Alexis Petridis from "The Guardian" lauded Shakira's originality, opining that "In an age of personality-free pop idols, Shakira's glorious eccentricity makes her a true star," and commented that "Every song contains at least one non sequitur so eccentric that it could be the work of 1970s rock surrealist Captain Beefheart" and "The music on "Laundry Service" gives the lyrics a run for their money in the oddball handicap." Although he felt that the use of samples on various songs "displays an attitude to plagiarism that Noel Gallagher would consider cavalier" and that "no one could claim "Laundry Service" was a groundbreaking work of art," he concluded that "its ramshackle production and imponderable lyrics are striking and unique. And these days, it's hard not to find any pop record that provokes those adjectives rather cheering." Music critic Robert Christgau termed "Laundry Service" "the Cher album Cher never made" and attributed this to Shakira's blend of Middle Eastern styles in her music; he commented that the "stylistic appetite of this Colombian superstar is pure rock en Español" and appreciated Shakira's confident songwriting. Christgau also noted Shakira's strong vibrato and constant changing of timbre in her vocals. Lisa Oliver from Yahoo! Music said that Shakira's experimentation with different styles yield "results ranging from corking to minging," but experienced difficulty with the formatting of the CD, saying "the biggest problem with 'Laundry Service' is the anti-copying device that renders the CD useless in anything other than a conventional CD player [...] A shame then, because this Latino hottie could dilate the musical pupils of even the most ardent homebody if only they could get off the computer long enough to hear it."