Gwen Stefani
Love Angel Music Baby

THE REVIEW

The solo album by Gwen Stefani (frontwoman of No Doubt) is titled Love Angel Music Baby, and the acronym LAMB perfectly suits the entire album, as it proves to be as fragile as a lamb (not surprisingly, the English word 'lamb' means lamb). The work of the eclectic singer clearly deviates from the band's atmosphere, as it embraces electronic vibes seasoned with sounds borrowed from the pop scene of the eighties.

It's almost like listening to an old Madonna record, if it weren't for the prominent electronic component and the typical sound of the dance scene. Despite the Italian-American artist having great collaborators, including standouts like Missy Elliot, Outkast, and Linda Perry (former vocalist of 4 Non Blondes), the album does not take off, nor does it convince even when Stefani writes and sings tracks like "What Are You Waiting For", in which she talks about herself and her life as a pop star. The tune is catchy, gets stuck in your head, but ultimately ends up echoing. In "Rich Girl", where she duets with Eve, she talks about her life as if she were a rich woman (perhaps she isn't rich enough!?), even though she states "Your lovin' is better than gold"; in "Cool" she tackles the theme of a deep friendship born from the ashes of a finished love.

The album turns out to be superficial, slow, and even boring, even when the singer claims to be strongly fascinated by the Japanese world, or when in "Crash" she sings a banal chorus similar to children's songs, or again in "Real Thing" when she hopes that the man she loves won't leave, because the only thing she feels real is this so tormented love.
The album is a collage of sounds, words already heard, already read. It's a work that is approaching the Danger Zone, not that zone of embarrassing situations as it happens in the namesake song, but rather a dangerous section where neither love, angels, nor music reign, but only the overwhelming presence of a cumbersome record that could have remained in the singer's mind.