Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is the debut solo studio album by American singerGwen Stefani, released on November 12, 2004, byInterscope Records. Stefani, who had previously released five studio albums as lead singer of therock bandNo Doubt, began recording solo material in early 2003. She began working onLove. Angel. Music. Baby. as a side project that would become a full album after No Doubt went on hiatus. Stefani co-wrote every song on the album, collaborating with various songwriters and producers includingAndré 3000,Dallas Austin,Dr. Dre,Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis,the Neptunes andLinda Perry. The album also features guest appearances byEve and André 3000.
Designed to sound like a 1980s dance record,Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was influenced by artists and bands such asthe Cure,Lisa Lisa,New Order,Prince,Depeche Mode andMadonna. The album incorporates a diverse range of genres, includingelectropop,dance-rock,new wave, andsoul, while lyrically, it explores themes of fashion, wealth and relationships. Promotion of the album included the release of six commercially successful singles and the North AmericanHarajuku Lovers Tour. While promoting, Stefani was often accompanied by backup dancers called theHarajuku Girls.
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was met with generally positive reviews frommusic critics, and received a total of sixGrammy Award nominations, includingAlbum of the Year, during the2006 ceremony. It debuted at number seven on the USBillboard 200, selling 309,000 copies in its first week, eventually peaking at number five. The album has receivedmulti-platinum sales certifications in several countries and has sold over eight million copies worldwide.
In 2003, Stefani began recording solo material.[1] She stated she was considering recording singles to be used on soundtracks, continuing her collaborations or releasing an album under the pseudonym "GS".[1][5]Jimmy Iovine (chairman and co-founder of Interscope) convinced Stefani to work on this album.[5] On the second day of her sessions withLinda Perry, the two wrote a song about Stefani'swriter's block and fears about the solo album. This became the track "What You Waiting For?", which was released as the leadsingle for the album.[6]
When the two began working on a song that Stefani stated was too personal, she left to visit Kanal. He played her a track on which he had been working and which became "Crash", the album's final single. The two tried to write new material, but gave up after two weeks. They did not return to work until six months later, when Stefani began collaborating with other artists, commenting, "If I were to write the chorus of 'Yesterday' bythe Beatles, and that's all I wrote, that would be good enough to be part of that history." Stefani resumed work with Linda Perry, who invitedDallas Austin, and many other artists, includingOutkast'sAndré 3000, the Neptunes, andDr. Dre.[6][7] Stefani announced the album's release in early 2004,[2] marketing it as a "dance record" and a "guilty pleasure".[3]
To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the album, Interscope released a version of the album remastered byChris Gehringer on November 22, 2019.[8]
Like pop albums of the 1980s,Love. Angel. Music. Baby. focuses primarily on money, with songs such as "Rich Girl" and "Luxurious" that feature descriptions of riches and wealth.[16] The album contains several references to Stefani's clothing line,L.A.M.B.,[16] and alludes to contemporary fashion designers such asJohn Galliano,Rei Kawakubo, andVivienne Westwood.[17] Stefani also released a series of dolls named the "Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Fashion Dolls", designed after the costumes from her tour.[18] Although Stefani intended for the album to be a light dance record, she stated that "no matter what you do, things just come out."[19] The album's opening track "What You Waiting For?" discusses her desire to be a mother and in 2006, she and her then husband,Bush singerGavin Rossdale, had a son named Kingston Rossdale.[20] The fourth track "Cool" discusses Stefani's friendship with Kanal after he ended a romantic relationship with her in 1995.[21]
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. introduced theHarajuku Girls, an entourage of four Japanese women whom Stefani referred to as a figment of her imagination.[22] The Harajuku Girls are discussed in several of the songs, including one named after and entirely dedicated to them. They appear in most of the music videos produced for the album and those for Stefani's second albumThe Sweet Escape (2006).Love. Angel. Music. Baby. includes various styles of music. Many songs are influenced byelectro beats designed for club play.[23] Producers Austin and Kanal incorporated R&B into the song "Luxurious" which contains a sample ofthe Isley Brothers' 1983 single "Between the Sheets".Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporatenew jack swing, a fusion genre of R&B that the pair had developed and popularized during the mid-1980s.[24]
The fourth track "Cool" chronicles Stefani's previous relationship withTony Kanal,[19] featuring a new wave andsynth-pop production.[16] The song was compared toCyndi Lauper andMadonna songs from the 1980s.[15][32] "Bubble Pop Electric", the fifth track, is anelectro song featuringAndré 3000's alias Johnny Vulture. It tells of the two having sex at adrive-in movie, and it was generally well received by critics, who drew comparisons to the 1978 filmGrease and its 1982 sequelGrease 2.[33][34] "Luxurious" is a 1990s-inspired R&B song that lyrically talks about the desire to be rich in love, simultaneously comparing Stefani's lover with luxuries.[35][36] The seventh track, "Harajuku Girls", is a synth-pop song that was described as a tribute toTokyo's street culture,[37] produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.[15]
Among the songs which didn't make the album was "Information," a track Stefani said was a response to internet culture and the misinformation that spreads when someone is famous. She described it as "a total diss on everyone."[45]
Stefani embarked on theHarajuku Lovers Tour on October 16, 2005, to promoteLove. Angel. Music. Baby. The tour consisted of only one leg, running for 42 dates across North America, ending on December 21, 2005. The hip hop groupthe Black Eyed Peas, rapperM.I.A., and singerCiara accompanied Stefani as opening acts for her tour. The tour was met with varying responses from contemporary critics, who despite praising Stefani's vocals, were critical of other aspects of the show such as its musical material. According toBillboard, the tour grossed $22 million from 37 shows, 20 of which sold out.[46] A video album of the concert titledHarajuku Lovers Live was released onDVD on December 4, 2006.[47] Additionally, a remixEP titledLove. Angel. Music. Baby. (The Remixes) was released on November 22, 2005, including remixes of "Luxurious", "Cool", "Hollaback Girl", and "What You Waiting For?".[48]
"What You Waiting For?" was released as the lead single fromLove. Angel. Music. Baby. on October 4, 2004. The single peaked at number 47 on theBillboard Hot 100,[49] and was commercially successful overseas, topping the chart in Australia and reaching the top 10 in several countries including France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.[50][51] "Rich Girl", featuring Eve, was released as the album's second single on December 14, 2004, becoming Stefani's first top-10 entry as a solo artist in the US when it peaked at number seven on theBillboard Hot 100.[49] Elsewhere, the song performed equally as successfully as "What You Waiting For?".[52] "Hollaback Girl" was released as the third single on March 15, 2005. It became the album's best-selling and most popular single, while also becoming the first single to sell one milliondigital copies in the US.[26][53] The song topped theBillboard Hot 100 within six weeks of its release, earning Stefani her first number-one single on the chart.[49]
"Cool" was released as the fourth single from the album on July 5, 2005.[54] The song fared moderately on the charts, reaching the top 10 in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the top 20 in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the UK and the US.[49][51][55] "Luxurious" was released as the fifth single on October 11, 2005.[56] The single version features rapperSlim Thug.[36] The song was less successful than the previous singles from the album, peaking at number 21 on theBillboard Hot 100.[49] "Crash" was not originally planned as a single, but due to Stefani's pregnancy, her second solo album was delayed,[57] and the song was released as the sixth and final single from the album on January 24, 2006.[58]
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. received generally positive reviews from music critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received anaverage score of 71, based on 22 reviews.[59]Stephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic called the album "intermittently exciting and embarrassing", concluding that it is "stranger and often more entertaining than nearly any other mainstream pop album of 2004."[23] Jennifer Nine ofYahoo! Music praised the album as "the hottest, coolest, best-dressed pop album of the year" and found it to be "sleek, shimmery, and dripping with all-killer-no-filler musical bling".[65]Stylus Magazine's Charles Merwin opined that Stefani was a contender to fill Madonna's role, "[b]ut not enough to get seriously excited about her as the next great solo female careerist."[24] Lisa Haines ofBBC Music was more emphatic, stating that Stefani rivaled Madonna andKelis, while dubbing the album a "stunning and stylish effort that showcases Gwen's credentials as a bonafide pop goddess."[41]
Despite stating that Stefani "shamelessly plunders" 1980s music,Krissi Murison of theNME referred to the album as "one of the most frivolously brilliant slabs of shiny retro-pop anyone's had the chuzpah to release all year."[61] John Murphy ofmusicOMH found the album "enjoyable, if patchy", but commented that it was too long.[66]Rolling Stone'sRob Sheffield described the album as "an irresistible party: trashy, hedonistic and deeply weird."[63] The magazine later placed the album at number 39 on its list of the top 50 albums of 2004.[67]Robert Christgau gave the album a three-star honorable mention () and wrote, "Turns out the problem wasn't ska per se—it was No Doubt."[68]Edna Gundersen ofUSA Today called the album "[f]un, fizzy, frivolous", while noting that Stefani's "caffeinated electro-pop amounts to little more than sly channeling of Lisa Lisa at a disco revival."[64] Kelefa Sanneh ofThe New York Times viewed it as a "clever and sometimes enticing solo debut that doesn't quite add up."[69]
The album was generally criticized for its large number of collaborations and producers.The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan argued that although "others lend a hand [...] it's very much Stefani's show"; however, most others disagreed.[60] Jason Damas ofPopMatters compared the album to a secondNo Doubt greatest hits album,[15] andPitchfork's Nick Sylvester felt that the large number of collaborators result in sacrificing Stefani's identity on the album.[44] Most reviewers held that the collaborations prevented the album from having a solidified sound. Eric Greenwood wrote for Drawer B that "Stefani tries to be all things to all people here", but that the result "comes off as manipulative and contrived."[70]Entertainment Weekly'sDavid Browne shared this opinion, stating that the album "is like one of thoseau courant retail magazines that resembles a catalog more than an old-fashioned collection of, say, articles."[16]
Many reviewers focused on the album's light lyrical themes.Entertainment Weekly called the references to Stefani's clothing line "shameless" and stated that "each song becomes akin to a pricey retro fashion blurb",[16] andPitchfork quipped that "theJoker's free-money parade throughGotham City was a much more entertaining display of wealth, and he had Prince, not justWendy & Lisa."[44] Sal Cinquemani ofSlant Magazine commented that the album's "fashion fetish [...] gives the album a sense of thematic cohesiveness", but the "obsession with Harajuku girls borders on maniacal".[14]The Guardian disagreed with this perspective, arguing that "her affinity withJapanese pop culture [...] yields a synthetic sheen [...] that works well with the other point of reference, hip-hop."[60]
Love. Angel. Music. Baby. debuted at number seven on theBillboard 200, selling 309,000 copies in its first week.[75] On the issue dated June 18, 2005, the album climbed to a new peak position of number five with 83,000 copies sold.[76] TheRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album quintuple platinum in March 2021,[77] and had sold four million copies by May 2009.[78]
The album had similar success in Europe. After entering theUK Albums Chart at number 14 with sales of 45,484 copies,[79]Love. Angel. Music. Baby. peaked at number four in its 25th week on the chart, on May 15, 2005, selling 21,271 copies.[80] The album was certified triple platinum by theBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI) on September 16, 2005,[81] and had sold 1,068,242 copies in the United Kingdom as of March 2016.[82] The album was listed as the 20th best-selling album of 2005 in the UK.[83] It also reached the top 10 in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden, and the top 20 in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland.[84][85] TheInternational Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) certified the album platinum in May 2005, denoting sales in excess of one million copies across Europe.[86]
In Australia,Love. Angel. Music. Baby. topped theARIA Albums Chart for two consecutive weeks in February 2005 and spent 56 weeks on the chart.[87] It ended 2005 as the fourth-best-selling album[88] and was certified quadruple platinum by theAustralian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 280,000 copies.[89] The album peaked at number three for two non-consecutive weeks on theCanadian Albums Chart,[90] and was certified five-times platinum by theCanadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) in April 2006 for sales of over half a million copies.[91] As of April 2016,Love. Angel. Music. Baby. had sold over eight million copies worldwide,[92] and became the 12th best-selling album globally of 2005.[93]
The success of the album'surban contemporary-oriented songs in theadult contemporary market allowed for the success of other artists while Stefani was pregnant and later recordingThe Sweet Escape.Nelly Furtado's third albumLoose was released in June 2006 and was primarily produced by and written withhip hop producersTimbaland andDanja. Furtado's reinvention from aworldbeat singer-songwriter was to Stefani's previous forays into urban contemporary music.[94] In his review ofLoose, Rob Sheffield ofRolling Stone stated that Timbaland aimed to "produce an omnipop multiformat blockbuster in the style of [Love. Angel. Music. Baby.]—but without Gwen."[95] TheBlack Eyed Peas memberFergie released her solo debut albumThe Dutchess in September 2006. Thecholas that accompanied Fergie in some of her music videos were viewed as derivatives of the Harajuku Girls and Stefani's "Luxurious" music video.[96] The album's lead single "London Bridge" was paralleled to "Hollaback Girl" and the third single "Glamorous" to "Luxurious".[97] Fergie refuted accusations of piggybacking on Stefani's music, stating that "this is all so ridiculous [...] The Peas and I make music we love, and for others to speculate is their problem."[96]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
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