Gwen Stefani: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Review

Copyright (c) Noelle Adams. All Rights Reserved.

‘Bubble Pop Electric’ is the fifth track on Love. Angel. Music. Baby, the first solo album from No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani. And Bubble Pop Electric is exactly what you get from a platinum blonde with a taste for dark lipstick, Japanese culture and haute couture fashions. 

There is no question that Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is a highly stylised album. Utilising unusual samples, and all sorts of mixing tricks, the album features polished track production from the likes of Nellee Hooper (on ‘Luxurious’, ‘The Real Thing’, ‘Danger Zone’ and ‘What Are You Waiting For?’), Dr Dre (‘Rich Girl’) and Andre 3000 (‘Long Way to Go’).  

Even the album’s subject matter is decidedly superficial, focusing on money (‘Rich Girl’), fashion (‘Harajuku Girls’), fast love (‘Crash’) and assorted other materialistic pursuits. ‘Long Way to Go’, which explores the difficulties of inter-racial relationships, is less social commentary and more technical experimentation. Featuring the Beck-like chorus ‘It’s beyond Martin Luther, upgrade computer’, the track also subjects Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech to a vicious turn on the mixing table. 

Stefani’s distinctive voice at least remains manipulation-free. However, fans expecting more of No Doubt’s distinct Californian ska-rock sound will be disappointed. While Love. Angel. Music. Baby. allows Stefani, as a songwriter, to explore a number of styles and influences, rock is not one of them. 

Instead, you have what can only be called white R&B on tracks like ‘Luxurious’ and ‘Hollaback Girl’, as well as Grease-like dialogue in ‘Bubble Pop Electric’. Two of the finest tracks on the album, the personal love songs ‘Serious’ and ‘The Real Thing’, have a distinct 80’s sound. ‘The Real Thing’, in particular, mixed to mellow perfection by Wendy and Lisa, draws comparisons to Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’. 

Other album highlights include ‘The Real Thing’, the up-tempo ‘Bubble Pop Electric’, and ‘Cool’, a song about finding peace with an ex-lover. And if you can get past their ad nauseam airplay, there is always the album’s first two singles, ‘Rich Girl’ and ‘What Are You Waiting For?’ 

With such an emphasis on funkiness and electronica experimentation, Stefani’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is a potentially love-it-or-hate-it album. Fortunately, addictive, professional pop wins out. If that is where your music tastes lie, you won’t be disappointed.