Oral Fixation, Vol. 1 & 2
Oral Fixation, Vol. 1 & 2 is the first box set by Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira, released on 5 December 2006, by Epic Records. Released one year after her sixth and seventh studio albums Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, it includes both previous albums and an additional DVD with music videos and live performances. After attaining international success with her third studio effort, Laundry Service (2001), Shakira decided to create a two-part follow-up record. She released the project as the follow-up to her sixth studio effort Fijación Oral, Vol. 1, with which she had attained international success five months prior. As co-producer, Shakira enlisted Rick Rubin as executive producer, also working with Gustavo Cerati, Lester Mendez, Luis F. Ochoa and Jose "Gocho" Torres. to work alongside newer partners Jerry Duplessis, Wyclef Jean, Tim Mitchell and The Matrix. Musically the album follows in the vein of her earlier works, the album is heavily influenced by Latin pop styles, and additionally incorporates elements of dance-pop, pop rock, and trip hop. The compilation peaked at numbers 13 and 27 on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums and Top Latin Albums charts. Background After attaining international success with her fifth studio effort Laundry Service in 2001, Shakira opted to create a Spanish-language project for her follow-up record, her first since her fourth studio album Dónde Están los Ladrones? in 1998. Having co-written nearly sixty tracks for Laundry Service, she put herself "on the mission of selecting [her] favorite ones" to record for Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and its own successor, the English-language Oral Fixation Vol. 2. While recording the first volume, Shakira worked with previous collaborator Lester Mendez and new partners Gustavo Cerati, Luis F. Ochoa, and Jose "Gocho" Torres. Production of the second volume saw her reunited with Cerati, Mendez, and Ochoa and also joined by newer partners Jerry Duplessis, Wyclef Jean, Tim Mitchell, and The Matrix. Artwork For both Oral Fixation records, Shakira commented that the album artworks were inspired by Eve, elaborating that "[she wanted] to attribute to Eve one more reason to bite the forbidden fruit, and that would be her oral fixation" and that "[she always felt] that [she has] been a very oral person. [It is her] biggest source of pleasure". The second volume's cover sees an unclothed Shakira covered by a tree's branches and leaves while holding an apple in her hand. The baby girl she held in her arms on the cover of the first volume is sitting in the tree, alluding to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's theory that infants begin discovering the world through their mouths during the oral stage of psychosexual development. For Jon Pareles of The New York Times, "For obvious reasons, it's eye-catching, as was the cover of the Spanish-language companion album, "Fijación Oral, Vol. 1". In Middle Easts version of the album, Shakira was covered up with leaves. Complex Magazine selected "Oral Fixation" album cover as the eleventh "sexiest album cover of all time", writing that it is