Shakira
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Laundry Service
Released November 13, 2001
Length 49:06
Producers Shakira, Emilio Estefan Jr., Brendan Buckley, Pablo Florez, Javier Garza, Lester Mendez, Tim Mitchell, George Noriega, Luis Fernando Ochoa
Label Epic
Discography
Dónde Están los Ladrones1998 Laundry Service2001 FOV12005
Singles From Laundry Service
Single

1. Whenever, Wherever
Released: 15 June 2001
2. Underneath Your Clothes
Released: 11 February 2002
3. Objection (Tango)
Released: 17 May 2002
4. The One
Released: 5 July 2002
5. Te Dejo Madrid
Released: 15 August 2002

6. Que Me Quedes Tú
Released: 11 November 2002
Promotional Singles From Laundry Service


Laundry Service (Servicio de Lavandería) is the fifth studio album and first English-language album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, globally released on 13 November 2001 by Epic Records. After her fourth studio album Dónde Están los Ladrones? became a success in Latin America, Spain, Middle East and the Latin community in the United States, Shakira was encouraged by American singer Gloria Estefan to record songs in English as she believed her friend had the potential to crossover into the English-language pop market. Shakira was hesitant at first, but then decided to learn English well enough to write songs in the language. The title of the album reflects Shakira's views on love and music. It was released as Servicio de Lavandería in Hispanic regions in January 2002. Laundry Service is primarily a pop rock[1] record but it also experiments with Andean music, dance-pop, Middle Eastern music, rock and roll and tango music. The album's theme is love and romance. Every song on it was written and produced by Shakira under the guidance of Emilio Estefan.[2]

Six singles were released from the album. The lead single "Whenever, Wherever" became an international success, reaching number one on record charts of Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The second English-language single "Underneath Your Clothes" repeated that success, topping the charts of Australia, Austria, and Belgium. Both singles charted in the top ten in the United Kingdom and United States. Spanish-language singles "Te Dejo Madrid" and "Que Me Quedes Tú" performed well in Hispanic regions, becoming hits in Spain and on the Latin record charts in the United States, respectively. The fourth single "Objection (Tango)" became a top ten hit in most countries around the world, while the sixth and final single "The One" was a moderate commercial success. To promote the album, Shakira embarked on her Tour of the Mongoose between 2002 and 2003. It was her first major worldwide tour and visited many countries and cities.

Laundry Service received favourable to mixed reviews from music critics. Many critics complimented Shakira's varied musical styles and originality, while some critics argued that the album sounded too generic. Shakira's vocal talent also attracted praise. Laundry Service topped the charts of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada and Switzerland, while reaching the top five in Argentina, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. In the United States, Laundry Service peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart. The album received multiple record certifications, including sextuple platinum in Australia, quintuple in Canada, Spain and Switzerland. It was also certified multi-platinum in the United Kingdom and the United States, proving to be a successful crossover for Shakira. Globally, Laundry Service was the seventh best-selling album in 2002. The album sold around 13 million copies by 2011,[3] making it one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.

The album is listed at number 172 of the "Definitive 200" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[4]

Recordings for the project took place August 2000 - May 2001

Background[]

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 by advice of Gloria Estefan, the wife of the executive producer of the album Emilio Estefan, Jr.. 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. 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 Miami, Florida and Nassau, Bahamas at the Compass Point Studios.

She worked with several other notable producers, including Glen Ballard and Luis F. Ochoa, and brought in noted audio engineer Terry Manning to record the album. Laundry Service 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 promo-single from her 2004 tour album Live & Off the Record. "Eyes Like Yours" has an unreleased music video that was filmed around the same time as "Ojos Asi". A clip of this unseen video was released on a promotional CD-ROM, only a minute in length and containing very few shots of Shakira singing in English. It is believed the song itself was recorded around the time of ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? when Shakira was still considering English translations of older songs instead of new material.

Track listing[]

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Objection (Tango)"  ShakiraShakira, Lester Mendez* 3:42
2. "Underneath Your Clothes"  Shakira, MendezShakira, Mendez* 3:44
3. "Whenever, Wherever"  Shakira, Gloria Estefan, Tim MitchellShakira, Mitchell* 3:16
4. "Rules"  Shakira, MendezShakira, Mendez* 3:39
5. "The One"  Shakira, Glen BallardShakira, Mendez* 3:42
6. "Ready for the Good Times"  Shakira, MendezShakira, Mendez* 4:13
7. "Fool"  Shakira, Brendan BuckleyShakira, Buckley*, Mendez* 3:50
8. "Te Dejo Madrid (I'm leaving you Madrid)"  Shakira, Mitchell, George NoriegaShakira, Mitchell*, Noriega*, Mendez* 3:06
9. "Poem to a Horse"  Shakira, Luis Fernando OchoaShakira, Ochoa* 4:06
10. "Que Me Quedes Tú (That You Stay)"  Shakira, OchoaShakira, Ochoa* 4:47
11. "Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Así)"  Shakira, Estefan, Javier Garza, Pablo Florez, Javier GarzaShakira, Garza, Florez 3:56
12. "Suerte (Whenever, Wherever Spanish Version) (Literally "Lucky")"  Shakira, MitchellShakira, Mitchell* 3:16
13. "Te Aviso, te Anuncio (Tango) (Objection (Tango) Spanish Version) (Literally Be Warned, You Ad (Tango))"  ShakiraShakira, Mendez* 3:43

(*) denotes co-producer

Charts[]

Chart Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 1
Austrian Albums Chart 1
Belgian Flandres Albums Chart 1
Belgian Wallonie Albums Chart 5
Canadian Albums Chart 1
Danish Albums Chart 1
Dutch Albums Chart 1
Finnish Albums Chart 1
French Albums Chart 5
German Albums Chart 1
Greek Albums Chart 1
Italian Albums Chart 1
New Zealand Albums Chart 4
Norwegian Albums Chart 1
Portuguese Albums Chart 1
Swedish Albums Chart 1
Swiss Albums Chart 1
UK Albums Chart 1
U.S. Billboard 200 3

References[]

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