Gwen Stefani’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is about as much a solo record as No Doubt’s Rock Steady, only this time her longtime bandmates have been replaced with a bevy of high-profile producers and songwriters. In fact, toss in a few more guitars and L.A.M.B. could have very well been the next No Doubt album: Tracks like “Danger Zone” and the reggae/dub-infused “Rich Girl” wouldn’t sound out of place on the band’s last effort. Rock Steady was steeped in so much electronic programming, pop hookery, and club influence that you could almost see Gwen itching to whip Tom, Tony, and Adrian aside with her long ponytail and strike a disco pose.
And with a list of collaborators like the one Gwen assembled in the studio (Linda Perry, Nellee Hooper, Dr. Dre, Dallas Austin, among others), cohesiveness is something L.A.M.B. desperately needed. The album can be divided into three separate parts: modern, retro, and somewhere in between. The first three tracks, including the lead single “What You Waiting For,” are decidedly 2004, while songs like “Serious” flawlessly recreate the throwaway lyrics (“Baby I’m worried about my mental state/Don’t know if I’ll recuperate”), vocal phrasing and background vocals, and synth sounds of the ’80s. She may not have been able to get Prince to sign on to the project, but she got the next best thing in Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, OutKast’s André 3000, and Wendy & Lisa (the former members of Prince’s Revolution join New Order’s Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook on “The Real Thing,” a slice of vintage euro-pop perfection).
- Sal Cinquemani - slantmagazine.com
