If You Haven't Heard MTV Unplugged, You Haven't Heard Shakira...
Written: Sep 02 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: Awesome live performance of powerful latin hits
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: Listen to MTV Unplugged and I think you'll understand why Shakira's fans think she's the smartest, hippest, sexiest woman in show business!
I'm happy for Shakira that she's had such enormous success with her Laundry Service cross-over release, but in many ways it's an unfortunate event because it's the only exposure that many people have ever had to her music. Shakira's real fan base, and pretty much every music critic I've ever heard, knows that her real magic lies on her earlier discs -- everything done up through (and including) MTV Unplugged.
In my opinion, MTV Unplugged is a far better introduction to the power and mystique behind Shakira's unique and innovative musical style -- a style that's a three-way fusion of modern alternative rock with today's Latin beats and the mysticism of the Arabian desert. Few performers today can claim such a distinctive sound.
It's more than just Shakira's sound that makes MTV Unplugged such a wonderful disc. It's also the way that she exploits the power of live recording to create a work that's far more than just a rehash of her studio releases (she'll save that exercise for The Remixes).
MTV Unplugged is a live disc that captures the dynamic energy of an excited audience that's totally in sync with a passionate performer. It's a live recording packed with 1.21 gigawatts of pure musical electricity. This is the way a live disc should sound!
Every song on this album is unique -- hard to believe considering that the disc is basically a remake of Donde Estan los Ladrones? (with the exception of Estoy Aqui, which came off Pies Descalzos). Yet it's true -- the songs on this disc are radically different from the Shakira you've heard before, just like the way twin brothers can have completely different personalities. The differences are night and day. Yin and Yang. Black and white. Call it what you want, I call it innovation and artistry. (Not to mention a good reason to actually buy the disc!)
Highlighting the High Points...
Everything on this disc is a high point, and I could spend hours singing Shakira's praise, but lucky for you, I'm too lazy to write down everything that I think (buy me a chilly brewski at a pub one night if you really want to get me started.) Although every track deserves attention, I do have my favorites...
We've all heard Ciega Sordomuda by this point in time -- after all, it's one of Shakira's biggest hits to date, but I've never heard this live version played on the radio. That's a shame! This version totally kicks butt over the studio version -- it's got more impact, it's got a richer, bigger, bolder sound, it's faster where it should be fast -- frenetically so. The song kicks off with a huge, bright trumpet blast that launches one of the best horn arrangements you've ever heard in a popular song. It captures the magic of Mexican mariachis playing in the plaza as the day wanes to sultry night. It's got warmth and a huge energy to it. The horns don't just die out either, they hang in there, providing atmosphere and flavor to the whole delicious arrangement. The way Shakira's vocals climb and descend the scales, working their way to frenetic peaks and then slowing to the emotional fervor of a pleading lover in a dark doorway are nothing short of magic. Pure magic.
Inevitable has a different kind of magic -- it's the magic of deep passion, a passion that works on parallel levels. While the lyrics impart passion through their tale of fate decreeing that love must be, the deep throaty delivery creates a mood of imperitive submission -- a mood of utter authority. It's a song with raw, sensual power.
I know you've all heard Ojos Asi too. If not the original version, at least the processed, bleached, whitewashed version retitled Eyes Like Those on the Laundry Service CD. A gazillion critics have already remarked that no matter how cool this song sounds in English, it's totally blown away by the power it packs when performed in its original Spanish. That power is magnified ten fold in this version, which features an even richer sounding Arab element, filled with exotic percussion arrangements and a different tempo than you've heard before.
One of the things that makes a live recording from one artist truly stand head and shoulders above live recordings from other artists is the way that they capture the mood of the moment. Is there something about the disc that lets a listener almost feel the magnetism between performer and listener? Is there a relationship? Is there an energy? All too often the answer is "no". On Shakira's MTV Unplugged, the answer is a resounding "YES". You can hear that relationship building in a dozen places, the way Shakira tells a story in a song, and the audience's reaction to it, and more importantly, the unrehearsed way that Shakira's reactions to the audience work their way in, creating a mood that will never again be exactly the same.
One of the best examples of this mood is the opening on Sombra de Ti. It's a song about lingering emotions after a painful breakup, but more important than the song itself is the way Shakira introduces the song by telling the listeners that she wrote it at 4 in the morning as she cried over a broken heart...the audience responds with an "Awwwww". You get the feeling that it almost seems to catch Shakira off guard as she herself responds with a self-conscious small laugh that almost seems to bring her down off the stage into the audience where we can all give her a collective hug to let her know that we've been there, and we understand...and we're glad she understands that too.
Trackin' the Tunes...
11 tracks, 50:41 total running time. Here's what you'll hear for almost an hour...
1. Octavo Dia 2. Si Te Vas 3. Donde Estan los Ladrones 4. Moscas en la Casa 5. Ciega, Sordomuda 6. Inevitable 7. Estoy Aqui 8. Tu 9. Sombra De Ti 10. No Creo 11. Ojos Asi
Bottom Line -- Snag It!
This disc is everything a live album should be. It's got a huge energy to it from a dynamic, highly talented performer with a very unique sound and flavor. All of Shakira's best stuff is on this disc, and it's before she got into "cross over" mode, so it also has all the underlying deep currents that her work shows when done in its native Spanish. A classic live recording!
Want More Shakira ?
If you liked this review, you might want to read some of my other Shakira reviews...
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