| Love. Angel. Music. Baby. | 
 enlarge | Artist: Gwen Stefani
Label: Interscope Records
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $13.97 (100%)
New (59) Used (176) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  932 reviews
Sales Rank: 3807
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.2
MPN: 000346902
UPC: 602498638507
EAN: 0602498638507
ASIN: B00064AEJW
Release Date: November 23, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | What You Waiting For? - Gwen Stefani, Perry, Linda | | • | Rich Girl - Gwen Stefani, Batson, M. | | • | Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani, Hugo, Chad | | • | Cool - Gwen Stefani, Austin, Dallas | | • | Bubble Pop Electric - Gwen Stefani, Benjamin, A. | | • | Luxurious - Gwen Stefani, Isley, OKelly | | • | Harajuku Girls - Gwen Stefani, Stefani, G. | | • | Crash - Gwen Stefani, Kanal, Tony | | • | The Real Thing - Gwen Stefani, Perry, Linda | | • | Serious - Gwen Stefani, Kanal, Tony | | • | Danger Zone - Gwen Stefani, Austin, Dallas | | • | Long Way to Go - Gwen Stefani, Benjamin, A. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
On No Doubt's great Rock Steady, Gwen Stefani was a "girl that hangs with the boys... just sippin' on chamomile." Three years and a KROQ-nerd Talk Talk cover later, she presents a solo debut that wants it all--Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano, backseat love and lifetime devotion, '70s pop throwbacks and hip-hop beats as well as Clash adoration (she continues to be managed by the firm of Rebel Waltz, named for a mournful Sandinista! cut). Among the standout tracks are the stomping, Neptunes-driven "Hollaback Girl," the tongue-in-cheek Eve/Dr. Dre collaboration "Rich Girl," and the girl-power manifesto "What You Waiting For?"; another tune, "The Real Thing," nods toward role-model Madonna's "Holiday." Though it can't match Rock Steady's inexorable track-by-track flow, Love, Angel, Music, Baby is such state-of-the-art pop that the description almost feels like damning it with faint praise. --Rickey Wright
Album Description
In her own unique way, Gwen Stefani has managed to shift our culture since coming onto the scene as the lead singer of No Doubt. With years of defining style and 30 million in record sales under her belt, she will again turn heads with this debut record that is as fresh as it is retro and as progressive as it is feel-good familiar. With this project, she has enlisted some of the biggest names in music (Dr. Dre, Eve, The Neptunes, Andre 3000, Nellee Hooper, Dallas Austin, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Linda Perry and Tony Kanal) to create a genre bending masterpiece that is guaranteed to be one of the most talked about records of this year (2004) and beyond.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 927 more reviews...
 Gwen enters the "Madonnasphere" of reinvention and variety.. December 28, 2004
158 out of 205 found this review helpful
Well...it's a bit hard to start this review since this recording is so diverse and totally all over the place! I wasn't expecting very much from this CD, but I was pleasantly surprised! She weaves 70s, 80s, 90s, dance, hip-hop, electronica and R&B into a very unique package. I'm not sure if L.A.M.B. will be a classic, but it deserves recognition for its brazen originality.
It starts out with the driving "What You Waiting For?" - a great tune, that doesn't get boring, as some reviewers have noted. Then the hit "Rich Girl", which I didn't really at first listen, but I'm hooked now. "Hollaback Girl" is reminiscent of "Mickey", by Toni Basil. Then, my favorite!, "Bubble Pop Electric" takes you on a wild ride. I hit the replay button more than once on this song. "Luxurious" is totally laid back and full of soul. The balance of the CD continues on its signature course of individuality.
Bottom line: The strength of this album is its originality. Consequently, the weakness of this album is its originality. I'm glad I own this CD. I will pop it from time to time when I want to hear something that is not overproduced and transparent. Nice debut Gwen - you've got a hit!
 Stefani: From Fortune to Fluff April 2, 2005
91 out of 145 found this review helpful
There is only one reason that this album raised a single eyebrow in the pop world...because the act was once the lead singer of a unique, cutting-edge female band. In a world of many Pop clones, this album is simply one more soundalike. The lyrics are shallow and often redundant. The Hip-Hop artists are an old gimmick. You can dance to the beat, but the electronic instrumentation is typically boring. I have no idea what emotional mid-life crisis Gwen is going through, but she's a heck of a long way from No Doubt. Teens will probably eat this stuff up like gum, but as an adult, I take no pleasure in watching someone de-evolving.
Stop Making Sense. December 27, 2004
80 out of 139 found this review helpful
Stefani breaks from No Doubt with her debut "Love.Angel.Music.Baby." (LAMB) Anyone who is Stefani's age, or anyone like myself who has lived through the 1980's, knows that No Doubt probably pioneered the return of the 80's new wave/punk scene that is now in full swing. That, and No Doubt's last album being highly retro, it comes as no surprise that Stefani's solo album is steeped in 80's retroactivity. He first single, "What You Waiting For?" is pure Cyndi Lauper circa "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (1983).
Stefani also blends 90's sensibilities such as the dull "Luxurious" hip-hop-crap that it is. She even endeavors to go for Broadway by taking "Fiddler On The Roof's" "If I Were A Rich Man" and morphing it into "If I Were A Rich Girl" on "Rich Girl"--which also has a short horn re-make of Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" as a five second riff in the middle of the song. Sounding quite like Toni Basil on "Hollaback Girl", Stefani manages to make another cheerleading, pom-pom extravaganza replete with hood lyrics "This My Sh-t" for all those inner city mamas. She even works with 80's new wave icons New Order on the excellend "The Real Thing" and also seems in fine form on "Crash" and "Serious". She can be downright irritating on "Bubble Pop Electric" and "Harjuku Girls". Working with Andre 3000 from Outkast actually works on "Long Way To Go" more than "Bubble Pop Electric". Oddly, for a woman in her 30's, Gwen seems to pander to teens--just look at the lyrics for "Bubble Pop Electric", "Rich Girl" and "Hollaback Girl".
It seems as if Stefani, who if I remember correctly is married to Bush's Gavin Rossdale (also in his 30's), has skipped adulthood and on her own is only able to conjure up forgettable adolescent hoopla. I'm sure her teen fans are not up to speed on what Harajuku is, unless of course they watch "America's Next Top Model", but it's funny that Gwen panders to the Japanese crowd as old as she is. One might gather that all Ms. Stefani cares about, looking over the themes of these songs, is Sex.Fashion.Money.Cheerleading.
So, LAMB can be described as mindless fodder that's extremely catchy and well-produced (look at all the handy production teams she has on each song). To me, the best song on the disc is "What You Waiting For?" This song captures every good quality Stefani possesses--attitude, insecurity and an ability to write a classic song. If you're looking for an 80's fix, you can look no further than this ebullient slice from that era.
Wouldn't catch it if it was thrown at me. June 23, 2005
66 out of 125 found this review helpful
No Doubt is a band. Gwen Stefani is a pseudo style princess creating a faux Andy Warhol world for herself and her Harajuku girls. More disturbing than the retread of 70's/80's/90's music better done by Frou Frou, Kylie Minogue and Scissor Sisters is the constant objectification of the dancers in Stefani's videos who bow, acquiesce, laugh and coo at their mistress' bequest. Decent beats cannot disguise what a mockery she makes of this aspect of Japanese culture.
Cliche Pablum Drivel Baby December 1, 2004
52 out of 71 found this review helpful
Two good songs? That's IT? Gwen, darling, what were you thinking? I bought this for less than a tenner and STILL feel ripped off. Aside from the single, which sounds like a flawless Madonna imitation from the "Material Girl" era, and the somewhat cute play on Fiddler On The Roof come "Rich Girl," "Love Angel Music Baby" starts circling the bowl pretty quick. No Doubt made inconsequential pop albums that at least worked as excellent ear candy (and their singles collection is as good as any 90's band that you'll find), but this is just egotistical preening. The constant references to her fashion line and the bragging lyrics about being wicked and a super hot female are staler than last year's Grammy dress.
Then there's the matter of the lyrics. Barely rising past juvenile, the flagrant immaturity and the obscenities sink almost every song here. Words like "ka-ching" and "wicked style" are liberally overused throughout this poor excuse for "artistic expansion." But the absolute bottom of the barrel is track three, "Hollaback Girl," where the woman who once declared her femininity and emancipation on "Just A Girl" seductively croons "This is my sh**" over and over. Then, just in case you really didn't understand the enormity of this statement, she spells it out for you by making sure you know that this "sh** is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s!" I know that has got to be a fantastic example of empowerment and intelligence to young teens everywhere.
Actually, Gwen repeatedly proclaiming "This is my sh**" is about as accurate a critique of "Love Angel Music Baby" as anything I could come up with. Congrats, Gwen. Your solo adventure just made Hilary Duff look like a Jeopardy champ.
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