me I believe this market already has enough Madona’s, Britney’s, Beyonce’s, and a combination of all… And what it needs is a Shakira! which is why I enjoyed her music and style because in some many ways it was diferent.