Bargain Bin Classic: “The Sweet Escape”

This project would’ve worked for me if Gwen Stefani wasn’t trying so hard.

The Sweet Escape wasn’t just cut of the same cloth as her massive-selling debut solo album Love Angel Music Baby, but it was cut of the leftover material. The difference here is: the cohesive and fun 80s pop pastiche has been siphoned out and replaced with a bevy of contemporary urban productions.

Don’t get we wrong. I don’t have a problem with Ghetto Fabulous Gwen. When she gets it right, it’s sickeningly good – like the amazing flow she had going on the Swizz Beatz-produced ‘Now That You Got It’. But when she gets it wrong, it grates and sounds awfully forced – which, much to our disappointment, is the case with the bulk of The Sweet Escape.

The trouble with tracks like ‘Orange County Girl’ and ‘Breakin’ Up’ isn’t so much with the production but with the execution. Most of the time Gwen’s lyrics sound too cumbersome to flow with.

That said, it’s easy to see how the ballads on The Sweet Escape stand out as the best. ’4 In The Morning’ – and especially ‘Early Winter’ – jogs back memories of No Doubt‘s ‘Running’ and ‘Don’t Speak’.

While this album only moved 2.5 million copies worldwide, a shy fraction of the seven million Love Angel Music Baby sold, it is tracks like the bittersweet ‘Wonderful Life’ that justifies Gwen releasing this album of leftover L.A.M.B.

The Sweet Escape (2006)
Key tracks: ‘Early Winter’, ‘Wonderful Life’, ‘The Sweet Escape’ and ‘Yummy’
Reported worldwide sales: 2.5 million copies sold