March 11, 2005
Love.Music.Angel.Baby by Gwen Stefani
Anytime I've ever bought a CD because I've liked one song, it's usually come back to bite me on the ass (Blind Melon, Deep Blue Something, and Marcy's Playground, I'm looking at y'all!).
I wasn't totally in love with What You Waiting For?. It's catchy and dance-poppy, but it's hard to understand what she's saying (she's worried about her solo career) and the lyrics seem repetitive.
So I waited to hear the next single before I decided whether or not to buy the album. The next song released was Rich Girl (with Stefani's female rap singer of choice, Eve) and I found it to be much more catchy and kitschy than the first song, but just as repetitive.
That didn't stop me from buying the album though and I have to say that I am enjoying it. Not every song, hence the 2 pitchforks, but the majority of them.
The first 3 songs on the album (What You Waiting For, Rich Girl, and Hollaback Girl) are the first 3 songs released onto the airwaves. Hollaback Girl sounds very much like a song you'd see at a Step Show. The lyrics are all about how she's heard you talking shit about her and she's not down with that so she's gonna take care of you behind the bleachers.
If you've ever seen the Behind the Music on No Doubt, then you know that Gwen likes to put her feelings about stuff that's going on in her life into her songs. That hasn't changed. Cool talks about her relationship with her former boyfriend and band mate, Tony Kanal. Danger Zone, while it doesn't come right out and say, is about her marriage to Gavin Rossdale of Bush and the secrets he had before they were a couple (like the fact that he had a daughter with another woman, which to be fair, he didn't know either, so it's not as if he deliberately kept the secret from Gwen).
Luxurious and Harajuku Girls represent the slow side of Stefani. Luxurious is very R&B sounding with a bit of electronica thrown in. Harajuku Girls is her ode to the Tokyo subculture that inspired her new clothing line, L.A.M.B.
I usually skip over The Real Thing because it just doesn't grab me.
Serious is more dance, less pop, and very Kylie Minogue sounding. In fact, when I first was listening to the CD, I almost thought I had my Kylie CD in and had to double check to make sure I didn't.
Crash and Bubble Pop Electric are songs about having sex in cars. Or cars as metaphors for sex. Or something like that.
Long Way to Go is Gwen's collaboration with Andre 3000. It's a Song With A Serious Message ™ set to a dance beat.
Overall, an enjoyable album and a good job for her first solo effort.