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Gwen Stefani Links: GWEN STEFANI - Biography Gwen Stefani - Love Angel Music Baby Gwen Stefani Lyrics Rich Girl Lyrics feat. Eve What You Waiting For Lyrics |
Gwen Stefani's AlbumLove Angel Music Baby Lyrics
Platinum blonde frontwoman Gwen Stefani is best known for the ska-pop sound in her band No Doubt. But for her solo debut, "Love Angel Music Baby," Stefani goes for a totally different sound -- bubblegummy eighties dancepop, a clubby, colorful, glitzy whirl full of Harajuku girls. "What You Waiting For?" is the strongest single from here, where Stefani ticks off the seconds before launching into a danceable, self-addressed lecture: "Life is short/you're capable.../what you waiting for?" Stefani urges herself to "take a chance" while "you're still a super-hot female," all against her longings to get more fans in Japan. "Harajuku Girls" is a kitschy ode to Japanese fashionistas (they get mentioned several times over the album), while the sugary "Bubble Pop Electric" with Andre 3000 is a goofy, sugary pop song. A few of the songs misfire, like interracial dating song "Long Way To Go," which becomes way too self-important. But mostly they revel in the sound of early Madonna tunes, with a new wave twist. The deluxe edition isn't too different from the regular CD, and is intended for die-hard Stefani fans rather than someone giving her music a spin for the first time. Don't expect a DVD or anything so major. It has a little hardcover booklet, quite polished and cute, as well as a sort of CD carrying case. "Love Angel Music Baby" won't surprise anybody -- it's all in the style of the first single. It's sleek. It's sexy. It's a guilty pleasure, and it rarely pretends to be anything else. Basically it's not for anyone looking for high-quality music, but it's a fun diversion when you are dancing around your living room. Stefani's voice isn't technically the best, but she can range from wispy to a throaty purr to a squeal. And her vocals get a pretty good workout here. The musical styles are more electronic than her previous work with No Doubt, taking on a more new wave sound. Think 21st-century Blondie, with a bit of funk thrown in. The lyrics are simplistic in a dancefloor kind of way. They're meant to sound fun to the synth beats, not be deep -- "born to blossom/bloom to perish" are perhaps the strongest lines, as Stefani examines her own fragile popularity. Her sole effort at depth, "Long Way To Go" gets a bit too hamhanded. And it's Martin Luther King Jr., sweetie. Martin Luther was the guy who P.O.ed the Pope and formed the Lutheran church. Gwen Stefani makes a fun guilty pleasure in "Love Angel Music Baby". It has light-as-air lyrics and poppy music, but it's worth a spin if you want something to dance to. First, I would like to respond to the review by M. Goss. (scroll down or check the next page). If you are buying Gwen Stefani's album, expecting to hear No Doubt, then you are certifiably idiotic. That is the whole POINT of a solo album, to do something NEW, something DIFFERENT. Which Gwen does with class, style, and smarts to spare. This album is very sleek, sort of like an obsidian shard. It's edgy, it's sharp, but it's pleasing to experience. She gets into her sex on this album, and to anyone not used to the dirty side of Gwen's mouth...well...get used to it. She curses, she groans, she purrs...and most importantly, she BEGS for it. It's insane. The music accomplished just what she intended. It is all very 80's, from the sock hop on acid "Bubble Pop Electric", to the Tony Kanal produced ode to hospital raunch, "Serious". This album is a no brainer as it is, but with the presentation, it surpasses any Limited Edition released this year. Easy. Most limited editions give you a poster, maybe some extra tracks, but this one? It gives you a true gift. Not only do you get a hardback booklet (which contains the lyrics, and the CD), but you get a small CD wallet designed by Gwen Stefani, from her clothing line named L.A.M.B. She plugs the brand in a couple of her songs, so listen out for those as well. Her collaborations on this disc, as well, are stellar. Eve makes a glorious Gwen-style featuring on "Rich Girl" (one of the cutest songs on the disc) and Andre 3000 shines on "Long Way To Go". The latter track is a great song telling us how stupid it is that two people in love can't be accepted if they are of different skin colors. The song is true, right on target. These days, "Jungle Fever" just isn't accepted. Keep on preachin, Gwen...you've got the stuff. Gwen Stefani's album is...embarrassingly catchy. Is this what happens when you don't have to worry about writing with someone you broke up with over ten years ago??? The 80's influence is obvious on "Love, Angel, Music, Baby," and that should come as no surprise. No one was waiting to usher in this newfound fascination with all things Reagan-era quite like Stefani. It shows up plenty, but is especially prominent on the first single, "What You Waiting For", (also the album's first track). It's odd, though, how little airplay Stefani's first single got, at least here in St. Paul. It's got to be one of the hookiest songs to come out last year, and yet, I heard more Linkin Park.... How tragic. Not to be discounted though, is the heavy hip-hop, R&B influence on Stefani's solo work. Not that this should come as any surprise for those familiar with No Doubt's last album, "Rock Steady" (and how could you not be? most of the songs were released as singles). "Hey Baby" and "Hella Good" were obvious forays into hip hop, and they only really took the ND fans who still believed ND was a ska band by surprise. Everyone else just enjoyed the evolution and shrugged off any nagging feelings that Tragic Kingdom would be no more. Songs like "Harajuku Girls", "Luxurious (one of the few mistakes on the album)", and "Rich Girl (her second single and reunion with Eve)" show Stefani's natural dexterity with hip hop and R&B, genre's she and No Doubt have only really recently delved into. It's Stefani's eclectic love of musical genres (okay, by "electic", I do mean in the realm of modern pop music. There's no Jamaican Polka-Jazz fusion here), that keep "Love, Angel, Music, Baby," so interesting. None of the songs blend together, and it's refreshing to find an album full of catchy, intriguing songs in a time when few mainstream artists seem to be making real albums. Although, I'm still not sure her duet with Andre 3000 on the album's last track, "Long Way to Go", was all that necessary. It's an excellent song, with a distinctive Prince groove that Andre 3000's becoming quite adept at copping, but the song belongs more to him than to her. Source: Amazon.comLove Angel Music Baby Album Track List - tracklist:
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