Awkward and alluring in equal measures, Gwen Stefani's 2004 solo debut, Love.Angel.Music.Baby., did its job: it made Gwen a bigger star on her own than she was as the lead singer of No Doubt.
With that established and her long-desired wish for a baby finally fulfilled, there was no rush for Gwen to get back to her regular gig, so she made another solo album, The Sweet Escape, which expanded on what really sold her debut: her tenuous connections to Californian club culture.
There was always a sense of artifice behind the turn-of-the-century makeover that brought Gwen from a ska-punk sweetheart to a dance club queen, but that doesn't mean it didn't work at least on occasion, most spectacularly so on the gloriously dumb marching-band rap of "Hollaback Girl," the Neptunes production that turned L.A.M.B.
into a blockbuster.
There, as on her duet with Eve on "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," Gwen made the transition into a modern-day material girl with ease, but when she tried to shoehorn this ghetto-fabulous persona into her original new wave girl character, it felt forced, nowhere more so than on the Linda Perry written and produced "What You Waiting For." Gwen doesn't make that mistake again on The Sweet Escape -- by and large, she keeps these two sides of her personality separate, favoring the streets and nightclubs to the comfort of her new wave home.
Just because she wants to run in the streets doesn't mean she belongs there; she continues to sound far more comfortable mining new wave pop, as only a child of the '80s could.
As always, it's those celebrations of cool synths and stylish pop hooks that work the best for Stefani, whether she's approximating the chilliness of early-MTV new romantics on "Wonderful Life," mashing Prince and Madonna on "Fluorescent," or lying back on the coolly sensual "4 in the Morning."
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wind It UpGwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams | Gwen Stefani | Play | 03:09 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 2 | The Sweet EscapeGwen Stefani, Aliaume Thiam, Giorgio Tuinfort | Gwen Stefani | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 3 | Orange County GirlGwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams | Gwen Stefani | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 4 | Early WinterTim Rice-Oxley, Gwen Stefani | Gwen Stefani | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 5 | Now That You Got ItKasseem Dean, Sean Garrett, Gwen Stefani | Gwen Stefani | Play | 02:59 | 6 MB | 22 MB |
| 6 | 4 in the MorningTony Kanal, Gwen Stefani | Gwen Stefani | Play | 04:51 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 7 | YummyGwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams | Gwen Stefani | Play | 04:57 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 8 | FluorescentTony Kanal, Gwen Stefani | Gwen Stefani | Play | 04:18 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 9 | Breakin' UpGwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams | Gwen Stefani | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 10 | Don't Get It TwistedTony Kanal, Gwen Stefani | Gwen Stefani | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 11 | U Started ItGwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams | Gwen Stefani | Play | 03:08 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 12 | Wonderful LifeLinda Perry, Gwen Stefani | Gwen Stefani | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 13 | Wind It Up (Harajuku Lovers Live) | Gwen Stefani | Play | 03:24 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 50 mins | 116 MB | |||||
| 50 mins | 355 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akon | Featured Artist |
| 2 | Andrew Alekel | Engineer |
| 3 | Angelo Aponte | Engineer |
| 4 | Trinka Baggetta | A&R |
| 5 | Matt Beck | Guitar |
| 6 | Yvan Bing | Assistant Engineer |
| 7 | Stephen Bradley | Baritone, Trumpet |
| 8 | Julian Chan | Engineer |
| 9 | Jolie Clemens | Art Direction, Layout Design |
| 10 | Andrew Coleman | Engineer |
| 11 | Greg Collins | Engineer, Guitar, Guitar (Bass), Vocal Engineer, Vocal Producer |
| 12 | Cindy Cooper | Art Coordinator, Package Coordinator, Photography |
| 13 | Pete Davis | Keyboards, Mixing |
| 14 | Loren Dawson | Keyboards |
| 15 | Kasseem Dean | Composer |
| 16 | Alex Dromgoole | Assistant Engineer, Guitar, Guitar (Bass) |
| 17 | Bojan Dugich | Engineer |
| 18 | Ron Fair | Orchestra Production |
| 19 | Jason Finkel | Assistant Engineer |
| 20 | Nicole Frantz | Art Coordinator, Package Coordinator, Photography |
| 21 | Brian "Big Bass" Gardner | Mastering |
| 22 | Sean Garrett | Composer, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 23 | Brian Garten | Engineer |
| 24 | Simon Gogerly | Engineer |
| 25 | Mark "Exit" Goodchild | Engineer |
| 26 | Martin Gore | Featured Artist, Guitar |
| 27 | Jill Greenberg | Photography |
| 28 | Keith Gretlein | Engineer |
| 29 | Hart Gunther | Assistant Engineer |
| 30 | Richard Hawley | Guitar |
| 31 | Nellee Hooper | Audio Production, Guest Artist, Producer |
| 32 | Jimmy Iovine | A&R |
| 33 | Neil Kanal | Engineer, Programming |
| 34 | Tony Kanal | Audio Production, Composer, Guest Artist, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 35 | Ryan Kennedy | Assistant Engineer |
| 36 | Anthony LoGerfo | Percussion |
| 37 | Aidan Love | Programming |
| 38 | Tony Love | Guitar |
| 39 | Gabrial McNair | Baritone, Keyboards, Trombone |
| 40 | Jonathan Merritt | Engineer |
| 41 | Kevin Mills | Assistant Engineer, Engineer |
| 42 | Colin Mitchell | Engineer |
| 43 | Angelo Moore | Featured Artist, Saxophone |
| 44 | The Neptunes | Audio Production, Producer |
| 45 | Tim Rice-Oxley | Composer, Featured Artist, Guest Artist, Keyboards, Piano |
| 46 | Ewan Pearson | Programming |
| 47 | Linda Perry | Composer |
| 48 | Glenn Pittman | Assistant Engineer |
| 49 | Mark Ralph | Guitar |
| 50 | Kingston James McGregor Rossdale | Voices |
| 51 | Ian Rossiter | Assistant Engineer |
| 52 | Gwen Stefani | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 53 | Mark "Spike" Stent | Mixing, Producer |
| 54 | Swizz Beatz | Audio Production, Producer |
| 55 | Talent Bootcamp Kids | Vocals |
| 56 | Phil Tan | Mixing |
| 57 | Aliaume Thiam | Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 58 | Steve Tolle | Assistant Engineer |
| 59 | Richard Travali | Mixing |
| 60 | Giorgio Tuinfort | Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 61 | Mark Williams | A&R |
| 62 | Pharrell Williams | Audio Production, Composer, Featured Artist, Guest Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |