"The Sweet Escape" Album Review

It's pretty fair to say that you know what you're going to get from Gwen Stefani. After the success of "Love. Angel. Music. Baby", it was always going to be a pretty safe bet that for her second album Stefani would return to the same template.

And so it proves with the release of "The Sweet Escape". Stefani has retained the services of uber-producers The Neptunes, carried on with the same 'throw everything in the kitchen sink' sonic approach, and the usual role call of collaborators show up: Pharrell Williams, Akon, Linda Perry and, um, the pianist... »»

"Love. Angel. Music. Baby" Album Review

Gwen Stefani imprinted her image so indelibly upon No Doubt that it’s difficult to know what to expect from her first solo album. It could have been a continuation of her band’s poppy ska style or she could have done a complete U-turn. Instead, what we have here is an interesting mesh of styles that, while not scaring away No Doubt fans, may persuade people who haven’t been convinced by Stefani in the past to reappraise her.... »»