Laundry Service

Infobox Album |
Name = Laundry Service
Type = Album
Artist = Shakira


Released = November 13, 2001
March 11, 2002
Recorded = 2001 at Crescent Moon Studios and Criteria Recording Studios, Miami, Florida, and Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas.
Genre = Pop, Rock, Latin music, pop rock, R&B
Length = 49:06
Label = Epic Records
Producer = Shakira, Emilio Estefan Jr.
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:8m851vy3zzva~T1 link]
* Entertainment.ie Rating|3|5 [http://www.entertainment.ie/reviews/review.asp?ID=1962&subcat=CD link]
* Robert Christgau Rating |4|5 [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Shakira link]
* Rolling Stone Rating |3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/314397/laundry_service link]
Last album = "¿Dónde Están los Ladrones?"
(1998)
This album = "Laundry Service"
(2001)
Next album = "Fijación Oral Vol. 1"
(2005)

Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate covers
Type = Studio


Lower caption = Servicio de Lavandería, Laundry Service Spanish CoverExtra album cover 2
Type = Studio


Lower caption = Laundry Service: Washed and Dried Limited Edition Cover Singles
Name = Laundry Service
Type = studio
single 1 = Whenever Wherever / Suerte
single 1 date = November 2001
single 2 = Underneath Your Clothes
single 2 date = Early 2002
single 3 = Te Dejo Madrid
single 3 date = Mid 2002
single 4 = Objection (Tango) / Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)
single 4 date = July 2002
single 5 = The One
single 5 date = Early 2003

"Laundry Service" is the debut English studio album by Colombian pop singer-songwriter Shakira, released in 2001. It reached the top three of the charts in both the United States and United Kingdom (after the re-release, it reached #2 in UK) and features the worldwide number-one hits "Whenever, Wherever" and "Underneath Your Clothes". Shakira supported the album with the "Tour of the Mongoose".

Production history

After the success of the "¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?" and "MTV Unplugged" albums, Shakira decided to begin working on a crossover album to break into the English market in 2000. "Laundry Service" was originally designed to include older songs. However, Shakira later decided against using translations of older songs for the album and worked for over a year on new material for the album.

Just months after its announcement, the album was mainly produced by Shakira herself, Tim Mitchell and Lester Mendez who produced a bulk of tracks on the album. Shakira recorded the album in in Miami, Florida and Nassau, Bahamas at the Compass Point Studios. She worked with several other notable producers: Glen Ballard and Luis F. Ochoa.

The album has yielded eight singles: "Whenever, Wherever", "Suerte (Whenever, Wherever)", "Te Dejo Madrid", "Underneath Your Clothes", "Objection (Tango)", "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)", "The One", and "Que Me Quedes Tú". "Fool" was released as a single only in Brazil, and "Poem To A Horse" which was released as the main-single from her 2004 tour album "Live & Off the Record". The album became a world-wide hit selling more than 13 million copies.

Release and reception

Some critics criticized the effectiveness of Shakira's lyrics, claiming that her English skills were too weak for her to write in that language. Most notably, Rolling Stone magazine said about the album that "she sounds downright silly" and that "Shakira's magic is lost in translation", but nearly all agreed on her unique poetic imagery."Laundry Service" was released in the United States on November 13, 2001. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 album chart with first week sales of over 202,000, exceeding expectations by a wide margin. [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1116515 Garth's 'Scarecrow' Shoots Straight To No. 1] "Billboard magazine".] The album eventually spent six months in the top twenty on the chart, fueled by the success of its two lead singles. It was eventually certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA in June 2002 making it one of the biggest selling albums of the year.

In Australia, the album was certified gold for shipments exceeding 35,000 units. It has since been certified five times platinum in Australia with sales of over 350,000. It debuted at number two in the UK Albums Chart and has since been certified double platinum with sales of over 697,000 copies. In Portugal the album reached number one for two weeks and was eventually certified 4x Platinum. It established the record for the best selling album in Turkey. According to the United World Chart Album Chart, "Laundry Service" is as of 2007 the ninth best selling album worldwide so far of the 21st century.

The album debuted high on charts due to the success of the lead single "Whenever, Wherever" that reached the top ten in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. In Australia and the UK it reached number one and number two respectively. It remained on the Australian Singles Charts for six consecutive weeks and became the second best-selling single of the year. In the UK it reached number two, and ended the year as the eighth best-selling single and was certified gold for sales of over 554,754.

"Laundry Service" was eventually one of the biggest selling albums of 2002, and was certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA in June 2002. The album reached number one in Australia, Austria, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. It reached number two on the United World Chart. The album's success and its singles helped to establish Shakira's musical presence in the mainstream North American market.

Other Versions

The album was released in Latin America as "Servicio de Lavandería" (the Spanish translation of the title), with the same tracks, but in a different order. Thus, "Objection (Tango)" was born, a song that documents Shakira's anger at a relationship in which her lover is unfaithful. It was Shakira's first song composed in English. All the songs on album are original, with the exception of "Eyes Like Yours", which is a translation of Shakira's Arabic-tinged 1999 worldwide hit "Ojos Así". Although it is an English album, it did contain four Spanish tracks.

In 2002, Sony BMG stated the re-release of the album which was titled "". It include three additional bonus tracks and a bonus DVD which include the "Objection (Tango)" performance from the MTV Video Music Awards, Behind-the-Scenes of the MTV's Making the Video and the music video.

Track listing

All tracks were produced by Shakira.

Laundry Service

# "Objection (Tango)" (Shakira) – 3:44
# "Underneath Your Clothes" (Shakira, Lester Mendez) – 3:45
# "Whenever, Wherever" (Shakira, Gloria Estefan, Tim Mitchell) – 3:16
# "Rules" (Shakira, L. Mendez) – 3:40
# "The One" (Shakira, Glen Ballard) – 3:43
# "Ready For The Good Times" (Shakira, L. Mendez) – 4:14
# "Fool" (Shakira, Brendan Buckley) – 3:51
# "Te Dejo Madrid" (Shakira, T. Mitchell, G. Noriega) – 3:07
# "Poem To A Horse" (Shakira, L. F. Ochoa) – 4:09
# "Que Me Quedes Tú" (Shakira, L. F. Ochoa) – 4:48
# "Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Así)" (G. Estefan, Shakira, J. Garza, P. Flores) – 3:58
# "Suerte (Whenever, Wherever)" (Shakira, T. Mitchell) – 3:16
# "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)" (Shakira) – 3:43
# "Ojos Así" (Shakira, J. Garza, P. Flores) – 3:58 [Japan Bonus Track]

ervicio de Lavandería

# "Suerte (Whenever, Wherever)" – 3:16
# "Underneath Your Clothes" – 3:45
# "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)" – 3:43
# "Que Me Quedes Tú" – 4:48
# "Rules" – 3:40
# "The One" – 3:43
# "Ready for the Good Times" – 4:14
# "Fool" – 3:51
# "Te Dejo Madrid" – 3:07
# "Poem to a Horse" – 4:09
# "Eyes like Yours (Ojos Así)" – 3:58
# "Whenever, Wherever" – 3:16
# "Objection (Tango)" – 3:44

Laundry Service: Washed & Dried Edition

Disc 1
# "Objection (Tango)" – 3:44
# "Underneath Your Clothes" – 3:45
# "Whenever, Wherever" – 3:16
# "Rules" – 3:40
# "The One" – 3:43
# "Ready For The Good Times" – 4:14
# "Fool" – 3:51
# "Te Dejo Madrid" – 3:07
# "Poem To A Horse" – 4:09
# "Que Me Quedes Tú" – 4:48
# "Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Así)" – 3:58
# "Suerte (Whenever, Wherever)" – 3:16
# "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)" – 3:43
# "Whenever, Wherever (Sahara Mix)" – 3:57
# "Underneath Your Clothes (Acoustic Version)" – 3:57
# "Objection (Tango) (Afro-Punk Version)" – 3:53

Disc 2 ("DVD")
# "Objection (Tango)" (MTV Video Music Awards Performance)
# "Making of Objection (Tango)"
# "Objection (Tango)" (Music Video)

Chart Performance and Certification

Grammy nominations

The album received two Latin Grammy nominations.
*Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video — won.
*Latin Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, awarded to "Mala Gente" by Juanes.

Personnel

* Shakira - Producer, songwriter, arranger, vocals, harmonica, logo design
* Emilio Estefan Jr. - Executive producer, percussion
* Terry Manning - Engineer
* Javier Garza - Producer, engineer, mixer, arranger
* Tim Mitchell - Producer, arranger, guitar, mandolin, programmer
* Lester Mendez - Producer, arranger, horn arranger, keyboards
* Pablo Flores - Producer, arranger, programmer
* Luis Fernando Ochoa - Arranger, guitar, keyboards
* Jorge Calandrelli - Arranger, piano arranger
* David Campbell - Conductor, string arranger
* Alfred Figueroa - Engineer
* Kevin Dillon - Production coordinator
* Adam Zimmon - Guitar
* Tim Pierce - Guitar
* Brian Ray - Guitar
* Paul Bushnell - Bass guitar
* Julio Hernandez - Bass guitar
* Pablo Aslan - Acoustic bass
* Brendan Buckley - Drums, percussion
* Abe Laboriel Jr. - Drums
* Edwin Bonilla - Percussion
* Miriam Elli - Percussion
* Richard Bravo - Percussion
* Archie Pena - Percussion

References

External links

* [http://www.shakira.com -Official Shakira Web Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/shakira Official Shakira MySpace Web Site]
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005R2M3 Amazon.com review]
* [http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,1576061,00.html Artist Direct review]
* [http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/music-records/laundry-service-shakira/reviews/ Dooyoo review]
* [http://rateyourmusic.com/view_album_details/album_id_is_3970 Rate Your Music review]

succession box
before = "Diorama" by Silverchair
title = Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
years = May 6 - May 12 2002
May 27 - June 2 2002
after = "18" by Moby