Gwen Stefani-The Sweet Escape Album Review

ukevents.net · Joined: 15 Dec 2003 Posts: 2517

Gwen Stefani-The Sweet Escape

Gwen Stefani’s first solo album fulfilled her desire to make a dance album and her second one, The Sweet Escape, fulfils her desire to make a Hip-Hop album, albeit Hip-Hop lite as opposed to full-on Gangsta rap or Trip-Hop.

I was instantly impressed by the powerful baselines and the contributions of Akon and Pharrell Williams which, in my mind, all contribute to Stefani’s superiority to rivals such as Fergie.

The first track, “Wind It Up” was in itself a major motivation for my buying of the album. The innovative juxtaposition of a full-size orchestra with Stefani’s bubblegum rap deserves to be heard over and over again. The live version (track 13) is even more explosive.

Williams not only lends his vocals to the album but also, along with the rest of The Neptunes, produces a large proportion of it, hence the welcome resemblance to the futuristic, synphocated sound of N.E.R.D.’s finest work.

There is great variety in the lyrics. “Now That You Got It” (track 5) is about a woman confidently asserting her right to be treated like a queen by a man who’d been chasing her hard before finally getting together with her. Yummy (track 7) expresses Stefani’s pride in being a yummy mummy and her determination to come back from maternity leave with all guns firing. Yet other tracks have more a reflective, humble tone. “Early Winter” (track 4) draws an analogy between the end of a relationship and the sudden, depressing onset of cold, gloomy weather. “Wonderful Life” (track 12) bemoans the fate of a girl who has been abandoned by her beau and is now left to face this apparently wonderful life by herself. The title track, “The Sweet Escape” (track 2) sees Stefani collaborating with Akon in order to recount the story of someone begging her partner to stay with her, so that might yet escape the mistakes made hitherto in their relationship.

If there is one weak track, then “Breakin’ Up” (track 9) is it. The relatively unimaginative baseline causes the lyrics to pass the listener by far too easily. However, it is the exception that proves that this album is one of the most inventive of recent times.

I hope that Stefani’s solo adventures influence the soon to be reunited No Doubt to the extent that it is an even better band than it was the first time round.

Written by Autumn for UKEvents.net