Music Review: Gwen Stefani

After receiving five Grammy nominations for her 2004 solo debut album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby., Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape has secured her position as an R&B, pop and hip-hop artist. The new album touches upon each genre and offers tracks for each, giving fans a range of different sounds.

Similarly, the songs on The Sweet Escape each seem reminiscent of a different decade. The track "The Sweet Escape," featuring Akon as producer and back-up vocalist, follows Stefani's new sensitivity and gives the impression of a throwback to the Supremes, with its soft, flirtatious beat. Then "Fluorescent" takes the listener toward the '80s, with a heavy synthesizer and Prince-like sound. The album also includes hip-hop tracks, like "Yummy," which actually sounds like the album's attempt to imitate "Hollaback Girl." However, almost all the songs on the album sound like something we've heard before. Even the first single, "Wind It Up" is based on sounds from The Sound of Music and features Stefani's attempt at a yodel.

The tracks offer a diverse range of sounds and ultimately, Stefani does stem out to different genres and does offer a "sweet escape" from other pop albums on the market.