City Newspaper Archives - 1/2007
Gwen Stefani: "The Sweet Escape"
Published by Todd Rezsnyak on Jan 16, 2007
Nothing like a half-baked, luke-warm collection of leftover tunes to hold fans over until No Doubt finally gets back together. Stefani attempts to re-create the fun, bombastic Love.Angel.Music.Baby, but fails. At best, she shows on a few cuts that her voice can ably wrap itself around a song ("Early Winter," "The Sweet Escape"), but far more often it falls flat.
I've never really bought Gwen as a "club thumper." "Hollaback Girl" worked, but she couldn't do it twice. "Wind It Up" is OK, but "Now That You Got It" and "Yummy" are pretty awful, even if you can ignore the rancid lyrics.
Stefani is most grating when she references her a) fame, b) success, or c) clothing line, L.A.M.B., and she does it repeatedly through this disc. I don't need you to remind me how much money or how many Grammy's you've got, Gwen.
Lack of fun, lack of energy, lack of creativity....it's just lacking.
