This album is simply amazing. After the commercial success of her first U.S. release, LAUNDRY, Shakira went back to her artistic roots with this all-Spanish album. The musicality, lyricism, and tone of this CD puts all of her prior and later work to shame. Even the English VOL. 2, a great album in its own right, pales in comparison. Shortly after its release, "Hips Don't Lie" (which is not included on the original version of VOL. 2) became a big hit. I don't assume Shakira will ever return to this sort of artistic work, preferring to make millions making mindless pop songs, and who can blame her? At least she gave the world this one resounding triumph of sound.
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