Gwen Stefani "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." Album

	Title: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Format: Album Label: Interscope Records Released: 2004-11-23
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Tracklisting & Lyrics

Reviews

In the wake of Gwen Stefani's elevation to diva status in the early 2000s, it's easy to forget that for a brief moment at the start of the millennium it seemed that she and her band, No Doubt, were dangerously close to being pegged as yet another of the one-album alt-rock wonders of the '90s. , their long-awaited 2000 follow-up to their blockbuster 1995 breakthrough , failed to ignite any sparks at either retail or radio, despite receiving some strong reviews, and the group seemed on the verge of disappearing. Then, Gwen sang on Eve's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" in 2001. The Dr. Dre-produced song was a brilliant single, driven by a G-funk groove and a sultry pop chorus delivered by Stefani, and it was an enormous hit, peaking at number two on the Billboard charts and winning a Grammy, while redefining Gwen's image in the process. No longer the cute SoCal ska-punk kid of , she was a sexy, glamorous club queen, and No Doubt's next album, 2001's , not only reflected this extreme makeover, it benefited from it, since her new ghetto-fabulous persona turned the album into a big hit. A side effect of this was that Gwen now had a higher profile than her band, making a solo album somewhat inevitable. Since she always dominated No Doubt -- she was their face, voice, lyricist, and sex symbol, after all -- it's reasonable to ask whether vanity was the only reason she wanted to break out on her own, since it seemed to the outside observer that she helped set the musical course for the band.
A quick listen to , her 2004 solo debut, reveals that this is not an album she could have made with the group -- it's too club-centric, too fashion-obsessed, too willfully weird to be a No Doubt album. Working with far too many collaborators -- including Dr. Dre, the Neptunes, Linda Perry, Dallas Austin, Andre 3000, Nellee Hooper, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and her No Doubt bandmate (and ex-boyfriend) Tony Kanal -- Stefani has created a garish, neon-colored, deliberately stylish solo album that's intermittently exciting and embarrassing. It covers far too much ground to be coherent, but a large part of its charm is to hear it careen from the thumping, minimal beats of the Neptunes-helmed "Hollaback Girl" to the sleek, new wave textures of the high-school anthem-in-waiting "Cool" and back to the exhilarating freakazoid sex song "Bubble Pop Electric," featuring Andre 3000's alter ego Johnny Vulture. This is music that exists entirely on the surface -- so much so, that when Andre drops in Martin Luther King samples into the closer, "Long Way to Go," it's a jarring buzz kill -- and that's what's appealing about , even if it is such a shallow celebration of fleeting style and outdated bling-bling culture, it can grate. This shallowness can result in intoxicating beats, hooks, and melodies, but also a fair share of embarrassments, from odes to "hydroponic love" and choruses built on either "That's my s*it" or "take a chance, you stupid ho" to the stumbling contributions from Linda Perry. But Stefani's dogged desire to cobble together her own patchwork style while adhering to both her new wave chick and urban goddess personas can be both fascinatingly odd (her weirdly homoerotic tribute to "Harajuku Girls") and irresistible. It's telling that the best moments on the album keep closest to her new wave roots (which include heavy electro synth beats and blips): no matter how hard she tries, she is not a cultural trailblazer like Madonna. Unlike Madge, she willingly adapts to her collaborators instead of forcing them to adapt to her, which means that truly does sound like the work of seven different producers instead of one strong-willed artist. Nevertheless, even if it doesn't work all the time -- and some of its best tracks still have moments that induce a withering cringe -- it's a glitzy, wild ride that's stranger and often more entertaining than nearly any other mainstream pop album of 2004. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide.

On No Doubt's great Rock Steady, Gwen Stefani was a "girl that hangs with the boys... just sippin' on chamomile." Three years and a KROQ-nerd Talk Talk cover later, she presents a solo debut that wants it all--Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano, backseat love and lifetime devotion, '70s pop throwbacks and hip-hop beats as well as Clash adoration (she continues to be managed by the firm of Rebel Waltz, named for a mournful Sandinista! cut). Among the standout tracks are the stomping, Neptunes-driven "Hollaback Girl," the tongue-in-cheek Eve/Dr. Dre collaboration "Rich Girl," and the girl-power manifesto "What You Waiting For?"; another tune, "The Real Thing," nods toward role-model Madonna's "Holiday." Though it can't match Rock Steady's inexorable track-by-track flow, Love, Angel, Music, Baby is such state-of-the-art pop that the description almost feels like damning it with faint praise. ~Rickey Wright, Amazon.com.

Love, Angel, Music, Baby is Gwen Stefani's first solo album and a glittering salute to her passions for fashion and 80s synth. A side project from Gwen's other role as the Blondie-esque singer in No Doubt, this great album reinforces her international-pop-star status and coincides with an imminent silver screen debut as Jean Harlow in Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes' biopic The Aviator.
OutKast's Andre 3000, Dr Dre, the Neptunes, and No Doubt band mate Tony Kanal number among the talented catalogue of collaborators who have helped Gwen realize this vision of Tokyo-tastic electro pop.
Explosive opener "What You Waiting For?" is a magnificent slab of electro funk with a kick ass attitude reminiscent of Goldfrapp's "Strict Machine". Produced by Nellee Hooper, it stands out as the best track on the album for the way it pits storming beats against enthusiastic lyrics like, 'Take a chance you stupid ho' and 'I can't wait to go back and do Japan!'
"Rich Girl", produced by the ubiquitous Dr Dre, is just as infectious and teams Gwen's vocals with groovy raps from gal pal Eve. The resulting tune is disco gold, impossibly girly and very easy to dance to. Gwen and Eve sing about the joys of shopping and Gwen dreams of one day acquiring a troupe of harajuku girls ("Love, Angel, Music and Baby") to help inspire and dress her. "Bubble Pop Electric", recorded with Johnny Vulture (Andre 3000's rock 'n' roll alter ego), uses skipping scatter gun beats as an imposing backdrop to Gwen's sugar-sweet vocals. It's an effective approach later repeated on "Long Way To Go", a soulful duet from Andre and Gwen about love and boundaries.
Love, Angel, Music, Baby marks Gwen's debut as a rival to the likes of Madonna and Kelis, and their influence is apparent. The cheeky upstart charm Madonna sported in the 80s is embraced to shrewd effect on "Serious", whilst "Rich Girl" is a bouncy foil to Kelis' "Milkshake". In all, this is a stunning and stylish effort that showcases Gwen's credentials as a bonafide pop goddess. ~Lisa Haines, BBC.