This article: Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said that releasing the Spanish-language Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 after the success of the English-language Laundry Service was a "sharp move", complimenting the album for demonstrating that Shakira "can not only return to her roots, but expand upon them". He described "La Tortura" as a "natural for American radio", and felt that the parent album generated anticipation for the upcoming Oral Fixation, Vol. 2. Writing for PopMatters, Matt Cibula praised the album for its musical departure from Laundry Service, applauding the integration of subtle samples across several songs as "great nods to the sounds of the 1980s". Dave Simpson of The Guardian compared Shakira to a "Latin American Madonna", describing her vocals as reminiscent of "Cher and Hazel O'Connor, produced by Julio Iglesias".Jon Pareles of The New York Times found Shakira's "smart or ambitious" image to be uncharacteristic of a sex symbol. He praised the versatility of her multilingual lyrics and her experimentation in a number of genres, citing the "multiplicity" in "the arrangements, in the mixed emotions of the lyrics, [and] in Shakira's mercurial voice". Writing for Paste, Mark Kemp complimented Shakira for dispelling notions she is "the Latin Britney, the female Ricky Martin [and] the pretty pop tart who sings in Spanish and sounds like Alanis"; he compared the mix of musical elements in Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 to a Pop-Tart with a "rich and nutritious filling". Tom Townsend of Yahoo! Music called her "the greatest pop star we have", comparing her "consuming artistry" to that of Madonna and Prince. He credited the album for inspiring a revival of pop music, saying that the release proved that the genre "wasn't dead, just sleeping".Shakira's international success was solidified with Fijación Oral, Vol. 1's strong commercial performance. After it debuted at number 4 on the US Billboard 200 and became the highest-debuting full-length Spanish album in the country, her label Epic Records called her "the biggest female... contains an answer for the question: Who credited an album for inspiring a revival of pop music?, what is it ?


Tom Townsend