Gwen Stefani Love, Angel, Music, Baby CD

Personnel: Gwen Stefani (vocals); André 3000 (vocals, keyboards); Eve (rap vocals); Linda Perry, Johnny Vulture (guitar, keyboards, programming); Bobby Ross Avila (guitar, keyboards, background vocals); Wendy Melvoin (guitar); Kevin Kendricks (piano, keyboards); Sheldon Conrich, Lisa Coleman (keyboards); Rick Sheppard (midi); Jimmy Jam (bass guitar); Iz (drums, percussion); Sam Littlemore, Ewan Pearson, Aidan Love, Simon Gogerly (programming); Zoey Martin, MiMi "Audio" Parker, Mimi Parker, Naomi Martin, Seven, Bernard Sumner (background vocals); Mike Elizondo (guitar, keyboards); Tony Reyes (guitar, bass guitar); Rusty Anderson (guitar); Tony Kanal (keyboards, synthesizer, programming); Mark Batson (keyboards, keyboard bass); Dallas Austin (keyboards, drums); James "Big Jim" Wright (keyboards); Jason Lader (programming).
Audio Mixers: André 3000; Glenn Pittman; Mark "Spike" Stent; Phil Tan; Johnny Vulture.
Recording information: Darp Studios, Atlanta, GA; Encore Studios, Burback California; Flyte Tyme West; Hensen Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Home recordings London, Englad; Home Recordings, London, England; Karrabee Sound Studio East, Los Angeles, CA; Kingsbury Studios, Los Feliz, CA; Larrabee Sound Studio East, Los Angeles, CA; Ocean Way Record One, Sherman Oaks, CA; O'Henry Sound Studios, Burback, CA; Right Track Recording, New York, NY; Sound Castle Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Stankonia Recording, Atlanta, GA; The Village recorder, West Los Angeles, CA.
Photographer: Nick Knight.
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. Return of Saturn, their long-awaited 2000 follow-up to their blockbuster 1995 breakthrough Tragic Kingdom, 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 Tragic Kingdom, she was a sexy, glamorous club queen, and No Doubt's next album, 2001's Rock Steady, 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 Love.Angel.Music.Baby., 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, André 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 André 3000's alter ego JohnnyRolling Stone (p.173) - 4 stars out of 5 - "It's an irresistible party: trashy, hedonistic and deeply weird."
Rolling Stone (p.152) - Included in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records Of 2004 - "A candy-scented love letter to New Wave, dance pop and Harajuku girls..."
Uncut (p.120) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A]s adventurous and alluring as mainstream pop gets...LAMB is not just her best record, it's one of the most audacious pop albums of the year."