Not fluent in Spanish? Can't see yourself buying a CD if you can't understand the lyrics? Hey, that didn't stop you from picking up all of REM's early releases! Bet you're still trying to decipher what Michael Stipe was singing about! (Here's a revelation - he was reading the Athens, Georgia telephone directory backwards!) You can wait until Shakira delivers her much-anticipated English-language CD, but you'll be depriving yourself of some great rock-and-roll music that just happens to be in Spanish. "Donde estan los ladrones?" is, from beginning to end, a great album. There isn't a single song on this release that could be categorized as "filler." Shakira possesses a voice that can tear into fast-paced straight-ahead rock-and-roll tunes or caress a slow ballad with equal ease and skill. Any musical comparisons to Alanis Morissette (and there have been many) are ill-conceived, at best. Any physical comparisons to Morissette are played up by Shakira with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek. She's always having fun with her image, but her music is what it's all really about. "Ciega, sordomuda," "No creo," "Inevitable," "Que vuelvas," and the title track, "Donde estan los ladrones?," are some of the catchiest rock songs that have been written in the past decade. "Moscas en la casa," "Tu," and "Sombra de ti" show a softer, but no less impressive, side of Shakira. This is a woman who could cover a Janis Joplin or Celine Dion song and make it her own. When it ultimately comes time for Shakira to compile her "greatest hits" album, she is going to have a treasure trove of songs to choose from. Fortunately, she has many more productive years ahead of her which means that much more great music for her present and future fans.

Shakira conquered Spanish-speaking audiences with the intriguing "Pies Descalzos", but it is this album that remains the most pivotal moment of her career. "Dónde Están los Ladrones?" was Shakira's breakthrough, the album that established her internationally as a unique force in the music industry.

All the compositions here are careful work, the work of a craftsman. For the first time, Shakira sounds like a pro, her lyrics rich with dreamy imagery and poetic inspiration, as well as a surprisingly acute internal rythym. There is sudden, new-found maturity in all of these tracks revealing for the first time a depth and complexity that Shakira lacked in her first moves.

There isn't much variety here. Fun loving tracks and soulful power ballads take up most of this album, which is a good thing because Shakira obviously carries them out astonishingly well, but it is also mildly unsettling because there seem to be a million subjects her developed voice could also be tackling. It's all good but some of it is decidedly unremarkable.

Obviously, her favorite topic is love, the fuel behind many of these songs, like the moving "Tu". "Inevitable" the only song on this album which she hasn't written or co-written is particularly strong and catchy, as well. "Si Te Vas" boasts a performance worthy of the highest respect. In the hands of a lesser singer, a lot of the material here might have drowned in sap, but Shakira sings like a woman, not a teen queen.

Shakira's difference from her pop peers is evident more than ever in her breathtaking, Arabic tribute, the megahit "Ojos Asi". Shakira's version of desire and love is nothing like the usual bees and butterflies. Abandoning all that pretense, she goes for the raw emotion. She is a passionate, seductive and driven huntress. And if we listeners are her prey, she's a mighty good one as well.

I think almost everyone's behind me when I say that "Laundry Service" and "Pies Descalzos" are nothing compared to this album. "Dónde..." wasn't a big huge album which costed something around the lines of $3m, but it still sounds much better than any other Latin album I've ever listened to.

There are no boring songs, no fillers and no ridiculous ballads! Nothing sounds similar and every track appears to of made it's own special style (especially "Ojos Así").

Shakira hasn't just made a banging rock album, she's stayed loyal to her roots ("Ciega Sordomuda" has a definite Latin theme as does "Moscas En La Casa") but unlike Gloria Estefan, she's experimented and found a winning formula.

I can't really describe "Inevitable" "Que Vuelvas" and "Octavo Día"- they don't really have a set style, but they're excellent.

Now my advice to Shakira would be to make some more amazing music like this and leave the American pop scene behind.

Here Shakira sounds so great! She sounds both happy and angry and probably sad. Every song is a masterpiece and 8 out of 11 were played everywhere on the radio.

Track Listing:

1. Ciega, Sordomuda(Blind, Deaf and Dumb)

2. Si Te Vas(If You Go)

3. Moscas En La Casa(Flies in The House)

4. No Creo(I Don't Believe)

5. Inevitable

6. Octavo Dia(The Eighth Day)

7. Que Vuelvas(I Want You Back)

8. Tu(You)

9. Donde Estan Los Ladrones?(Where are the thieves?)

10. Sombra De Ti(Shadow Of You)

11.Ojos Asi(Eyes Like Yours)

1. Ciega, Sordomuda.5/5. The first singtle. It has a Mariachi sound mixed with Rock. Amazing!!

2. Si Te Vas. 5/5. Here Shakira it's calm and angry. First she starts slow but when it come to the chorus she sound so angry and rockin' like Hell!!! Amazing song!!!

3. Moscas En La Casa. 4/5. This is an amazing ballad but not the best one in this album. Shakira sounds so calm and sings witha feeling of melancholia! Great!

4. No Creo. 5/5. This song is simply amazing. This song it's very different from the previous three. Here Shakira sound so happy and very in love, but althought this song is about love it has social critics too.

5. Inevitable. 5/5. Amazing ballad. This has to be the best rock ballad ever! Here Shakira is sad and very angry because she is inevtable to keep loving his man after he's gone. Very sad.

6. Octavo Dia. 5/5. This is my favorite song of this album. This songs talk about how God after he created the universe went to take a vacation but when he returns, he find out that the world has become a completely Chaos!! I like how shakira sings in this song, she sounds so great!

7. Que Vuelvas. 4/5. This song it's the only song that has that vibe of Shakira's first album 'Pies Descalzos'. It sounds like a dance mix of 'Estoy Aqui' from 'Pies Descalzos'. The lyrics are great and it sounds like a filler song, but it's very good to be a filler.

8. Tu. 5/5. OK. Shakira's greatest ballad in this album! The lyrics are fantastic, it's all about love. Simply Amazing!

9. Donde Estan Los Ladrones? 5/5. The album title track. Here Shakira uses the harmonica again. This song is about all the kind of thieves that are in this world (politics, artists, protestants, etc.). This is a great rock song!

10. Sombra De Ti. 4/5. Have you ever heard Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game'? Well, this song has the same guitars from that song, and that makes this song so sensual and very calm. A great ballad!

11. Ojos Asi. 5/5. OK. Shakira's arabic influences are here. This is just an extraordinary way of ending an album! This song has everything, rock, pop, dance, arabic sounds. Amazing!! That's why she included the english version on 'Laundry Service'

Well 52/55! That's why I this album deserves always 5 stars!!!

Shakira's writing talent is extraordinary. The depth and beauty of her lyrics astound me. They resonate with me, move me to tears, make me weak in the knees. Yes, I know...I'm a hopeless romantic.

"tan faltos de aire/ tan llenos de nada/ chatarra inservible/ basura en el suelo/ moscas an la casa/ ...mis días si ti/ cómo duelen mis días sin ti"/

I love the Arabic "Ojos Asi"..."Sombra de Ti" is gorgeous, "Ciega, Sordomuda" terrific...but every track is great. It's the first CD of hers I've bought, and I'm wildly impressed. The production by Emilio Estefan is excellent, and her strange voice gets more appealing with each hearing (please oh please don't compare her with Morissette !). The booklet however, could be better. The taupe background makes reading the lyrics difficult and there is no song/time list (total running time is 41:32)...but this is a marvelous CD, and one I'll be listening to many years from now.

"ay you quiero ser tu firmamento/ de tu boca una canción/ de tus alas siempre ser el viento"/