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 Fijación 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 Fijación 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, All Music Guide
Patrick Dupré Quigley (Choir Director), Tone (Engineer), The Matrix (Pre-Production), Carlos Santana (Guitar), Jim Bean (Programming), Colin Sheen (Concert Master), Rob Jacobs (Mixing), Gustavo Cerati (Guitar), Lester Mendez (Keyboards), Pete Davis (Programming), Rob Jacobs (Engineer), Kevin Killen (Engineer), Shakira (Vocals), Maria Paula Marulanda (Art Direction), David Massey (A&R), Jim Gaines (Engineer), Bryan Gallant (Assistant Engineer), Shawn Pelton (Drums), Joe Wohlmuth (Engineer), Emmanuel Cauvet (Drums), Chris Chaney (Guitar (Bass)), Tim Mitchell (Producer), Vlado Meller (Mastering), Gustavo Cerati (Vocals (Background)), Ben Kaplan (Engineer), Danny George (Project Supervisor), Javier Garza (Engineer), Jonathan Mover (Engineer), Tim Mitchell (Engineer), Leandro Fresco (Keyboards), Lester Mendez (Audio Production), Luis Conte (Percussion), Victor Indrizzo (Drums), Farra Mathews (A&R), Shakira (Audio Production), Paul Bushnell (Guitar (Bass)), Juan Cammarano (Assistant Engineer), Iker Gastaminza (Engineer), Maria Paula Marulanda (Design), Pedro Alfonso (Strings), Jaume DeLaiguana (Photography), Gustavo Celis (Engineer), Pro Arte Orchestra (Strings), Gustavo Cerati (Keyboards), Archie Pena (Percussion), Eduardo Bergallo (Engineer), Gustavo Cerati (Guest Appearance), David Sinclair Whitaker (String Arrangements), Gustavo Cerati (Producer), Rick Rubin (Executive Producer), Church Of The Epiphany Chamber Choir (Choir, Chorus), David Sinclair Whitaker (Conductor), Tim Mitchell (Guitar), Tim Mitchell (Programming), Nick Wollage (Engineer), Fadi Hardan (Chant), Sraphic Fire (Choir, Chorus), Pete Davis (Keyboards), Oswald "Wiz" Bowe (Assistant Engineer), Trina Shoemaker (Engineer), Carlos Santana (Guest Appearance), Rene Toledo (Guitar), Mario Ichausti (Vocals (Background)), Lester Mendez (Producer), Lyle Workman (Guitar), Chris Brown (Engineer), Tim Mitchell (Keyboards), Pete Davis (Horn), Matt Chamberlain (Drums), Brendan Buckley (Percussion), Gustavo Celis (Mixing), Tim LeBlanc (Engineer), Mark Santangelo (Mastering Assistant), Tweety González (Engineer), Gustavo Cerati (Programming), Albert Sterling Menendez (Keyboards), David Levita (Guitar), Lester Mendez (Programming), Tony Reyes (Guitar), Teddy Mulet (Horn)
Oral Fixation Vol. 2 is the second English studio album (seventh overall) by Colombianpop singer-songwriter Shakira, released on November 28, 2005 by Epic Records. According to her biography on her website and Epic Records, the album has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.[1][2][3]
"The title comes from the fact that I have always lived through my mouth," Shakira has said. "It is my biggest source of pleasure and my most accessible vehicle to discover and enjoy the world. I am fixated on chocolate! I am fixated on the spoken word, the written word, the things I have said and the things I should never have said. This is the reason why I decided on the names for the albums (Fijación Oral Vol. 1/Oral Fixation Vol. 2)".
For the album artwork, Shakira called upon Renaissance icons to explain the significance of Oral Fixation. In Oral Fixation Vol. 2 the same child from the past album is perched in a tree and reaches for an apple held in Shakira's hand. "Vol. 2 is more of a Jungian sort of thing, since the reference is to a universal archetype of Eve (Adam and Eve) and the original sin. I think that is something that is really subconsciously in our minds. On the cover of Vol. 2 I wanted to add another reason for Eve to bite the forbidden fruit - that would be her oral fixation." The cover was changed in many Middle Eastern regions, mainly in GCC countries, due to the exposure of Shakira's body. It is alternated with one in which the tree leaves extend to cover her belly; it only shows the top of her body and covers the rest.
The album debuted at #5 on Billboard 200, selling 128,000 copies in the U.S. in its opening week. That makes Shakira's second top five album in the same year. When the album was re-released with "Hips Don't Lie" and an alternate version of "La Tortura", the album shot up 92 spots on the Billboard 200 from #98 to #6. It sold 81,000 copies that week, which was a 643% increase. As of March 8, 2007, the album has sold more than 1,700,000 units in the United States alone. The album has been certified Platinum by the RIAA in the United States. Shakira received 18 Platinum certifications for the sales of Oral Fixation Vol. 2 in following countries: Canada, Mexico, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Argentina, Peru, Chile, India, Greece, US, UK, and her home country, Colombia.
Oral Fixation Vol. 2 was named the ninth best selling album of 2006 worldwide. Also it was the 23rd best selling album in the United States of 2006. After the performance of "Hips Don't Lie" at the MTV Video Music Awards 2006 which featured Shakira dancing in an Indian outfit,[4] the album topped India Charts and was certified Platinum.
In April 2007 Oral Fixation Vol. 2 re-entered the UK Albums Chart at #70 the same week that "Beautiful Liar", Shakira's duet with Beyonce, entered the singles charts at No. 10 solely through downloads.[5] It has since moved to #69. The album was also certified Platinum in the UK in April 2007.[6]
