The Singles Jukebox

La verdad es que esta cancion es pedante.

[Video][Website]
[4.17]

Josh Langhoff: A friend from high school affectionately calls Maná hippy music, lumped in with Bacilos and Juanes, both of whom I prefer. I can see it, though — they’re sick and tired of hearing mentiras from neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed dictadores, just give them some verdad. Gently, please. See also the video where the band and pregnant Shakira sing around trash can fires in the last outpost of civilization. (It’s either that or a closed banquet hall with unorthodox chair stacking methods.) As always, there’s pleasure here, mostly in hearing Fher Olvera’s instantly recognizable voice trace a sturdy melody; I also smiled at Shakira’s sighs of “ay, ay, ay.” But as usual, it’s hard to remember their verdad once the next batch of liars comes along.
[4]

Micha Cavaseno: Oddly dated in the way the production sounds, like it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think the song had originally been released in 1998 or something from the way the percussion and the guitars have been mixed. But all in all, the simplicity of this record is not without quaint charms. Just not too strong a presence.
[4]

Alfred Soto: This Latin American “Leather and Lace” has even better harmonies between the she wolf and the lead singer of these perpetual up and comers, but as the comparison implies the song and performance are too wan and professional. I knew Shakira could sing this kind of thing; like Gaga and Tony Bennett, it’s as if the marketing is the point.
[5]

Juana Giaimo: I wish this was just by Shakira, whose voice always flows so naturally, while Fher Olvera’s voice is always so forced to me that it’s funny — just listen to him in he bridge!
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: I believe “Maná” translated into English (using the rockcrit dictionary) = “Train,” which tells you everything you need to know about this snoozy drudge of a record. Indisputable proof that not even the glorious Shakira can make everything interesting.
[2]

Iain Mew: I appreciate the combination between sounding relaxed and still sounding tightly crafted for sonic variation, of which Shakira is a small but significant part. Ultimately there’s only so much appeal in moving around a shifting gradient of ways of being pleasantly dull, though.
[5]