i'm such a bitch!!!
so, i wrote my review of the Dec just now (and by that i mean for the last two hours...) and i'm so amused by it
1) because i trash the album almost the whole time
2) until the end when i admit that i actually love it!!!
HA!!!
so, here it is...i hope you're as amused as i am:
Critics would classify Americans as sheep. Outsiders see our obsession with trends and our lemming-like agreeability in music and film. We are a mass-produced society buying what the higher-ups tell us to buy. Right?
Part of our cultural overkill though is our fascination with celebrity. We attach ourselves to our commercial artists and we idolize them without question. Another facet of this fixation is that we are extremely critical when celebrities do not live up to our expectations. When Britney strips or Christina gets her hooha pierced we gasp and feel betrayed. Imagine all of the angsty teenage girls that would lose all sense of self if Avril dropped the skater image for blonde hair and spike heels.
It seems Gwen Stefani has both helped this tendency along and shattered it altogether with her solo debut Love, Angel, Music, Baby. Fans are either psyched about or appalled by Gwen’s synth-pop tribute. The critics are not very forgiving. They complain that someone of Stefani’s stature should stick to the status quo. But then again, her two singles (“What You Waiting For” and “Rich Girl”) are selling like hotcakes. Is there no bridge for this gap!? Sadly, no.
L.A.M.B. is a romp through 80’s electronica and contemporary Japanese youth culture, with guest appearances left and right. It is a mish-mash of confusion, but the booty-shaking factor makes up for it in most places. The album’s schizophrenia, while interesting when taken as an experiment, is ultimately distracting. But hey, you take that risk when you have 8 different producers for only 12 tracks.
“What You Waiting For” and “Rich Girl” are certainly radio-friendly, admittedly the former more so than the latter, but both hits nonetheless. “What You Waiting For” acts as a misleading opener on the album though. It is by far the most “Gwen-like” track, integrating the riotgrrl sensibility with her new obviously pop intentions.
By track 3 listeners will be confused, but still enjoying themselves. “Hollaback Girl”, produced by The Neptunes, is a chanty, high school cheerleader anthem with enough fun for people of that persuasion; others will be amused by the strange guitar interludes and pep-band brass in the background. Next, “Cool” ruins the album’s party vibe and becomes the hopeless ballad that you skip when you listen to the CD straight through. Later on, “The Real Thing” will do something similar, but its single-worthy sap makes it mix-tape ready (if you can get over the fact that you think it might have been on Hilary Duff’s last release).
Other oddities on L.A.M.B. include “Luxurious”, good only for knockin’ boots and despising rich people; “Harajuku Girls”, an eerie tribute to Japanese fashionistas; and “Crash”, which advances the car racing/sex metaphor a little too far. “Serious” and “Danger Zone” are the first songs to truly live out Stefani’s 80’s fantasy and they are so honest in there doting they are hard to dislike.
By far the biggest disappointment here though is the lyrics. Stefani, known for pulling songs straight from her diary, seems to have lost the personal aspect that her fans have clung to. There is not one cathartic song on L.A.M.B. Also, while the sexuality on the album works, the drug references are slightly uncomfortable, not only because Gwen is fairly squeaky but also because they come at the most random times. (What? You’re “addicted like a free-baser”?)
Standout track “Bubble Pop Electric”, produced by Andre 3000’s alter ego “Johnny Vulture”, is beautifully sexy and fun, not to mention endearingly and oddly cutesy. And for those lost die-hard fans you might even be able to skank to it if you try hard enough! A weird duality arises though at the end of the album with “Long Way to Go”, also produced by Andre 3000. This Martin Luther King, Jr., nod is strangely preachy despite its incoherence. The music itself is surprisingly weak, though distinctly OutKast-ian, and it cannot make up for the weirdness factor of the lyric line (sung by both Andre and Gwen, simultaneously).
Here is the kicker: I love this album! Hardcore Gwen fans will probably scoff, as will those who reveled in No Doubt’s ska roots. The trick here is to take L.A.M.B. as it is, which is pop. Shake your booty and do not take it seriously and you will be dancing around your dorm room in no time. Critically, the album exhibits a strong amount of effort without focus, but for Billboard’s sake the individual tracks will continue to be successful.
*giggle*
1) because i trash the album almost the whole time
2) until the end when i admit that i actually love it!!!
HA!!!
so, here it is...i hope you're as amused as i am:
Critics would classify Americans as sheep. Outsiders see our obsession with trends and our lemming-like agreeability in music and film. We are a mass-produced society buying what the higher-ups tell us to buy. Right?
Part of our cultural overkill though is our fascination with celebrity. We attach ourselves to our commercial artists and we idolize them without question. Another facet of this fixation is that we are extremely critical when celebrities do not live up to our expectations. When Britney strips or Christina gets her hooha pierced we gasp and feel betrayed. Imagine all of the angsty teenage girls that would lose all sense of self if Avril dropped the skater image for blonde hair and spike heels.
It seems Gwen Stefani has both helped this tendency along and shattered it altogether with her solo debut Love, Angel, Music, Baby. Fans are either psyched about or appalled by Gwen’s synth-pop tribute. The critics are not very forgiving. They complain that someone of Stefani’s stature should stick to the status quo. But then again, her two singles (“What You Waiting For” and “Rich Girl”) are selling like hotcakes. Is there no bridge for this gap!? Sadly, no.
L.A.M.B. is a romp through 80’s electronica and contemporary Japanese youth culture, with guest appearances left and right. It is a mish-mash of confusion, but the booty-shaking factor makes up for it in most places. The album’s schizophrenia, while interesting when taken as an experiment, is ultimately distracting. But hey, you take that risk when you have 8 different producers for only 12 tracks.
“What You Waiting For” and “Rich Girl” are certainly radio-friendly, admittedly the former more so than the latter, but both hits nonetheless. “What You Waiting For” acts as a misleading opener on the album though. It is by far the most “Gwen-like” track, integrating the riotgrrl sensibility with her new obviously pop intentions.
By track 3 listeners will be confused, but still enjoying themselves. “Hollaback Girl”, produced by The Neptunes, is a chanty, high school cheerleader anthem with enough fun for people of that persuasion; others will be amused by the strange guitar interludes and pep-band brass in the background. Next, “Cool” ruins the album’s party vibe and becomes the hopeless ballad that you skip when you listen to the CD straight through. Later on, “The Real Thing” will do something similar, but its single-worthy sap makes it mix-tape ready (if you can get over the fact that you think it might have been on Hilary Duff’s last release).
Other oddities on L.A.M.B. include “Luxurious”, good only for knockin’ boots and despising rich people; “Harajuku Girls”, an eerie tribute to Japanese fashionistas; and “Crash”, which advances the car racing/sex metaphor a little too far. “Serious” and “Danger Zone” are the first songs to truly live out Stefani’s 80’s fantasy and they are so honest in there doting they are hard to dislike.
By far the biggest disappointment here though is the lyrics. Stefani, known for pulling songs straight from her diary, seems to have lost the personal aspect that her fans have clung to. There is not one cathartic song on L.A.M.B. Also, while the sexuality on the album works, the drug references are slightly uncomfortable, not only because Gwen is fairly squeaky but also because they come at the most random times. (What? You’re “addicted like a free-baser”?)
Standout track “Bubble Pop Electric”, produced by Andre 3000’s alter ego “Johnny Vulture”, is beautifully sexy and fun, not to mention endearingly and oddly cutesy. And for those lost die-hard fans you might even be able to skank to it if you try hard enough! A weird duality arises though at the end of the album with “Long Way to Go”, also produced by Andre 3000. This Martin Luther King, Jr., nod is strangely preachy despite its incoherence. The music itself is surprisingly weak, though distinctly OutKast-ian, and it cannot make up for the weirdness factor of the lyric line (sung by both Andre and Gwen, simultaneously).
Here is the kicker: I love this album! Hardcore Gwen fans will probably scoff, as will those who reveled in No Doubt’s ska roots. The trick here is to take L.A.M.B. as it is, which is pop. Shake your booty and do not take it seriously and you will be dancing around your dorm room in no time. Critically, the album exhibits a strong amount of effort without focus, but for Billboard’s sake the individual tracks will continue to be successful.
*giggle*